Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Have you...

...handed in your application to the 0mph Clipless Fall Club A.K.A. "Oh, Sugar!"

Well I bought the bike and the clipless business at the end of May - and finally my knees are not scabby! One fall was as I was stopping in front of the ladies room door at the Silver Comet Trail . Bam fell down! These 2 women were looking at me and were quite shocked.


Edited - I guess i better say I fell like 5 times - once in front of a car that thank goodness stopped instead of hitting me... Buthave been fall free for a number of rides now...but am always aware of the way i am leaning and standing at traffic lights...and still feel so excited when I clip in after the light.

I guess I belong..I fell once...luck I was near some grass.....Hard to get those shoes out the first few rides...I think I have it down now...well I hope or I'll be down again....

Count me in! I bought my shoes on Saturday and Sunday I was in the club. In my driveway no less! I'm glad I'm not the only one.

...handed in your application to the 0mph Clipless Fall Club A.K.A. "Oh, Sugar!"

I voted no, then again it's not an option at the moment, no clipless pedals.....

Yep, my 0mph fall happened on a group ride, of course, in front of only 50 other cyclists. My only consolation is the guy that laughed the hardest slipped on his road cleat and did 0 MPH fall while standing over his bike with both pedals already unclipped and did the splits......until his top tube stopped him, whereupon he let out this little squeak and fell over like Artie Johnson on the tricycle from the Laugh In days. :p

Karma.......ain't she a hard mistress? ;)

not yet because luckily there have been a car next to me the few times ive almost tipped over haha

Is this a good place for me to tell the story of my knocking Uncadan off his bike when we first met? :)

...handed in your application to the 0mph Clipless Fall Club A.K.A. "Oh, Sugar!"

I wrote about my clipless fall back in April of last year. I gave up clipless three months later for unrelated reasons.

Yes, the very first time I clipped-in.

#4 Other

No need to hand in forms... I have a lifetime membership.

Ditto here, a buddy of mine and the instructions never mentioned that they came fully tensioned. Went out for a ride with no tools to make this rather important adjustment. Fell like six times on that ride. After the sixth time I started looking for trees to cling to just to be able to wrench my foot out. My hips were bruised for weeks.

I use clipless, and yes the learning curve will get you when you least expect it, I was at a stop light track standing and the next thing I know I am flat on my back, hands still on the bar feet still clipped in, wheels pointing straight up in the air.

I've been running clipless for a few months now and have yet to preform the 0mph fall. I have done the panic giggle at a stop once but thankfully I have my tension set really low and was able to get my foot out and down before falling completly over.

Course I type this now and tomorrow there will be a thread about my first clipless fall :lol:

Yep, my 0mph fall happened on a group ride, of course, in front of only 50 other cyclists. My only consolation is the guy that laughed the hardest slipped on his road cleat and did 0 MPH fall while standing over his bike with both pedals already unclipped and did the splits......until his top tube stopped him, whereupon he let out this little squeak and fell over like Artie Johnson on the tricycle from the Laugh In days. :p

Karma.......ain't she a hard mistress? ;)

Do you know how unpleasent it is to have hot coffee in your sinus cavity?

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/funny-pictures-kitten-shoe-loled.jpg

0mph fall - the clipless right of passage.

For me it didn't happen first couple of times I tried clipless, but out on an organized ride. I pulled into a rest stop, unclipped, and took a rest. When I went to get back on, I clipped in one foot, pushed off, and then realized that I was going up a slight grade in way too high a gear. Couldn't shift or clip out fast enough and down I went...ouch.
Now it's like second nature. You know you cycle too much when you think you need to unclip from your gas pedal. LOL

My application must have been excepted. I did my one and only 0 mph fall on the second ride on my new road bike. I unclipped rolling up to a stop light and made the mistake of putting my foot back on the pedal. I clicked back in and did not even know it. I fell right in front of a car. Fortunately, the driver was alert and avoided hitting me. He asked if I was all right then went on his way. The only thing that I hurt was my pride and couple of small dings on my bike.

When i first got clipless like 10 years go i had a couple falls, then i stopped riding for like 8 years. I had no probs getting right back into clipless though and haven't fallen yet.

I qualify twice over- the first time on grass, the second on a paved trail while attempting to cross the street..............

Leaving my tarred driveway going about 10 mph onto the dirt road that they just graded that day. Bike just went from 10 to o and over I went. My knee is all banged up. Luckly no one was looking. Its funny how you dont really look at the bike or yourself to see if all is ok, You just immediately get up and look around to see if anyone saw ya. It was my second day and I thought I was doing so good with these pedals.

Guilty! I fell while not even on the bike. I was in the garage with road shoes on and went to piviot around to get something and rolled off the clip onto the side of the shoe and into the wall. Nothing major just felt like a dope.:innocent:

Yes I did!!!

Hurt myself pretty bad too.

I was taking the bus home , took my bike off the bus to ride the rest of the way home.

the bus started on its way so I quickly clipped in and started to ride (more like track stand speed)

anyway the bus stopped suddenly to pick up a person running to catch it I tried to unclip with my left but after a few times went down.

besides the pedals being clipless my crank was un knowingly loose as I tried to move my foot off the pedal the crank moved instead.

Mucho bruising and torn Lig OUCH!!!


I also fell once on rollers in the winter (ruined a wheel)

I still ride clipless but am experimenting with platforms with/without powergrips for my day to day riding/commutes with very favorable results , I just need to ween myself of the idea that unless I ride clipless pedals Ill be a fred.

"John"

Mine was about 6 months after I got them last year. Pulled up to a stop and zoned out and went over. Lots of people walking the trail at the time.

busy intersection at night so traffic was light. unclipped right, leaned left. put a hole in my new winter tights.
also fell clipped in 1st time. test riding new bike and completely forgot when I stopped at the porch to dismount. fell onto dirt that time.

I joined at the first stop of my first ride on my new (then) bike with my first set of clipless pedals. I've got two scars on the back of my right ankle to remind me of it (gored myself on the chain ring, they're sharp when they are new).

Recently, I got my Mom into a set of clipless pedals as well. She is on bike patrol for the metro park system where she lives. We spend at least 15 minutes teaching her how to get into and out of them, and then went for a 22 mile ride. As I was teaching her how to get in and out, she asked "What happens if I don't get out of them at a stop?"
"Well, gravity will get real thick right where you are, and you'll fall on your face."
"I don't want to do that."
"So don't forget to clip out then." Ain't I a great and supporting son:D. "Besides, you'll only make that mistake once."
"Well I don't want to make that mistake at all."
"Like I said, don't forget to clip out and you'll be just fine."
About a 3 weeks later, Mom told me that she had taken her one fall due to the new pedals. I re-assured her that she was now in the club, and wouldn't probably ever have that one happen again.
We've both been fine since.

Kinda. I went from 3 mph to 0 mph due to toe overlap with my newly re-installed fenders. I came to an unanticipated stop and fell over while unclipping. So I voted OTHER.

6 times total, 2 times in a row on the same light was the worst. All of them during my first weeks clipless.

Here's the scene: I'm climbing a local hill on my way home from work, and I'm starting to get a bizarre drag on my right pedal. Glance down, and I realize that my right shoelace is untued, and has wrapped itself around the pedal axle. Each stroke adds another wrap of shoelace to the windlass I've inadvertantly created.

Question: Can I get to the top of the hill before it reels my right foot solidly into the crank?
Bad News: Nope
Good News: I can still unclip my left foot.
Bad News: I'm leaning to the right when my foot jams solid.
Good News: I'm headed for soft turfgrass.

Passing cop (a friend of mine): Uh, are you OK?
Me (on my back in the grass trying to disentangle my right foot): Aside from terminal embarassment, I'm fine.

My most recent episode was commuting to work.
I commuted to my new building for months on my road bike or xtracycle it it went well. I had started to try and trackstand/roll at the entrance and get my badge close enough to the RFID reader thing to open the gage.
I get my nice new recumbent and ride it for a few miles and decide to bring it on the commute, why not it is just a bike right:rolleyes:.
Not even thinking about it I:
slow to a crawl
reach out with my badge with my left arm
come to the realization that my clipped in feet are about 2 1/2 feet+ off the ground up in front of me while I lay in a deep recline. All I could think of is
http://www.geocities.com/benceagi/honved/4.jpg
as down I went with nothing to do but hope no one pulled in behind me.

Well nice to know, not alone. Although my fall from the road bike was a long time ago when the pedals were new to me. Although I guess I have had a few almost -0- mph falls on the mountain bike...coming to a stop at not such a good place, tried to put a foot down and discovered the ground was not there. Over I went!

The embarassing thing is, all you single application high flyers, I had to re-apply 5 or 6 times :lol:

Nope and it is extremely unlikely that I ever will. ;)

Just happened to me last week. Been riding clipless for a couple months now. Not a single problem. That is until now. Riding home from work coming up to a stoplight. Had a few cars lined up behind me. I sped up to try and make it through green. Didn't quit make it and had to brake hard. I was the first to the light, so I started to move over to the right. I uncliped my left foot like I always do. Came to a full stop but my momentum was still going to the right. I fell over on my right side in slow motion with about 3 cars behind me. The best thing about panniers is they save your paint when you fall over:thumb:, but they don't save your pride:o.

I need to check..I may be anomaly.
I've been on the clipless SPD setup sence 1996 and have not fallen over once.
Of course, I DON'T keep the spring action that tight (even on the lightest setting I've yet to unship my cleats out of the pedals even hill climbing)
I HAVE learned to match the cleats with the pedals (ohhh there is nothing like mtn bike spd cleats in roady pedals)as I rode a 40 mile TdC and never stopped (couldn't..couldn't get out.)
Maby it was the 25 years of dealing with toe straps.

bump

One of the problems with some polls, this one in particular, is that riders get clipless pedals all the time, so while I may not have them now, I might get them next year, and promptly hand in my application, but have correctly voted no, as of when I voted in this poll, before I get clipless.

You can't change your vote!

No, I don't understand how anyone lets that happen!:rolleyes:....But then again, I'm the type that checks and tests all equipment prior to use. Pedal tension while testing on a trainer. Also including thorough checks after tire installations, wheel replacement and any other issue that may cause injury. Just me though! My buds say I'm AR:thumb:

Hmmm...
More than a few. First time was over ten years ago. I spent the day with friends doing dirt trails and slipping slidding jumping. Rode home and as I went up my driveway, I was simply too tired to clipout in time. Fell over 0mph and broke my elbow. No surgery but it doesn't bend or rotate correctly to this day.
Fast forward to last year. After SWEARING I would never go clipless again, I put on some spd's on my bike. Three! Falls in two days...No permanent damage this time. The 'best' was pulling up to a light and forgetting to twist my foot. Must have looked funny as I kept yanking straight up as i fell over giving a simian sounding "oh!oh!oh!" all the way down...

I'm a life member of this club! I fell a number of times when I first started riding clipless almost a decade ago but I fall at least once annually too.

So it is my understanding that everyone who goes clipless eventually falls over. I hear stories of forgetting to unclip at the stop sign and going over like the old dude on the tricycle on laugh in. I have heard of the "unclip with one foot and then stop and lean to the wrong side" fall.

So when I heard these stories and then got my clipless setup, I was confused. I mean, within 5 minutes, I was a clipless expert. What was wrong with all of these dorks who could not figure this system out?

Then last Friday evening about 11pm, I went out and hopped on my bike to take a spin around the block before loading the bike on the FJ to head out on the next morning for a ride. I exit the garage and clip in immediately. Instead of heading straight down the driveway as usual, I turned down the walk from our front door and that was where it all went down.

As I head down the sidewalk, I ran through the biggest, most substantial SPIDER WEB I have ever seen. It was so thick and tough, that I swear to God that it slowed me down. But the spider web was not the problem. The problem was the HALF DOLLAR SIZE SPIDER that I could see with my right eye on MY CHEEK

I screamed like a nine year old little girl and the next thing I knew I was laying on my side with my bike wrapped up in my legs, batting the hell out of my face. When I regained my composure, I looked across the street and I could see the glow of a cigarette in the dark and all I heard from my neighbor was "You OK?"

There it is, my first clipless fall..... TaDa

Hmmm...
More than a few. First time was over ten years ago. I spent the day with friends doing dirt trails and slipping slidding jumping. Rode home and as I went up my driveway, I was simply too tired to clipout in time. Fell over 0mph and broke my elbow. No surgery but it doesn't bend or rotate correctly to this day.
Fast forward to last year. After SWEARING I would never go clipless again, I put on some spd's on my bike. Three! Falls in two days...No permanent damage this time. The 'best' was pulling up to a light and forgetting to twist my foot. Must have looked funny as I kept yanking straight up as i fell over giving a simian sounding "oh!oh!oh!" all the way down...

Wouldn't that be an ursanian "oh', since you are a circus bear? :)

I've fallen over once or twice with clips, but not clipless.

So far, the closest encounter I've had to falling with these clipless pedals took place two weekends ago. My brother just got his road bike and we decided to take it easy with him and use the local MUP. First couple of small climbs, no problem.. but we forgot to tell him about the fourth climb where it rises close to a 20-25 degree angle but has a sudden left turn that rises into to a 45 degree climb. Since I was behind him, he completely stopped and I ended up running into his rear wheel. I was able to unclip both feet to catch myself from falling.. except I landed on the top tube and lets just say that the chamois in my shorts didn't do a great job on impact.

Least you all have made the step to clipless. I still can't make up my mind what pair of shoes/pedals to get or if I even need to get them. Someone push me over the edge!

I had my first real clipless fall last Friday. I'd gone down 3 times before but they were from outside sources (rear tire slipping on wet ground or being cut off) but Friday was a classic clipless fall.

I didn't have to work so my wife and I decided to take a ride. We started heading the way I commute every day so I know the timing of the lights. We were coming up on a red that I knew would change any second so I didn't bother releasing as I had it timed just right. Apparently the signal is timed differently at 7:30 am than it is at 6:30 am. It stayed red, I finally decided I couldn't balance, tried to get my right foot out as my weight shifted left. Ended up laying in the number 3 lane.

Got myself, bike, water bottle and seat bag out of the lane before the light changed. Other than a broken clip on my seat bag, no damage to me or my bike (at least physically). Still managed a nice 15 mile ride before my wife had to get back. Neck, shoulders and knee were sore for a couple of days but only ego sufferred permanent damage.

Wouldn't that be an ursanian "oh', since you are a circus bear? :)

yeah, normally...but this had a definite simian tinge to it. The circus bear comes out to play in traffic...

twice. so far.

I haven't in over 15 years of clipless. My wife has, most recently a few weeks ago. We had just descended off a 600 foot climb with sections up to 16%. She was wiped when we got to the stop sign. She's fine so far. Then we started up again after the regroup. She was tentative (read.... too slow). Just as she got clipped in, she went over.

Rode with my wife Saturday morning. Ride was about 12 miles.

However, I fell before I got out of the driveway and I think, this time, I can blame it on the clipless pedals.

I was clipped into the left and had just pushed off when my wife yells at me "Stop!". So, I did, couldn't get the left foot out quick enough and, even though the right wasn't in yet, I couldn't make it work. So, I'll blame this one on the pedals. Just a little scrape on my left leg.

She yelled "Stop!" to tell me that my rear blinky wasn't turned on. :love:

Someone push me over the edge!
My wife was firmly set against going with clips and straps or clipless. I put clips and straps on her bike and asked her to try it. By the end of the first ride, she was sold. So much better connection to the bike. Tried to convince her to go clipless but she wasn't buying it.

We were in a thrift store looking for a costume for one of our sons when I saw a brand new pair of Shimano road shoes that looked about her size. She tried them on and they fit perfectly (and she usually has a tough time finding shoes that fit right). The bargain lover in her couldn't pass up the $18 price tag so we got them. I took the M520s off my MTB and put them on her road bike, mounted some SPD cleats to her new shoes and had her try them out.

She could not believe how much more powerful they made her feel. The M520s became a permanent fixture on her bike (tried to get her to try road pedals but decided to stop while I was ahead) and she has come close to falling but hasn't. Yet.;)