Help! I can't get shoe off of clipless pedal!
 

So I finally got my shoes for the spd pedals and I tried to clip them in before even putting them on the bike without paying attention to their "handedness" if you will. So I have the right shoe on the left pedal and I'm pretty sure the cleat is backwards and it wont come off. To make things worse, the spring is in the strongest position and I can't get to it cause the shoe is in the way.

I was thinking about disassembling the pedal (there's a screw that holds the spring), but I'm worried if that spring comes loose, there's no way I'll be able to put it back together again.

What do I do?! I'll add a picture in a bit.

Put ur foot in the shoe and make the shoe tight u should be able to click it off sometimes with just the hand trying to get it off it is not enough force good luck

Use brute force.

Let this be a lesson to you. This is what you LBS is for. Going clipless was a enormous leap of faith for me, so when I decided to move forward, I let the experts do the heavy lifting. I didn't even buy the pedals from them (I did buy their shoes), and they did all the assembly for me. Even put me on the trainer and let me practice clipping in/out until I felt comfortable. I still fell though. :(

I wear street shoes. Then again that's okay on a Schwinn cruiser.

I used to have my own bowling shoes until my best friend's father who ran a bowling alley died and I wore them to his funeral.

You can't really access the screws that hold the spring in place. You can probably access the tension screw that sets the tension on the spring. This usually has a stop on it so you can't completely unscrew it. Loosen this screw up significantly. You might be able to twist the shoe out of the pedal at that point.

If not, put a flat blade screwdriver against the rear plate from below and pry the release mechanisms a little further out. You may have to twist the shoe as well. The mechanism is fairly robust so you can put a fair amount of leverage on it without causing damage to the pedal.

Which direction did you install the cleats?

They should look like an arrow with the point of the arrow pointing towards your toe.

The spring and clip part of the pedal should go towards the rear.

As mentioned above, the first thing would be to loosen the tension at the rear of the pedal if you can reach it. Loosening it won't hurt anything, and if you are new with the clipless pedals, it may not be a bad idea anyway.

If the pedal isn't attached to a crank arm, that may help a bit too.

Brute force it. It isn't going to break. Maybe see if there is enough room to slide in a big flathead screwdriver and pry the clamps open.

:foo:

Other than maybe a precision fitting if your physciology or performance necessitates it, setting up SPD is easy peasy. Cleats on shoes (two bolts each) back out tension screw on pedals, and slowly turn tension screw in a click or two at a time until you get a pressure you like.

Put a long lever in the shoe, like a 3 ft plastic pipe, and just twist it off. The cleats don't have a handedness, and the right vs. left shoe is irrelevant (unless your feet are in them). It is also impossible to put them in backwards.

Just twist it off.

When you get them off, set the tension screws on the pedals to their lowest settings, put your feet in the shoe of the correct chirality, and try again.

So true!
A lot of repairs can be done with some very basic tools and a little research. Took me forever to finally get a bike stand, but after I did it made a world of difference (but that's another topic for another thread).

I'm curious to hear which method ended up working. Seems to me putting your foot in and step-twisting out would be the ticket.

Put your feet in the shoes and ride from the bottom of the bike. The lower center of gravity should make it handle better. If you can reach the handlebars from that position.

The OP says the pedals are not on the bike yet.
If possible put the pedals on the bike. Then try the suggestions above.

Oh Damn! Missed that part... In THAT case, I'd thread them on then do the step in twist out method. It'd be a hassle but doable. Without it being attached to crank, It'd take some serious strength and leverage for some small hard to anchor parts...

I know! Go down to the local gym, set up a sign:

Haha, I did the same thing. I just kept twisting and then it came off.

Best suggestion of the thread yet!

Perhaps this is why Arthur became king.

Clipless pedals.

Everyone just tried to pull the sword out, when all it needed was a little finesse.

Read my comments. LBS provide experience and expertise, particularly valuable for new entrance into the cycling community. Besides, not all of us are mechanically incline.

While I agree that LBSs can provide experience and expertise that is valuable for people new to cycling, I don't think that it is out of line to assume that someone will have a flathead screwdriver. I'm not particularly mechanically inclined, but I do have a flathead screwdriver (among other useful household tools). None of what people are suggesting is out of the scope of anyone with the manual dexterity to attach pedals onto their bike (which it appears the OP was planning on doing).