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I have less than 10 hours on SPD pedals. Unclipping is becoming more and more intuitive (I no longer fall to the side when stopping at a traffic light). While it still intimidates me to jump with clips, cornering needs to be done.

When I approach a corner, regardless if on asphalt or on the trail, I look into the exit, rotate my head, chest and hips towards the exit, stay centered on the bike, but tilt the bike.

My concern is that by rotating my hips I will accidentally unclip, dropping my foot to the ground in the most dangerous part of the turn. Do I need to worry about this, and if so, how to prevent it?

PS: My pedals are mixed SPD/plaform pedals and the shoes are Cube AM.

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    Wow, that seems very technical. Just do it. If you are unclipping unintentionally then use the adjustment screw to tighten them.
    – andy256
    May 5, 2015 at 11:02
  • Clips should no significantly alter you cornering technique. How did your feet stay on the pedals before clips?
    – mattnz
    May 5, 2015 at 22:09
  • It should be noted that, in addition to moving side-to-side and back-and-forth, the plates can be rotated relative to long axis of the shoe. If you are slightly pigeon-toed, you should generally rotate the plates clockwise on the left and CCW on the right (as you view the bottom of the shoe). If splay-footed, rotate the other way. (Just a little will do you.) This adjustment will often help alleviate unintended unclips.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    May 6, 2015 at 0:43

1 Answer 1

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Don't worry about things that haven't happened.

Most people new to clipless are worried about the exact opposite. "Will I be able to unclip if things go south in a turn?"

Eventually you will get to the point where clipping in/out is completely unconscious.

Having said all that, if unclipping when you don't want to really becomes a problem, look into getting a setup with more "float". Float is the angle at which the cleat releases. SPD cleats come in different versions with different float.

You can also get pedal with more float that standard SPD's.

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