An Unfortunate Update On OneUp Clip Pedals

I recently gave OneUp’s Clip Pedal’s a positive review, but told y’all I’d update you if anything changed.

Unfortunately, I did not test these pedals in the mud. I have found that these pedals will not release if any kind of grit accumulates on the pedal’s binding or cleat.

I rode today at Ride Rock Creek a shuttle-access downhill park in Zirconia, North Carolina. Conditions were typical Southeastern freeze thaw. The soil at the park is a mixture of clay and sandy loam. In my previous tests of these pedals, I tested them on trails
I know well and thus didn’t get off my bike much. At the bike park you spend more time walking, whether it’s waiting in the shuttle line, or scoping out trail features. My cleats must have picked up some of this mud and when my friends stopped at trail intersections I found myself unable to unclip and fell over. This happened not once, but twice. While on the ground I attempted to unclip and found it very difficult. I sat there for a few moments like a turtle on it’s back. This ruined my confidence in this pedal, knowing that I might not be able to unclip in an emergency.

While this type of mud is thick and turns to a concrete-like substance when dry, I’ve used Shimano SPD pedals for over 15 years and never had this happen. I’ve raced cyclocross and XC in horrid conditions and have never had this issue. With SPD pedals, you typically can’t clip with muddy cleats, but you can get out of the pedals without issue.

If I had to guess, I would say the tight tolerance of these pedals does not allow for any kind of foreign material. Unfortunately, this makes these pedals unrideable to me and will be going back to Shimano Saint’s for the time being. As an experiment I will try to recreate these conditions with the OneUp pedals and Shimano
SH51 cleats. I have been using the OneUP cleats. Again, I’ll report back, but I’m bummed out to report this