Ms. Coordinated Here. Falling with Clipless Pedals

[Yelsel]

Ugh! I was just convinced by my boyfriend and the local bike shop owner that going clipless was the best thing for me. So I did, and now I have fancy new pedals and shoes...I hate it! I am reluctant to ride my bike now. EVERYTIME I ride I fall off at some point. Not only is that embarrassing but it hurts too, I always get bruises and cuts. I have a ton of advice from multiple sources on how to avoid falling but I don't think technique is the problem. I panic real easily while riding clipless I am afraid a car will cut me off, or a child will run out in front of me, or I will just fall over in the middle of an intersection. I know these are unlikely, but I panic nonetheless. I don't like being scared of riding my bike. Whenever I panic I cannot get my foot un-clipped. I hope one day soon this will stop otherwise I am going back to my sucky regular pedals

Also try adjusting the springs so that you can get out really easily. Whenever you feel nervous, you should be able to unclip and move your foot up slightly... then if you need to put your foot down suddenly you can, or when you feel confident the issue has passed you can slide back and clip. Also consider a clipless system with a big platform -- I learned on Crank Brothers Mallets.

And I was in the slow group, I fell all the time at first with clipless pedals. But *I* wanted to use them, so I was motivated to keep going until I figured it out. If it is just your LBS and bf's opinion, go back to the pedals you like. If you need more power, or for longer trips, look into the half-cages that you can easily slip your feet in and out of - or again get something with a big platform so you can clip in on bike paths if you want. Get more confident in riding in traffic, and someday if *you* want to, try out clipless again.

[nsandz]

Also try adjusting the springs so that you can get out really easily. Whenever you feel nervous, you should be able to unclip and move your foot up slightly... then if you need to put your foot down suddenly you can, or when you feel confident the issue has passed you can slide back and clip. Also consider a clipless system with a big platform -- I learned on Crank Brothers Mallets.

And I was in the slow group, I fell all the time at first with clipless pedals. But *I* wanted to use them, so I was motivated to keep going until I figured it out. If it is just your LBS and bf's opinion, go back to the pedals you like. If you need more power, or for longer trips, look into the half-cages that you can easily slip your feet in and out of - or again get something with a big platform so you can clip in on bike paths if you want. Get more confident in riding in traffic, and someday if *you* want to, try out clipless again.

Just for the record, no one forced me, it was suggested a lot and finally I decided (on my own) to give it a try. I do like having clipless for the reason that when I am using them right I am able to go faster and hills are easier for me to do with them. The other issue is that I am training to ride longer as next year we want to go cross country on our bikes, and from what I am told it will be more advantageous to have clipless for a long journey. Do you think that is true? Anyway I don't feel that I was forced, and I do see the use and feel the difference, but my confidence is not there at all. But I will try your suggestions and am happy that you made them.

[abejita]

So tuesday, I got my speedplay lightaction pedals installed on my bike. I rode 3 or 4 miles around the neighborhood, stopping at each block to practice unclipping and stopping.

So yesterday, hubs and I take off for the lake. We turned the corner of our street up on and my chain totally freezes up and I can't move my pedals at all. (chain suck) I manage to unclip my foot, but I put my toe down (with the metal cleat) instead of my heel (with the rubber sole) and slip and end up laying on my side in the street with my tires spinning. To make matters even better...when I slipped, I hit the topbar of my bike with my pubic bone so hard that I now have an 1 1/2 cut on my girly bits. I was so pissed because I've had this issue with my bike since day one and have brought it in at least 5 times for them to fix it. Rode my bike home, standing up, and put it on the rack on the truck and brought it back to the shop.

I am right handed and have driven a standard all my life. Unclipping my left foot seems very natural to me.

[Cataboo]

Chain suck's nasty and can be hard to get rid of... But when you get it, instead of trying to pedal forwards, pedal backwards a little bit and see if you can undo it before your chain gets completely wedged in.

[abejita]

The bike is only 4 wks old and I have been having problems since day one. Mostly with the chain on the back derailleur jumping around when I am not shifting, but I've had other minor chain suck incidents before this one too. It has a year warranty, so they are either going to have to fix it or get me a new bike.