How to and How Do You Feel Cycle with Cleats

Nowadays, cycling is becoming more and more popular. And various riding methods appear, such as cycling with cleats. Cycling with cleats is a new type of experience. And it can give cyclists a new kind of joy and pleasure. But do you know how to ride with cleats? If you do it the first time, what feelings will you own? Nervous, or excited, or both, or something else? Let me tell you some ideas about cycling with cleats.

What is cycling with cleats?
If you riding with cleats, you should lock your feet into the pedals of the bike. Besides, cyclists use the clipless pedals. So you can do away with the toe clips or straps. In other words, when you cycle with cleats, you are in a cleat binding system. You lock the bottom of the shoe to the pedal. As for green triers, they may think it is crazy. Indeed, it may be. But as for experienced riders, it also is comfortable. That is why people prefer to ride with cleats.

cycling with cleats

Why do cycling with cleats?
There might be two basic reasons to cycle with cleats. For one thing, it is easy and comfortable. Cycling with cleats, you don’t need to use flat pedals to ride a road bike hard. Using the routine pedals, your feet like to slip around. And in order to make sure safety, you have to adjust your feet time from time. It is time-consumed and boring. But riding with cleats, your feet are touched the same place all the time. So that, you don’t need to change their position any longer. And there is no need for you to spare attention to your feet and the pedals. Therefore, you can enjoy the cycling tour much easier.

For another thing, the high pedaling efficiency. Riding with cleats, you would use clipless pedals. At that moment, you can create more power automatically than the flat ones. Clipless pedals also contribute to reducing the fatigue when you hop on the pedals. If you are in favor of high cadence, the clipless pedals affect more effectively. Because those pedals are the significant part to avoid wasting the extra and unnecessary energy. Cycling with cleats helps you store not only physical but mental strength. And it gives you a longer and much grander journey.

How do you feel cycling with cleats for the first time?
Undoubtedly, for many people, the first cycling with cleats would be a mad and daunting experience. For the first time, a variety of cyclists would fall down. What is worse, out of the unfamiliarity, the zero-speed falling down would scare many challengers. At the beginning, most riders would forget to unclip and then fall down many times. With the repetitions of tumbling, embarrassment, unhappiness depression and frustration would grow. But what I have to mention to you, is that you shouldn’t let these negative emotions to resist your advance. Out of the habit not your stupid, you cannot master it in a very little time. Facing new challenge- the clipless pedals, and your familiarity with flat pedals all lead to failure at the early start. But you cannot give up, just due to some tiny difficulties. Going on and then enjoying the fire-new trip. Next, I would like to give you some tips about cycling with cleats.

What should you do for cycling with cleats?
A great deal of practice. Practice makes perfect. Before going out for your first cycling tour with cleats, practice means a lot. You should try to clip in and out at home with your bicycle counting on a stationary trainer again and again. At that moment, the more comfortable you feel with the clipless pedaling process, the safer you will be when you go into practices. Besides, the more skilled you are with it, the more pleasure you can get if you have to unclip quickly.

Cleated shoes. As you become more serious about riding, cleated shoes are becoming the dispensable part of your cycling equipment. Cleated shoes, married to cleated pedals, would improve the pedal-stroking efficiency. Whoever you are, a road rider or mountain cyclist, you can benefit from it while cycling.

cleated shoes

On the road. Before cycling with cleats, you should put on your cycling shoes with cleats. And then clip into your pedals. Straddle your bike and position one foot with the cleat above the clip on the pedal and slide down until you hear and feel the connection of the pedal and cleat. Start to pedal and insert your other cleat into the corresponding pedal. Pedaling normally helps you keep your knee tracking forward. Moreover, you should special attention to detaching your cleats. Doing it requires you to swing the heel of your foot outward at a 45-degree angle.

Being patient. As for challengers for cycling with cleats, you may be a green hand to it. At the very beginning, finding the ideal placement for your cleats might cause you much frustrations and depressions. In reality, it is normal. Under the circumstance, you can do nothing but be patient. You should take trial and error. It is necessary for you to adjust the position of the cleat on your shoes several times. And then you can find the perfect placement.

Being wiser. As you develop a level of comfort with your cleats, you can begin to use some tactics to increase the power and efficiency of your pedal stroking. Pushing down from the 12 o’clock position of the pedal stroke and scraping bottom as if getting the mud off your shoe are worth considering. Next, initiate the down stroke again just before reaching 12 o’clock again.

cycling with cleats



Do you want to try cycling with cleats? If you are fond of clipless pedaling but don’t know how to do it. Just have a look at the above information. And it would give you some guidance. And with safety and joy guaranteeing, you can cycle with cleats happily. Enjoy it.