Were you ever afraid of clipless?

[Catrin]

First of all, plenty of people do not clip in on road bikes, there is NO shame on using BMX or other good platform pedals on your road bike. If you want to wait until you are more comfortable with the road bike, especially if it has a different riding position and shifters than you are accustomed to there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

Practicing on the trainer will certainly help you get used to the action required without the fear of falling over and that is a GOOD thing Do this as often as you can...then when you've practiced so much on the trainer that you are sick of it, then take it to a nice empty parking lot somewhere and do it some more.

I think that most of us had some level of the same fear when moving to clipless, I certainly did and indeed I still wonder if I can unclip/act quickly enough in an emergency situation. I THINK I can, but unless something happens (hopefully not) I won't actually know.

[BC2COCyclist]

Thing is...I eat it on platform-pedal bikes, too, so I don't know what I'm so scared of, LOL. I often tip over when getting on or off one of my bikes cause I'm extremely clumsy.

That said, my hardcore roadie DH does slow-speed tip overs, too, generally with an audience so I'm in good company there. Last time, a patch of sand got him.

I think, after using the pedals on the trainer a LOT! I should move to parking lots etc (like you suggested) on one of my crappy bicycles, long before I get the road bike as if I put a ding on my 21 year old kuwahara MTB (that I got for FREE LOL) I'm not going to do much crying about it. If I put a ding on a brand new $2000.00 road bike, I might need counselling, you know?

I once got my front wheel caught in traintracks that were ummm indented on a bike path when I was commuting home from my (crappy) ex-job. Slow-mo, I knew I was screwed, tipped over, scraped some spots, banged my elbow and squashed my foot underneath my (steel) hybrid. I'm the queen of dumb wipeouts etc.

[surgtech1956]

Yes, I was afraid of clipless pedals, toyed with the idea of buying some for a couple of months. Best thing I ever did. I have Shimano RD540s. I have mine adjusted so they release easily/quickly. I think they are much easier to use then 'toe clips'.