Commuting - Injuries from clipless pedals

What's the worst injury you have ever sustained from being unable to unclip in time from clipless pedals?

(Yes, this is to win an argument with a partner who worries too much about me riding :) )

Please inform your partner not to worry. The cleats from clipless pedals have better traction on wood flooring and you will be less likely to slip and fall than you would with conventional footware.

Irreversable and painful injury to my pride. I can tell you, once you fall over in public, at a stop sign, or in front of your garage, you carry that weight your whole life. Think... and choose wisely.

I believe that clipless pedals are the best improvement in bicycling since gears were added.

Biggest misconception about clipless pedals: Problems with unclipping makes them dangerous. Actually if you add up all the moments you had a bit of trouble clipping into the pedals and campare it to the amount of trouble you may have had unclipping, clipping in is more of an issue.

I voted "never been injured," but I have been injured while riding on clipless in the past year. The reason I voted that option though is because it had nothing whatsoever to do with the pedals.

Irreversable and painful injury to my pride. I can tell you, once you fall over in public, at a stop sign, or in front of your garage, you carry that weight your whole life. Think... and choose wisely.

Another poll improperly formed - as you can see from this comment - it is the injury to pride that is often the most serious, all others come in a distant second.

Only got clipless pedals a week or so ago, and I haven't fallen yet (contrary to what the bikeshop guy told me). I hafta say that I do get a chuckle whenever I see someone slowing to a near standstill at a stoplight or sign and then fall over because they couldn't unclip. I just hope that never turns out to be me. :D

I've only fallen once that I could attribute to the clipless pedals. I was going about 2 MPH in my driveway, riding over very rutted ice and the wheel caught in a rut while I was turning, and I went over in the snow. When I'm going at any reasonable speed it's a lot easier to maintain control.
At this point my pedals are so loose I'm hardly clipped in. I suppose it's about time for a new set of cleats.

I just hope that never turns out to be me. :D

It will. You don't have to forget to fall over. Sometimes the laws of physics will dump you on your side.

What's the worst injury you have ever sustained from being unable to unclip in time from clipless pedals?

(Yes, this is to win an argument with a partner who worries too much about me riding :) )
The best way to convince them is to let them try it. With some people you can present arguments until universe cools down, and they still will think it's dangerous.

I used clipless pedals on my road bike for about a year before trying them on my mtn bike. I had the tension set too high and fell over in a mtn bike race, scraping my knee. That was in 1993 ['94?].

I practiced on my clipless pedals before I ever left the garage and I don't keep my pedals super tight, so I have never fallen. Now I am probably going down like a bag of hammers on my next ride because I posted this....

I've fallen over at stoplights exactly twice. Once in my driveway. All three times were my fault. I simply forgot to unclip and lost my balance. The looks from the gal in the car I nearly fell on were priceless. I must have looked like a monkey faced martian clown to her judging by her look in my direction. The one time I got right hooked bad enough to hit the car in front of me, I was riding clipless and it was not a factor.

I've fallen 4 times i think. All low or no speed falls. No injuries except for a scrape or two.

i have the spdsl shoe also known as the look pattern and im a beginner looking for a pedal that is very easy to unclip
thank you in advance

I've fallen a few times from clipless - injuries are extremely minor: a slight bruise on the hip and a minor scrape or two on various parts of your body. You get used to it really quick (the pedal release, not the falling part).

If you want a pedal recommendation, go with eggbeaters, simply on the fact that they control the release angle independent of the tension, so they can go with a wide release angle and low tension, making clipping out easier, and they use a brass cleat which is self lubricating when placed against the steel clip, so you never have to worry about lubricating the cleat like you do with SPD style pedals.

It occured to me that you might be wanting to know about how the clipless pedals release the feet when falling for a different reason. Every time I've fallen, I've gone over the handlebars once and slid out on a couple of occasions, my feet have always released from the pedals; I've never finished falling and had my bike still attached to my feet. If you are worried about this though, get pedals that can release both to the outside and the inside. Some, I believe speedplays are one, only release to the outside. These types won't always release in a fall.

I've fallen twice at stop lights/signs. Nothing injured but my pride, thankfully. Once, someone shouted from their car: "Are you OK?" "Yes! *grumble* *brushing barkdust off*".

I'm sorry but I just don't get it. The continuing mystery and angst that seems to surround clipless pedals is baffling to me.

I've been riding clipless on all my bikes for 10 years, Commuter/Road/MTB. I set the tension properly, I maintain them, and I've never had a fall due to not being able to unclip. They are far easier to get out of than toe clips or powergrips, and I just can't imagine my riding experience without the benefit of being clipped in.

Am I missing something?

^^^^
Yea, you are not absent minded and/or uncoordinated ;). It's not the release tension or maintainence which causes people to fall over, it's the difference between pulling up and out on clips, and twisting on clipless.

I'm sorry but I just don't get it. The continuing mystery and angst that seems to surround clipless pedals is baffling to me.

I've been riding clipless on all my bikes for 10 years, Commuter/Road/MTB. I set the tension properly, I maintain them, and I've never had a fall due to not being able to unclip....


I made a similar comment in a similar thread some time ago. One of the other participants in the discussion came back with, "Well, aren't you special." I didn't think so then and I don't think so now. Atleast not with regard to riding with clippless pedals. After two years and a few thousand miles, I have still never fallen because of clipless pedals.

I haven't fallen yet, nor have I changed the tension preset on my Nashbar Rodeo pedals. I have had a couple times where I forgot I was clipped in and probably looked like I was having a seizure while standing on my bike track standing because I was panicing, but no falls yet. My feel always seem to pop out when needed.

I've never used clipless, but I use clips'n'straps (loose, not so tight that you have to pull straps etc. to release the foot) which many people say are worse than clipless in terms of ease of getting a foot out of them. I can't compare them due to the lack of clipless experience, but, if that helps, I've never fallen with them.

I went down once about 8 miles from work. Got nasty strawberry on my knee. When I arrived at work people were giving me horrified looks because of the blood all over my leg.

My pride hurt more than anything because I did it right in front of about 50 cars at a busy intersection.

I've done the "Artie Johnson" about four times in nearly 30 years. . .minor scuffs.

Only got clipless pedals a week or so ago, and I haven't fallen yet (contrary to what the bikeshop guy told me). I hafta say that I do get a chuckle whenever I see someone slowing to a near standstill at a stoplight or sign and then fall over because they couldn't unclip. I just hope that never turns out to be me. :D

Give it a few weeks... It'll happen once you're comfortable enough that you forget you're riding clipless. :p

it is the injury to pride that is often the most serious, all others come in a distant second.

+ 1 :D

or maybe the odd rip in clothing discovered after the pride has been shakily restored to its pouch...

I refuse to vote as I don't want to tempt fate.

The few times that I've fallen because of the clipless, it has been because I've been incredibly inattentive to the cleat... If the cleat is loose, it doesn't matter how skillful you are, you're going down.

I've never been hurt with a clipless related fall. But FWIW, the falls I've had and the falls I've seen can be placed into three categories. 1) Just plain forgetting to unclip and trying to lift the foot off the pedal. Generally happens when riders are less experienced with clipless. 2) Slow moving, not intending to stop and losing balance. I generally unclip when moving slow even if I keep my foot on the pedal. 3) Hardware problems. This seems to involve a 2 screw cleat like crank bros or spd when one of the cleat screws is loose. The cleat rotates on the shoe when you try to disengage the cleat so your normal 15-20 degree release angle becomes a 45-60 degree release angle... Which reminds me I need to check my cleats ...

To the OP - ever slip off a pedal at speed? If so, bring up that point during your discussion with your partner about the safety of clipless pedals. Given the choice of a pedal related fall at 0 to 1 mph because I forgot to clip out vs a pedal related lose of balance, shin/calf whack, probable top tube or seat horn straddle and maybe a fall at 15+ mph - Well, I know which one I'm choosing.

I skinned my knee. owchie! boo hoo hooo!

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I should bring up the slipping argument. That happened to me once. I'm not particularly worried about it. I'm using SPDs on my road bike/commuter, and I also have a pair on my mountain bike. I've fallen a couple of times. Once, when I was going up a steep hill and couldn't make it up, and another time after I first got the road bike, and I was riding it home. Neither has really hurt.

I was carrying a bike frame on my shoulder once, riding clipless. I uncliped my right leg but when I stopped I fell to the left. It just resulted in a little booboo that didn't count as an injury. The frame was pink too, I probably looked little silly before I crashed.

Minor scrapes from a low speed crash. My pride was hurt more than anything.

The only thing injured is pride

The worse thing I hurt when I fell was my pride.



Gas, the price of a can of beans.

I broke my wrist about a year ago while mountain biking with clipless pedals. I now have a plate screwed into my wrist. It was totally my fault. I bought SPD mountain bike pedals and tried them out on my street that same day. At the time, I didn't know that you could adjust the tension. I left the next day for an out of town business trip. I took my bike with me and went off-road in a large park that I had never ridden in before. I failed to make it over an obstacle and was not able to unclip to stop myself from falling onto a boulder. I was going pretty fast and landed with my right wrist between my body and the boulder. When my wrist recovered, I put MTB SPD pedals on the bike that clip in one one side and are platform on the other. I also adjusted the tension so I can get out quickly. These work great and I seldon use the platform side. I recently bought a road bike. I put LOOK pedals on it and put the bike on an indoor cycle trainer to try unclipping. I found the LOOK pedals to be much more difficult to unclip from than the MTB pedals. Someone recommended Speedplay Light Action pedals due to the ease of unclipping with them. I'm thinking about giving them a try. Anyone have experience with this pedal?

I used clips and straps for commuting and touring until 20 years ago when I switched to Look clipless. My only fall related to a foot retention system was with clips and straps: coming to a stop sign and forgetting to release the strap - no injury except my pride. I have used eggbeaters for the past 5 or so years and prefer them to the Look or Shimano types. On a couple of falls they did not release easily, but neither did they cause the fall. I find that by and large they are secure enough to ride comfortably and efficiently, but do release easily in a crisis.

I've fallen over at stoplights exactly twice.

I'm glad it wasn't 2.0837 times. That would be pretty odd. :lol:

I have "almost" fallen over twice. Once at a pharmacy drive-up the first day on clipless. The other time was last week on the sidewalk after riding up to hit the crosswalk button. That was awkward because there was a guy on the corner waving a sign advertising for a pizza place. I usually unclip my right foot, leaving the left clipped in. Both times I had close calls, I was totally stopped, and I was clipped in with the right foot. Both times, the bike fell over but I got out in time without actually eating it.

Did the obligatory "Artie Johnson" the first day I had my pedals. Only got a scraped knee and slightly wounded pride.

My very first set were some old Onza ones. I hadn't sorted the elastomers out yet, and fell over on some cacti. That was a miserable 3 hour ride home. I still ride clipless though. Albeit not Onzas anymore.

Man ... I've done mountain biking with clipless for many years, where you're much more likely to crash and hence need to unclip unexpectedly ... never been injured. I wouldn't worry about it

fell once. was mountain biking and the plate got clogged with mud. said mud then broke my fall.

i inherited two pairs of spd's from my boyfriend: when he finally convinced me to put them on my every-day bike i thought i'd just use them once and a while... and then i never switched them back!