clipless pedal falls poll

[SadieKate]

I'm a hybrid, so I can't really vote.

• I have never fallen on a road bike with clipless pedals. . . .

The poll didn't specify the type of bikes involved.

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.

[Tater]

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.

[fastdogs]

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

[Aint Doody]

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.

[SouthernBelle]

- would you have time to unclip in those cases?
vickie

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.

[Lifesgreat]

There is nothing like the feeling of knowin' your goin' down and there isn't a thing you can do about it.

[Crankin]

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.

[cwodiva]

I've fallen twice! Once in the very beginning, six years ago, at a stop light. And once last year when the screw of my cleat fell off during a ride, I went to unclip and my shoe just slid around without unclipping. I fell and then I had to get out of my shoe, and then take the bike with still shoe attached to my pedal to the bike shop for them to get if off. Yeah, I think the guys were laughing at me after I left . Moral of story: Make sure you check those screws (the ones that connect the cleat thing to your shoe) periodically ladies!

[alpha_omega]

Apologies for resurrecting a slightly old thread, but I wanted to share my experience with clipless pedals and what I have learned in hopes that others might avoid the mistake I made.

I have been lucky enough to only fall once with clipless pedals, the first day I got them. The reason for my fall - lack of speed. At least if you're a road biker, you usually have plenty of forewarning about when you need to stop, so clip one foot out early while you still have a good bit of momentum, then stop yourself with one foot ready to brace you.

The temptation I had when starting out (and what I've seen most people try) is to go slow while still trying to figure out your new pedals. With momentum on a bike comes balance and time you need to unclip. If I could do it over again, i would get to a large, abandoned parking lot, clip in with one leg, start pedaling, clip in with the other, pedal some more, unclip one leg, apply the brakes, set one leg on the ground, unclip the other, and place both legs on the ground. Voila, you've just figured it out.

I also really like the idea others have mentioned about riding with one cleated shoe and one normal shoe while learning, but at some point you're going to have to strap that other shoe on, so remember, keep that speed up and you'll be fine.

Hope that helps.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

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.

Hmmm...I'd think if that were true then no one would ever be falling over at intersections and stop lights after riding clipless for a while....yet plenty of people still do on occasion.

[jobob]

Oh, come on. Once in a while even an experienced rider has a brain fart. IMO that's not a reason to simply write off clipless pedals.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Oh, come on. Once in a while even an experienced rider has a brain fart. IMO that's not a reason to simply write off clipless pedals.

I never said it was.

However, it is one of several reasons I decided not to ride clipless.

I was questioning the statement that if you were used to clipless you could "remove your foot about as quickly as you would just remove your foot from a platform". If I were wearing simple platform pedals (which I don't) there is no way I would ever fall at a stop simply because the bike started tipping to the wrong side unexpectedly. My other foot would come off the pedal and down immediately and keep me from falling. It's happened plenty of times.

Interestingly, the only time I have ever fallen was when I first got my PowerGrip straps. I had been used to simple platform pedals and I had not yet practiced turning my heel out to remove it from the strap yet. The straps are quite snug when your foot is in them and straight. So I went to a vacant parking lot and at my very first stop attempt, I stupidly tried to remove BOTH feet from the straps at the same time, AFTER putting on the brakes. Like DUH. I went over slow motion at a standstill, just like with clipless. After that one time I realized I only needed to take out one foot (with the back of my mind ready for the second if the bike tipped wrong).
With the straps I never have to worry about not being able to remove my foot in time due to some glitch or maladjustment. Happily, I can always get them out in time when the bike tips unexpectedly in the wrong direction. I realize this is just my own experience and may not apply to others.