Cleat placement is paramount,
bike fitter Issac Denham told Bicycling, and that single line frames the problem every new rider faces this autumn: the clipless transition is less about fitness than about setup. Bicycling published a detailed beginner’s guide this week to clipless pedals—how to place cleats, adjust release tension, and survive the first rides without the slow-motion parking-lot tip-over that fells nearly everyone.
The guide, which includes contributions from Denham and former pro turned fitter Becky Quinn, walks riders through the full conversion from flat pedals to clipless pedals.
Why “Clipless” Means the Opposite of What It Says
The terminology trips people up before the hardware does. Clipless pedals are, contradictorily, the system you clip into—the name is a historical leftover, and Bicycling’s explainer leans on the ski-binding analogy to make it stick. Like a ski binding’s DIN setting, pedal systems offer adjustable release settings that determine how much force unclips you.
New riders, the guide notes, usually aren’t weighing Shimano SPD versus SPD-SL, Wahoo Speedplays, Time pedals, or egg-beater designs. Their first thought is simpler: how do I get out of this thing?
And the payoff, per the sources: riding clipped in recruits the hamstrings, hip flexors, and glutes on the upstroke, not just the quads on the downstroke—more musculature per revolution, more power as technique refines. Bicycling is careful with the caveat, though: you don’t need clipless pedals to be a cyclist.
The 3mm Bolt That Decides Everything
Quinn’s setup instructions are the most granular material in the guide. The tensioner sits at the rear of the pedal: a small 3mm bolt, turned counterclockwise to loosen and clockwise to tighten, with a small horizontal pin in a window on the pedal’s back that moves up or down as you adjust.
Most pedals ship at minimum tension out of the box, which Chabonov says makes learning easier—less force to clip in and out. The trap is asymmetry. Confirm the pins sit in the same position on both pedals, or your left and right feet will release differently.
On cleat placement, the guide splits the audience. Riders willing to spend get the professional route—incorrect placement can cause injury, and a fitter also guarantees the cleats aren’t installed upside down. Everyone else starts neutral: cleats centered in the shoe slots, relatively straight, left and right in roughly the same position. Then guess and check. If pain develops, stop pedaling; that’s the cue to visit a trusted shop.
Clip in at 6 O’Clock, Unclip Like You’re Smashing a Bug
The mechanics, per Quinn: start with the pedal at the bottom of the stroke, softly lift the front with your toe so it flips over, toe slightly pointed down. Slide forward until the cleat’s tongue stops on the pedal’s lip, then press down until it clicks—sometimes rotating the heel inward or outward at 6 o’clock to engage fully.
Exit is the mirror image. Leg down to 6 o’clock, heel rotates firmly outward—similar to that of smashing a bug under the ball of your foot,
Quinn says, with the warning not to roll the ankle.
The stop sequence is the guide’s centerpiece. Unclip the foot you’ll put down before you stop—Quinn calls it the most important piece of the puzzle. Keep that foot on the pedal, pedal a half stroke, and once the still-clipped foot reaches 6 o’clock, coast, get your butt off the saddle, hold the rear brake until nearly stopped, then apply the front brake and step down.
Practice Indoors, Fall on Grass, Land on Your Butt
Denham’s indoor prescription: a trainer or a wall, no audience required. The former shop-owner method the guide describes is blunter—clip in, clip out, clip in, clip out through a show or a movie, first looking down, then without looking. Monotonous, and housemates may stare, but it builds the muscle memory that keeps eyes off the feet on the road.
Falls are treated as a rite of passage with a protocol. Grass softens them, and technique matters: if you start to fall over, turn your buttocks so you land on it,
Quinn advises—reaching out an arm risks a broken wrist; the butt is the body’s most padded landing zone. The guide’s author supplies the confessional detail: an early group ride, overconfidence in a parking lot, forgotten unclip, slow tip-over while still attached to the bike.
| System | Typical discipline | Walking hazard noted in guide |
|---|---|---|
| Shimano SPD | General/off-road | — |
| Shimano SPD-SL | Road | Soft dirt and gravel clog road cleats |
| Wahoo Speedplay | Road | — |
| Time | Road/off-road | — |
| Egg-beater style | Off-road (gravel, mountain, cyclocross) | Needs clearance between cleat and sole for mud and sand; shims help |
The Maintenance Details Nobody Mentions Until They Squeak
The guide closes with shop-floor housekeeping: grease or Loctite on cleat bolts, checked regularly, because loose bolts shift cleat position, cause clipping trouble, and produce squeaking. Lube the pedals. Off-road riders should verify mud clearance between cleat and sole. And when in doubt, the local bike shop is positioned as the fallback for the whole system.
What the sources leave open is the timeline—no figure is given for how long the transition takes, only the consensus that repetition indoors shortens the outdoor learning curve. The last word belongs to Quinn’s framing of failure itself: You will fall. We all have done it and it’s okay.
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