How many times have you fallen?

[skywalkerbeth]

How are you lowering yourself from the saddle as you slow to a stop?

My clicked in (bottom) foot is on the pedal, as low as it goes, and it is the "step-stool" I use to lower myself from the saddle so I can reach the ground with my unclicked (upper) foot. By the time my bike is just about stopped, I'm off the saddle and standing on the bottom pedal with my upper unclicked foot reaching out for the ground, just gliding to the stop with my bottom foot and two hands in contact with the bike.

Is your saddle so low that you can reach the ground without getting off the saddle?

Is your saddle at proper height, but you are tipping the bike over to one side to reach the ground while staying in the saddle?

I'm trying to figure out the physics of what you are doing. Can you run through the steps for me?

ETA: By the way, the above process of getting down from the saddle and stopping is the same one I use regardless of whether I'm on clipless or platforms. As I'm waiting for the light to change, I use the bike-foot to pull the bottom pedal up and ready to push. My ground foot just hangs out on the ground. When it's time to go I give a shove with my ground foot as I push down on the pedal with my bike foot. This lifts me to saddle-height again. I pedal standing a few beats to get a good start, then settle back onto the saddle.

Hello and thanks for the feedback, this is helpful.

I can barely reach the ground with my toes - just just barely - if I am sitting in the saddle. I have to jump off and tip to the side. Saddle is fitted at proper height.

My method right now is:

I see stop sign approaching. My right foot goes to the low to the ground position and I unclick it there and then the right foot is completely free. I'm coasting at this point. Probably coasting for too long to be honest. The left foot comes down and I'm not actually standing on the pedal but I could if I wanted to - left pedal down, foot attached. I come to a stop, sometimes it's still kind of an abrupt stop and I still have to tell myself "lean right". I tip bike over and stand on right foot. I have to tip bike to stand upright on foot.

When it's clear to go, I raise my left foot, spinning it backwards one half turn, and then push off with it. I am coasting through the intersection as I fumble for the right foot. The last ride I started to avoid fumbling in the intersection entirely, leaving the right foot entirely free of the pedal until I made it through the intersection - even using the left foot to pedal alone. Then I'd fumble for the right foot to re-clip once I was clear of the intersection.

Are you actually unclicking the right foot as it is in the upper position? I can only click on and off when that foot is down low. Meaning I am coasting with the right foot low when I unclick and then it's free. Left foot then goes low.

[KnottedYet]

Hello and thanks for the feedback, this is helpful.

I can barely reach the ground with my toes - just just barely - if I am sitting in the saddle. I have to jump off and tip to the side.
.....

I tip bike over and stand on right foot. I have to tip bike to stand upright on foot.

It sounds like you are keeping your butt on the saddle and just tipping the bike over to get your foot to the ground?

Regardless of what kind of pedals you end up using, it might be a good idea to learn how to get on and off the saddle so you can get on and off the bike without having to tip the bike over.

(In other words, get off the saddle before you reach for the ground.)

Perhaps switch back to platforms and take the bike to a vacant parking lot. Keep your left foot on the pedal. Using just your left foot and your hands to contact the bike, practice scooting around pushing with your right foot on the ground. Scoot, stop. Scoot, stop. Just like the scooters we had as kids.

Once you have the scoot under control and can glide a few yards with only your left foot and hands on the bike, practice doing a glide and lifting your butt to the height of the saddle, then lowering your butt. Up, down. Up, down.

Once you have a feel for straightening your leg and using your calf to raise your butt, start actually putting your butt onto the saddle as you glide. Scoot, glide, on, off - scoot, glide, on, off.

Pretty soon you can add "stop" to the mix: scoot, glide, on, off, glide, stop.

Then add pedalling: scoot, glide, on, pedal, off, glide, stop.

You might find you like your clipless pedals a lot more when you can stop the bike without having to use a controlled topple-over to reach the ground. It's much easier if you just step down with your butt already off the saddle, and you have plenty of time to unclip beforehand.

ETA: yes, I unclip my ground foot when it is at the top of the pedal stroke, and my bike foot is at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Once I'm unclipped I'm ready, nothing has to switch positions before I stop.

[skywalkerbeth]

Hi

I should have clarified - butt is off saddle, and the reason I lean so much is that I just don't trust that if I try to be upright that I won't accidentally list left and go down. A pronounced lean to the right means I ain't going left, no way!

Another stupid thing: I hate that the chamois sometimes gets caught in the saddle tip as I try to re-mount! I wonder if I should have gotten just one skosh smaller bike - the seat is pretty high.

NY Biker - yeah, they're coming off. This is silly to worry about this when I'm trying to have fun.

[KnottedYet]

I wonder if I should have gotten just one skosh smaller bike - the seat is pretty high.

Lower the saddle a bit if it is too high right now.

Take a look at your seatpost, and follow it down to where it inserts into your bike frame at the seat tube of the frame.

You will either find a collar with a lever, or you will find a collar with a bolt with a hex socket in it. OR you may find a pair of bunny-ears that are pinched together with a bolt.

Put a little pencil mark on your seat-post about 1/8 inch above the collar. Loosen the bolt a teeny bit with a hex key, and slide the post gently until your mark meets the collar. Check that the saddle nose is still pointing straight ahead, then tighten the bolt back up with the hex key.

If you found a lever (quick release) instead of a bolt, pull the lever handle away from the bike frame. It should be really tough to pull! Slide the post down to your mark, check that the saddle is straight, and then push the lever back to the frame. It should be really tough to push shut!

Try riding again with the saddle at your new mark. If you still think it is too high in a day or two, repeat the process.

As far as the tippy bike is concerned, if you get really good at scooting the bike, you can pull it back in the direction you want it to go if it starts to tip the wrong way. Find a grassy field and practice leaning the bike one way and then the other underneath you while you stay upright over the bike. I learned to ride in a cow pasture and then was on gravel roads long before I ever got to ride on asphalt, which I think is the best way to learn! (find a cow pasture )

Chamois will get caught in the saddle tip if you are not lifting yourself high enough to clear it before pushing your butt back, or if the shorts are too big so the chamois is poking out, or if the saddle is just too high for you to clear it no matter what.

ETA: Here's Sheldon: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html Scroll down a ways, he gives much better directions than I did!

[buffybike]

Twice. Once on my first group ride with the clipless pedals and another time a year later when I had to stop unexpectantly on a steep uphill incline. Nothing hurt either time but my ego.