SPD vs. SPD-SL: Which unclips most easily? I got my first real road bike a few weeks ago, and am now hearing from my local bike club fellows that I should get some clipless pedals. A quick Internet search reveals that the main types are SPD and SPD-SL, and that shoes made for one type cannot be used with the other. That's not really a problem, since prices seem to be about the same for the whole pedals + shoes package. Being new to this, I am concerned about not being able to unclip in time to avoid falling over, and for this reason if there is a definite difference in ease of unclipping, I'm heavily in favor of whichever one is easier. So in the experience of those of you who have used both types, which is easiest to unclip?

All road and mountain style clipless pedals are actually easy to unclip from _if_ you twist your heel outwards. You need to build muscle memory so you unclip without thinking about it when you need to get your foot down. What I advise people to do is 'unclipping drills' - ride around in a safe area and repeatedly unclip and touch the ground with alternating feet, say every few crank rotations. When on 'real' rides be mindful to unclip early when you need to stop.

You can make a decision between road and mountain shoes and pedals. In addition to the points ojs made, road pedals are generally lighter and offer more support underneath the foot, but they are harder to get into as they are one sided.