Quote Originally Posted by nsandz View Post
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.