I'm curious how many of us have fallen from clipless pedals?
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I'm curious how many of us have fallen from clipless pedals?
Twice while learning--once when tired and stupid! (Luckily the bike was new so retuning/unbending was free at the bike shop! Although, they very politely informed me "it looks like the bike has been on the ground." :) I said "new clipless pedals" and she smiled as she handed me my bike!)
Im so glad that I bought used for my first road bike. My bike has so many scratches from me falling over from clipless pedals. My last fall was a few weeks ago when I hadnt ridden in a couple weeks. I got on my bike, rode to the end of my road and went to stop for traffic and bam I went over. It hurt so bad! I bet ive fallen at least 4 times since I started riding in August.
I fell a few times last summer when I first got them. This summer only once when some guy was turning in front of me and at the last second I didn't think he was going to yield to me going straight. So I slammed the brakes on and fell. Had I not been tired from the previous 35 miles, I may have just turned with him and waited until he passed then backtracked to the rode I was on. But I didn't think that fast. More damaging to the ego as his passenger laughed at me. ERRRRRR, I just swore under my breath and got back up and headed home. :)
It took me more than a year to finally try them. I fell in the school yard and it hurt so i signed up for a private lesson and never fell again. I practice unclipping even now, more than a year later, to make sure I won't forget because I don't want to fall.
There's a danger with saying "it happens to everyone," because then people don't try as hard as they should to avoid it. But I think it happens to almost everyone, and almost all of the time it's only our pride that gets hurt.
My stupidest F.U. (failure to unclip) remains the time when a riding buddy had a minor crash in the front of the group. Everyone managed to avoid him, but in the confusion as we all stopped to make sure he was OK, I thought I had unclipped, and didn't find out that I actually hadn't until I went to put my foot down. :p
None of the above. I almost fell when I first used them, but the only two times I really fell were after riding for two years. Once when I was leading a club ride (I actually had my other foot on the ground, I'll never know how come I fell to the other side!!) and once when I was riding on gravel and couldn't unclip as I performed a very slow-motion tumble, trying somehow to protect the new white Jett saddle that I hated and needed to return to the store intact!
I felt better after my only fall that caused an injury, when a co-worker described a very similar fall at a red light while she was in graduate school. As I began comparing the falls she said, oh no, you missed the point, I didn't have clipless pedals, I just forgot to put my feet down. I still crack up at the thought of that. :)
There isn't a choice where I was so used to it, forgot that I was still clipped in and fell over while track standing.
I was waiting for the light to turn green, was chatting with a friend and I forgot I was doing the track stand. oopppsie-daisy I went over in a slow-mo.
I was embarassed and laughing. My friend just shook his head laughing. My bike didn't get a scratch and I didn't get a scratch. But just too funny. I even did the bunny hop thing to try to regain my balance but to no avail. woohhh... hop hop... over I went... then laughing pretty good on the pavement. :o
Actually, clipless has saved me on few occasions. Toe-clips and cage were not so friendly. There you are really locked in. Got a reach down and release the strap, roll your foot to unlock, then pull back. I prefer clip-less so much easier and safer.
Smilingcat
No falls from the frogs yet. When I first got the bike, I made sure my routes always went through a section of bike trail that had 5 stop signs in less than a mile, so I could practice. And I always practice and use either foot.
I know I will fall, though. My right ankle is kinda wonky. At the end of a really long ride, sometimes I can't turn my heel the minimal amount needed to unclip.
When I get to that point, I will ride in boots. That's what I wear for my mountain bike rides.
I have fallen in clipless pedals - but it wasn't that I forgot to unclip - it's that the cleat got stuck (cheap Look clones that wore significantly in just a few rides). Knock on wood, I haven't had a problem otherwise...
I didn't vote since none of the options really fit...
CA
Oh, I guess I should have put another line: I fell after having clipless pedals for a long time.
I don't know how to edit the poll, sorry!
Surprisingly enough, I really didn't fall when I very first started to use them. I feel when something changed from my pedal exit that I didn't expect. On the road, a cleat that released differently than what I had. Trail, couldn't get a foot down fast enough on an obstacle I knew I couldn't clear (dhrrr... crash at the RR x-ing gate vs. on the train tracks:rolleyes:).
I think that was one of the best pieces of advice I ever got at a lbs... plan ahead for the stop, and get a foot out a ways ahead, not right when you are on top of it.
I had one stall and fall since I started riding. It wasnt at the beginning either. I was so focused on figuring out what was creaking on my bike I leaned to the side where I had not unclipped yet.
I agree! It's saved me more than I've fallen. More than once I've had to slam on my brakes, and if I hadn't been clipped in--my feet would have come off the pedals. When I'm clipped in, I can start pedaling again without falling over.Quote:
Originally Posted by smilingcat
I find this post incredibly funny because I have STOPPED using clipless for the many times I have fallen in them. Sure they are a great benefit to biking but I prefer to stay in one piece, and for me, that means no more clipless.
I agree with Smilingcat. Sure there's a learning curve with any pedal system, but being able to get out of your pedals without taking your hands off the bars is a HUGE safety improvement.
I fall and I have clipless pedals, but clearly the falls are user error, and not really the pedals' fault. Except once, when I swear that there was some sort of gravitational shift, which clearly wasn't my fault.
I've only fallen once since I got my pedals. It happened because I panicked. A car cut across my path and I had to stop suddenly. I unclipped on the left and leaned to the right (the side I usually unclip on). By the time I realized what I'd done it was too late. The thing about this is that I would have done the same thing with toe clips. I've fallen with toe clips so I know how fast I can get my foot out when the other foot is already out and there's no way I would have been faster with toe clips.
So I have to say I've never fallen because of my pedals. They actually have probably saved me a few times b/c they're easier to get into and out of.
I haven't posted in forever- been off the bike because of a car accident- but I have been lurking here occasionally. Just started riding again! I use clipless while mountain biking and wouldn't ride with out them. Occasionally I have fallen on the trail for not unclipping quite in time. And I have had one in-the-parking-lot-forgot-I-was clipped-in fall. My most spectacular crash was an over-the-bars due to hitting an unexpected drop-off while I was behind the saddle and I hit the front brake too hard. My whole bike and I did a somersault, before I landed on my back. I'm not sure when I actually unclipped, but that was certainly not the pedals' fault! I love clipless. Better climbing, better control, and no laying your shin open to the bone when a foot slips (my husband did that this summer).
I don't use clipless systems. I like it that way.
I wiped out at the first stop sign I encountered my first time out with clipless. That was a few years ago and I thought I had them down pat until a month ago when I coasted into the drive way, eased up next to my hubby and promptly tipped over in slow motion because I forgot to unclip. Duh! I blame that one on him! Like Fatbottomedgurl, I too, love clipless and won't ride any other way.
I fell on my Christmas morning ride on Fatty Lumpkin. I had to re-enact laying in the road in front of my house for the family. They couldn't believe it.
I fell a few times at first, but after I had been riding a bit, I fell because I had bad pedals. They wouldn't let my foot loose and I went over... not too badly banged up, but boy was I mad!:mad: My DH was great and got me knew ones since I didn't have a clue what was good and what wasn't.:o
I don't ride with clipless pedals--I'm still using the ancient technology of toe clips. Just when I think that maybe I should switch, I read things like this and wonder why on earth anyone would want to try them! FWIW, I've never fallen as a result of the toe clips, and I also don't have to use my hands to get myself out of them--I have them set up so they are plenty tight but can get in and out just by slipping my foot in the cage. I only adjust them when I'm wearing a different pair of shoes.
Sarah
My husband has toe clips and adjusts them exactly the same way- they are quite snug on his shoe, yet he doesn't need to reach down or use his hand to slip his foot in and out. It's cool.Quote:
Originally Posted by sfa
On the road bike a few times but I also fell with toe cages. I find them much more dangerous myself. I still cannot unclip right side much to my husband's frustration.
On my trail bike I have had a couple falls for failure to unclip. I now just leave the left unclipped. I don't like the pedal system but am not ready to try another. Maybe I should just get a platform for the left side? How Fred could that be? And would I really care? Nope.
DH had the foresight to have me practice in the yard before he sent me out on the road.
I have fallen several times on my mountain bike. Mostly what happens is I'm going so slow on a climb, I go to unclip with my right foot . . . then fall to the left.
I have fallen off my bike once since I started riding in March 2007. The time I fell was not in the beginning... but when I when into the grass and couldn't get out and couldn't get unclipped!:eek: I just felt into the grass, so it was not a big deal.
but I would never think of anything but clipless pedals... I love the feelling of being clipped in:D It makes me feel strong:p:D
I don't see an option for "I've only fallen once and it wasn't in the beginning"
I'm a hybrid, so I can't really vote.
- I have never fallen on a road bike with clipless pedals. Not when I first tried one 15 years ago, not when I started cycling for real. I had a near-hit last spring but that was out of stupidity, after what, 6000 km of cycling.
- I have fallen twice so far on my new MTB. Go figure. Once from "technical difficulties" i.e. panic on the trail, once from new cleats and pedals too tight, in alliance with stupidity.
I haven't fallen on my commuter bike, I clipped on it (prior to the ankle problem).
I tried it on the mtn bike. It just didn't work. Maybe as I get alot stronger I will be able to mash through rock gardens, but I'm not at the power I would like to be, I think that has a lot to do with it plus my wonky feet and knee.
I also can't imagine riding with platforms or even cages over clipless. I tried cages once on my mountain bike and it was a disaster. I love my clipless pedals, makes such a huge difference when I'm trying to climb steep hills on the trails.
The poll didn't specify the type of bikes involved.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpinerabbit
I fell a couple of times when I first started seriously road riding but once was a stupid U-turn move on my part that I'd probably do today without thinking and the other was because someone pushed me into a pothole as we were starting up at a stoplight.
I don't recall ever falling on my mtb due to the pedals. Lots of other reasons for falls, but not the pedals.
I hated cages and definitely fell because of those. And riding on platforms is equally scary as I have a hard time keeping my feet on the pedals at times, and there are times when a hard one-legged pull up on the pedal has saved my tookas.
Ditto with me! I found cages to be more dangerous, but that was just my experience with them. Riding platforms I am more liable to play 'outrigger' and end up hurting myself rather than just staying with the bike.Quote:
Originally Posted by SadieKate
I've only been riding for a year and a half, mountain biking for less than that. I've never tried clipless.
My friend got me some toe clips for my birthday this year, and I put them on my hybrid.
I really liked them, and was quite proud of never having fallen in them, when I had my first fall. Just forgot I was in them when I stopped, and toppled over onto the grass laughing.
The next time I fell wasn't funny, and scared me out of using them- I've taken them off the hybrid and gone back to platforms.
I was trying out a new route and changed my mind and decided to go back the way I'd come, and started to turn around. But a car was coming, so I stopped to wait and forgot I had my feet in the clips. I was at the top of an asphalt driveway with a steep downhill slope, and fell that way.
It hurt so bad I had to just stand for a while and wait for the pain to ease off so I could ride again. I still have some spectacular bruises all over my right side, and my knee is very sore to put weight on (kneeling or crawling up on a tailgait or something).
I never tried the toe clips on the mountain bike, because I still just simply fall over sometimes- in sand or mud, or when trying to climb a steep slope- would you have time to unclip in those cases?
vickie
In spite of falling several times in the beginning, I cannot imagine riding without the clipless pedals. I don't even think about unclipping any more. I do it subconsciously, I guess.
None of the poll replies fits me. I fell once, but not when I was learning to use them. I was just distracted when pulling into my driveway, didn't turn to the right fast enough, ended up in the grass and, when I knew I was about to go over, started getting the right foot unclipped, because that's what I'm used to unclipping when I stop .... however I was falling to the LEFT, so I over I went! :D
My dh has fallen at a red light from not unclipping in time.
Once you learn to use them you unclip and remove your foot about as quickly as you would just remove your foot from a platform.Quote:
Originally Posted by fastdogs
There is nothing like the feeling of knowin' your goin' down and there isn't a thing you can do about it.
I never fell while learning to use clipless. The one time I did fall, was about 6 months later. I was stopping at a light, on a slight uphill. I still hate those kinds of intersections, because I feel like I can't get started. Anyway, I am not sure what I did, but all I know is that I was lying in the middle of Rt. 62 and 117 in Stow, still clipped in. My bars were all twisted and my knee was trashed. My husband was able to get the bars fixed with his tools, but it was embarrassing.
I hate riding without being clipped in. I have campus pedals on my hybrid and mountain bike. I suck at mountain biking, so unless it's really non-technical, I tend to ride with one foot not clipped in... someday I will learn.
About a month ago I was riding my hybrid to the train station. I decided to wear regular shoes, so I wouldn't have to deal with changing shoes, etc, before getting on the train to the city (my ride is like 4 miles). I was stopped in a long line of cars making a left in Concord Center. When it was my turn to go, I could not get going! With one foot on the ground and the other on top of the pedal, it just seemed, well, not right! My foot flew off the pedal. Very awkward and embarrassing. And the ride home, besides being my first night time ride was torture, because it's all up hill.