Clipless Pedals: The Complete Guide

Why bother with clipless?

From the Cyclesite marketplace. Around 70% of used road bikes listed on Cyclesite ship with clipless pedals already fitted, almost always Shimano SPD-SL or 105-tier equivalents. About half of used hybrids and gravel bikes come with SPD pedals; the other half come with flat or hybrid pedals. Buyers who plan to switch should budget £35-£90 for a pedal change, which a bike shop will fit in fifteen minutes if you do not have the workshop tools.

Clipless pedals attach your shoe to the pedal with a small plastic or metal cleat. The name is misleading. They replaced the toe-clip-and-strap setups of the 1980s, which is where the "clipless" name comes from. They do not, as the name suggests, lack a clip; they have a different one.

What they actually do: keep your foot in exactly the right position on the pedal, every pedal stroke. That improves efficiency, particularly when standing or sprinting. It also lets you pull up on the back stroke (slightly), which many riders overrate. The bigger benefit is consistency. Your knees track the same path every revolution, which prevents the chronic overuse injuries that come from a foot wandering around on a flat pedal across a 50-mile ride.

Worth the change for: anyone riding more than two hours a week, anyone with knee or hip issues that flat pedals aggravate, anyone training for a sportive or race.

Not worth the change for: short commutes under thirty minutes, anyone who finds the prospect of clipping in stressful, anyone who rides exclusively in cycling shoes that are uncomfortable to walk in. There is no shame in flat pedals. Plenty of mountain bike pros prefer them.

The system options

Five main systems exist on the UK market. Each is incompatible with the others.

Shimano SPD. Two-bolt cleat, recessed into the shoe sole, walkable. Used on mountain bikes, gravel bikes, commuter bikes. The cleat is small and metal; it lasts thousands of miles. Pedals from £30 to £200. The default for the majority of UK cyclists.

Shimano SPD-SL. Three-bolt cleat, exposed plastic, not walkable comfortably. Road-only. Larger contact patch with the pedal, stiffer connection, lighter overall. Pedals from £45 to £280. The default for road racers and serious sportive riders.

Look Keo. Three-bolt cleat, similar concept to SPD-SL, slightly different platform shape and float adjustment. Pedals from £50 to £300. Used by many WorldTour pros. Cleats wear faster than SPD-SL.

Time Xpresso. Three-bolt cleat with a different release mechanism that releases at the heel rather than rotation alone. Some riders find this more intuitive; others find it harder to master. Pedals from £80 to £350.

Speedplay (now Wahoo). Four-bolt cleat (with adapter to fit standard three-bolt shoes). Both-sides clip-in, very low stack height, micro-adjustable float. Loved by bike-fit specialists. Pedals from £160 to £400. Cleats need a cover when walking; without it they fail in months.

For most beginners: SPD if you ride mixed terrain or commute, SPD-SL if you ride exclusively road. Both have widely available pedals from £30-£60 used and shoes from £50-£100.

Cleat float, and why it matters

Float is how much your foot can rotate on the pedal before the cleat releases. A six-degree float lets your heel swing out two to three centimetres before the shoe pops off the pedal. A zero-float cleat locks the foot rigidly.

Beginners need float. Lots of it. Six degrees is the standard SPD-SL yellow cleat. The red zero-float SPD-SL cleat is for riders who already know exactly where their knee tracks; using one without that knowledge causes knee pain.

For SPD, the standard SH-51 cleat releases on rotation, the multi-release SH-56 cleat releases on rotation or upward pull. SH-56 is the easier cleat for new riders. Switch to SH-51 once you are confident.

Shoes: the part that matters more than the pedal

A £200 pedal in a £30 shoe will be uncomfortable. A £40 pedal in a £150 shoe will be excellent. Spend on the shoe.

For SPD: Shimano XC3 (£100), Specialized Recon 1.0 (£100), Giro Privateer (£120). For commuting, Quoc Mono II (£170) and Fizik Terra Powerstrap (£140) are casual-looking shoes that take SPD cleats and walk like trainers.

For SPD-SL/Keo: Shimano RC3 (£130), Fizik Tempo Decos Carbon (£200), Specialized Torch 2.0 (£160). The £100 entry level is fine; the £400+ shoes save grams and give marginally more stiffness, neither of which matters for a 100-mile sportive.

Sizing: cycling shoes run small. Order half a size up from your trainer size. Try them on with cycling socks, not bare feet. The fit should be snug at the heel and forefoot with no movement when you stand up out of the saddle.

Setting up cleats correctly

This is the most important step and the one most often skipped.

Fore-aft position. The cleat should sit so the centre of the pedal axle is directly under the ball of your foot. Stand in the shoes, find the bony bump just behind your big toe (first metatarsal head), and mark its position on the side of the shoe with a pen. Then mark the position of the bony bump behind the little toe (fifth metatarsal head). The midpoint of those two marks is where the pedal axle should sit. Move the cleat fore or aft until it lines up.

Lateral position. Most cleats have a few millimetres of side-to-side adjustment. Set them centred initially. If you find your knees flaring out or in when riding, move the cleat in the direction your knee is flaring (counter-intuitive, but correct).

Rotation. Set the cleat to point straight ahead. Your foot has natural rotation; the cleat should match it, not force it. If your foot naturally points slightly out (most people), let the cleat rotate the same amount. Look at how your trainers wear; that is your natural foot angle.

Tighten the bolts to the manufacturer's torque (usually 4-6 Nm). Use a torque wrench. Cleat bolts work loose, and an unexpectedly loose cleat is the cause of many low-speed falls.

Learning to clip in and out

Find a quiet street, a park, or even a cycle path. Lean against a wall or hold a fence. Practise clipping in and out for fifteen minutes before you go anywhere. Both feet, twenty repetitions each. The motion is: foot down on pedal, push forward and slightly down to engage. Out: rotate heel out and away. The mechanism is spring-loaded; you will feel the click on the way in and a release on the way out.

Set your pedal release tension to the lowest setting on the back of the pedal. The grub screw turns counter-clockwise to ease release. Keep it on minimum until you have ridden 100 miles in clipless. Stiff release tension is for racing; on the road it just means you fall over at junctions.

The first fall is mandatory. Everybody does it. Usually at a junction or traffic light, when you forget to clip out before stopping. Topple sideways at zero mph onto the verge. Get up, clip back in, ride home. You will not do it again.

When to clip out

Clip the leading foot out before any uncertainty. Approaching a roundabout: clip out. Approaching a junction where you might need to put a foot down: clip out. Crossing a tram track or rough surface: clip out, just in case.

The rhythm to develop is: clip out fifty metres before any potential stop, ride with one foot out for the last few seconds, put it down naturally as you stop. Clip back in once you start moving again. Clipping in while rolling at walking pace is much easier than clipping in from a standstill.

Common falls and how to avoid them

The traffic light topple. Forgetting to clip out as you stop. Solution: anticipate stops well in advance, clip out fifty metres earlier than you think you need to.

The hill restart. Trying to clip in on a steep hill from a standing start. The bike has no momentum and the foot does not engage cleanly. Solution: start the bike rolling on the pedal you can feel, then clip in once moving. Or push the bike across the hill to flatter ground first.

The kerb stop. Stopping next to a high kerb, putting the foot down, and the foot lands on a sloped surface that is higher than expected. Solution: stop in the road or at a flat kerb. Avoid camber or sloping surfaces for stops.

The track-stand-gone-wrong. Trying to balance stationary at a junction by standing on the pedals. Works when it works. When it does not, you fall hard. Solution: do not learn track stands at junctions. Practise in a car park.

Maintenance

Cleats wear out. SPD cleats last 8,000-15,000 miles. SPD-SL yellow cleats last 3,000-6,000. Look Keo Grip cleats last 3,000-8,000. Check the cleat tip and side; when the plastic is worn through to the bare metal screw or you can see the bolt heads cleanly, replace.

Pedal bearings should spin freely. A pedal that grates needs servicing or replacement. Most pedals can be serviced at home with the right tool (£10) and grease.

Worn cleats cause unintended releases. If a cleat releases when you stand up to climb, the cleat is finished. Replace immediately. A cleat that releases under load can put you on the road in front of a car.

Walking in cycling shoes

SPD shoes walk fine; the cleat is recessed. SPD-SL shoes do not. The cleat is exposed plastic, sticks out the bottom, gets damaged on every step, and slides on smooth surfaces.

Cleat covers (Shimano SH-SC1 or Look Keo Grip Pads, £15) push onto the cleat and let you walk normally. Carry them. The shop floor in a cafe is not designed for road cleats.

If you are commuting and walking at the destination, use SPD pedals and shoes, not SPD-SL. The difference in cycling performance is invisible at commuting speeds and the walking difference is the difference between an hour of comfort and an hour of hobbling.