help me catch the bug

dump those pedals.

You want shoes that will take cleats - i suggest spd (not SPD-SL) which are generally known as mountain bike shoes. the benefit of these is you can walk in them without risk, with road bike shoes the cleat (the fitting that locks to the pedal) is below the sole so you are walking on metal not rubber.

You want pedals to match the shoes you buy.

You really really don't want to strap yourself into cage pedals because the answer to your question "how do i get my feet out at lights" is normally - you don't you slowly fall over but you do have the option of choosing whether you fall to the left or right.

These old cage pedals with straps are obsolete. for the last 20 years or more people use "clipless" pedals and shoes. Which is a misleading name because in fact they clip into the pedals, but they are called "clipless" to distinguish them from the pedals used in the 70s/80s which you have described, which you basically can't take your foot out of without raising, your foot, unstrapping, then doing the same for the other foot. That is fine for the end of a stage on the Tour de France, not so handy every time you come to a traffic light. those pedals do not need special shoes, trainers/runners are fine, though a rigid sole would be helpful.


Those pedals are also either not effective (you don't tighten them so you can take your foot out at lights) or really dangerous (you do tighten them so you can't take your foot out at lights). Modern pedals clip in more securely than a strap (they have an attachment (a cleat) that "locks" into the pedal) and unlock when you rotate your heel to the right.

Your cycling shoes presumably have a type of cleat that they accept, you need to buy the cleats & pedal that matches that cleat. or else buy a new set of shoes, cleats & pedals.

tbh it sounds like whatever shop sold you shoes, no cleats and strapped pedals is absolutely appalling. Where did you buy? honestly they sound like they need to be boycotted, was it actually a local bike shop? or maybe you bought from some chancer off done deal?

As to gears you just use what is comfortable. lowest gear for long steep hills, highest for downhill, close to highest for flats.

OffalyMedic wrote: »

It's a very well know local bike shop in the Midlands. The day i went in to get the bike they were very helpful but i sent himself in today to collect it as i was busy in hindsight i should have gone myself and asked these questions!

These are the shoes they gave me. €90 https://goo.gl/images/x3QVYf. Anywhere else i can get cleats and peadles?



Got a second hand but almost new specialized dolce for €500.



2 on front 8 on back i think

Poor show that they gave you shoes that are useless with the pedals that are on the bike! For the moment, just use runners and the pedals you have (without the straps) and once you are more comfortable cycling, you can then look at upgrading the pedals.

Once you buy new clipless pedals, they will come with cleats, so the only decision you have to make is if you are going to upgrade to Shimano or look pedals. It's a personal choice and totally up to you. I'm a Look pedal man...only because they were the first clipless pedals I ever bought and I've stuck with them ever since.

Do get yourself a descent pair of padded cycling shorts!

Weepsie wrote: »

With your shoes you can use SPD, SPD-SL and Look Keo (and presumably others with an adapter) as your pedals. SPDs are often recommended as they are sometimes double sided so easier to clip in, but the silver ones (not the black ones) are very easy to unclip from generally. SPD specific shoes are easy to walk around in too. These shoes would be hard enough to walk around in whatever way you go.

Be prepared to fall. It happens to us all.

You can, but I would strongly recommend against using SPDs with those road type shoes, as the protruding metal cleat (as opposed to road cleats which have some rubber grippers on the bottom and/or extremities) makes walking about as difficult as it could possibly be as there's no grip. You're basically getting the worst of both worlds, with only the advantage of double sided clipping in. And even that I imagine to be easier on MTB shoes, since the cleat recess should guide your foot on the pedal better.

Why is there such an insistence from so many on getting clipless pedals???

OP Start off in your regular runners till you get the hang of cycling and once you get more experience on the road and at junctions and in traffic then you can move to cliplless.

It should be possible to remove the cages from the pedals and if not go to your local bike shop and buy cheap flat pedals to get you started.

I use the shimano A530 which is two sided (Example link).

Handy if you need to just pop down the road or if you have the proper gear.

one side for clipless shoe and one side for normal shoe..

OffalyMedic wrote: »

Just back from my first cycle. Took off cage and straps and just used runners. Covered 12km on county roads just to build confidence. Unfortunately didn't look up how to use cateye trip computer thing before heading out or gears so after a quick rest break after struggling up my 3rd big hill unable to downshift and a consultation with you tuble the second half of trip went much better.


Who would have thought pushing gear leaver sidewards moved down gears...not me for one

Get yourself strava or map my ride on your phone to keep track of where you went and get stats etc, tastier than an on-board computer.

magicbastarder wrote: »

; but if you have a sports world (formerly heatons), they stock muddy fox brand and are more likely to have fitting rooms. i got two jerseys there recently for €26; not the greatest quality but you can't beat the value.

Dont bother with their shorts though, next to useless. Youd be more comfortable in a pair of cotton boxers!

Wildly Boaring wrote: »

You obviously found from youtube how your gears work. Practice this and braking.

Oh and practice bring in the right gear. You should be able to sit in the saddle all the time and just spin the pedals. So you should be in a low enough gear on every hill that you are not forcing down your pedal strokes.

OffalyMedic wrote: »

Out for my second cycle tonight. Again really enjoyable 15km in 40mins averaging 22km/h. Don't know if that is good bad or indifferent but it's a start.

What should i be aiming for time, distance wise over next few weeks?

Nice one.
You're flying. That's a nice average speed

There's a rule of thumb of increasing mileage by a max of 10% per week for running. Working well for me right now. That'd put you up near 30k in 7 weeks.

Then see how you're going and reassess where you want to head. Hills? Aim for 100k? Find a club?.........

Would think you are just getting used to bike, shoulders and arms are always sore ( with me anyway ) you can do some stretching exercises before .

But as others say just enjoy the pastime don't worry about times or distance.

You do not want to get into state where you are trying to better your efforts, that is one way to loose interest quickly.

Just enjoy and improvement will come, there is a 6 week course somewhere on internet by Lance Armstrong Yeah I know !! but very good suggests a few very easy days, just out spinning pedals, I used it to climb in the alps including Alpe de Hauz years ago.

Also try CTS training, but again just enjoy, or if you really want to do something aim for a goal, say 50k leisure cycle later in summer and you have something to aim at.

all the best and enjoy.