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When should I switch to using clipless pedals?
Home » Mountain Biking » Cycling Footwear » When should I switch to using clipless pedals?This is a good question. No doubt if you have been thinking about switching then you have been consistently becoming less enamored with pedals with toe-clips. There are some riders who become quite proficient with toe-clips. However, many times riders never make the change, not because of their riding proficiency with toe-clips, but because of fear. This is unfortunate because clipless pedals offer a rider so much stability and power.
If you have been wondering when to make the switch there is no time like the present. There really is no ‘perfect time’ to make the switch. You just need to do and fall a few times; then it is smooth sailing. Speaking from personal experience, I made the switch after training for a Century Ride in Santa Fe, New Mexico. All of my training was done on a fully rigid mountain bike frame with toe-clips. For the actual race, which we were doing for the Leukemia Society, I used clipless pedals for the first time. After the Century ride my brother-in-law and I mountain biked for a week in the four corners area (Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado). So my first full week with clipless pedals I spent riding some of the most epic trails in the country. It did take me a couple of rides to get used to the feeling, but by mid-week I wasn’t even thinking about my pedals.
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