clipless pedal falls poll

[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.

[SouthernBelle]

It's just a matter of of removing my foot from the pedal heel first. I don't unclip then put my foot down. I'm not saying I always do it. I often unclip my 'put down' foot a yard or so before I arrive at my stop. Other times I just slide off heel first.

[bmccasland]

When I first started using them I was conscientious of their existence, and always unclipped. It helped that I was riding on a bike path and didn't need to clip in and out several times. Then when I got moderately comfortable, doing a slow roll to meet the group under the office's front door canopy, I forgot to unclip, and fell over. Smashed my face on the concrete steps and broke my nose. Didn't go riding that day.

[Tuckervill]

I'm pretty sure I can get out of my Frogs as quickly as I can get off a platform. It is the exact same action described as required for Power Grips, though I've never used Power Grips.

I went mountain biking with my Frogs for the first time last month. I didn't even think about it before I started off, and then I had a mini panic that I hadn't prepared for riding mountain clipless. Then I figured it out and never fell or had any mishaps.

Karen

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I don't care what kind of pedal you are using (or wearing ), if your bike is tipping to the right and you are STANDING with your weight on the right pedal, there is no possible way to can get that foot off the pedal -- and, of course, vice versa on the left. If you can, please post a video.

I do it all the time, it is quite possible. Like you, I use sort of one sweeping motion which combines taking my 'good' foot out of my strap, moving forward off my saddle and standing on my still-strapped foot while applying the brakes and preparing to plant my landing foot over the ground...all in one motion. Occasionally the bike tips to the unexpected side, and when the bike starts tipping wrong, my landing foot is on the ground already and I whip my other foot out of the pedal strap and get it onto the ground at the last second. I do have to be quick about it though, and it is always a mini-panic moment. I've done this plenty of times, all successfully. But no, I can't 'post a video'.
These days I find that the sooner I get out of the saddle and moving my body forward when approaching the stop, the less likely there is a problem when the bike wants to tip oddly.

If your butt is planted on the saddle or if you can get your weight transferred back to the saddle, this might be possible. I personally have my bike fit so that I have to be standing on one of the pedals and my weight off the saddle to get a foot to the ground. Sometimes the balance can be corrected and sometimes not from a standing position, but it sure isn't by taking the foot off the pedal on the downhill side of the bike. Same concept as highsiding a boat. You have to transfer weight to the opposite side.

Sorry, but my personal experience is otherwise. I can whip my foot out of the strap as the bike is tipping over on that side and get it on the ground just in time to break my fall. And like you, I cannot be in the saddle with my feet on the ground. Maybe I'm just lucky. Or fast.

And, interestingly, I've braked and then unclipped both feet and managed to stop safely. Even accomplished it from the back of a tandem when the pilot's pedal spindle snapped and we didn't know which way the bike was going to lean, and I had to be the one to catch the weight. Even done it in the middle of a stream crossing that was deeper than I thought.

That's impressive and must take a lot of biking skill. Was it like swimming on a horse across a deep stream, where you sort of float over the horse's back while it swam?- I've done that.

I'm pretty sure I can get out of my Frogs as quickly as I can get off a platform. It is the exact same action described as required for Power Grips, though I've never used Power Grips...
Karen

I hear many riders say that Frogs are easier to get in and out of than some other types of clipless. Frogs and mtn shoes are certainly what I would choose to experiment with if I ever did want to go clipless.
There is a range of adjustment with any clipless system wherein you can make it easier or harder to clip in and out. I'm sure lots of people who are having problems just don't have them adjusted optimally. Indeed, it should be a smooth motion to get in and out of them. Sometimes I think the problem happens not so much because someone is not fast enough, but because their system is adjusted poorly so as to make it tricky to get in and out, or there is something else wrong making it hard to get out at the crucial moment.

[Flur]

There is a range of adjustment with any clipless system wherein you can make it easier or harder to clip in and out.

This is actually not the case for Frogs, or for any of the Crank Bros pedals. Frogs actually have no moving parts - this is part of what makes them so easy to get out of. You don't really need to "unclip", you just turn your heel out and you're done. Crank Bros are really easy to get out of too, unless shoe tread is getting in the way, but nothing beats Frogs for making a quick and easy exit.

[SadieKate]

Sorry, Lisa, if I was unclear but if your weight is on your foot on the pedal, you cannot take it off the pedal and put it on the ground. Period. Your weight is on that foot. To move that foot, you must transfer your weight back to the other foot or the saddle . . . . or have wings which still means taking the weight off that foot.

Please try this. Stand, put all your weight on your right foot and lean to the right. Now lean some more. Lean, lean, lean. Now stop yourself from falling without crossing your left foot over your right.

Now repeat on a bike.

[SadieKate]

That's impressive and must take a lot of biking skill. Was it like swimming on a horse across a deep stream, where you sort of float over the horse's back while it swam?- I've done that.

No, it's not impressive. It's just having some basic balance skills. If you can coast on a bike with your feet on the pedals, you can do it. And you don't need a horse to save you.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Sorry, Lisa, if I was unclear but if your weight is on your foot on the pedal, you cannot take it off the pedal and put it on the ground. Period. Your weight is on that foot. To move that foot, you must transfer your weight back to the other foot or the saddle . . . . or have wings which still means taking the weight off that foot.

Please try this. Stand, put all your weight on your right foot and lean to the right. Now lean some more. Lean, lean, lean. Now stop yourself from falling without crossing your left foot over your right.

Now repeat on a bike.

I did your little exercise, but it's different on a bike. With my butt off the saddle, bike stopping, left foot about to hit the ground already, and most of my weight on my right foot in the strap, my hand on the bars, and my bike starts tipping to the right, I can quickly put my left foot on the ground, transfer some weight to my hands and sort of 'hop' my weight off the right foot for a second while I turn it and pull it out of the strap and onto the ground. This all happens in a split second of course. I can't help it if you don't believe me, but that's what I do. "Period".

No, it's not impressive. It's just having some basic balance skills. If you can coast on a bike with your feet on the pedals, you can do it. And you don't need a horse to save you.

Sometimes I felt like I was saving the horse.

[SadieKate]

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.

I don't care what kind of pedal you are using (or wearing ), if your bike is tipping to the right and you are STANDING with your weight on the right pedal, there is no possible way to can get that foot off the pedal -- and, of course, vice versa on the left. If you can, please post a video.

If your butt is planted on the saddle or if you can get your weight transferred back to the saddle, this might be possible. I personally have my bike fit so that I have to be standing on one of the pedals and my weight off the saddle to get a foot to the ground. Sometimes the balance can be corrected and sometimes not from a standing position, but it sure isn't by taking the foot off the pedal on the downhill side of the bike. Same concept as highsiding a boat. You have to transfer weight to the opposite side.

And, interestingly, I've braked and then unclipped both feet and managed to stop safely. Even accomplished it from the back of a tandem when the pilot's pedal spindle snapped and we didn't know which way the bike was going to lean, and I had to be the one to catch the weight. Even done it in the middle of a stream crossing that was deeper than I thought. You just have to practice low speed balance.