Tundra_Man 

Well after two years and thousands of miles since going clipless it finally happened: I fell.

On my way home last night I pulled up behind a car waiting at a stop sign. I unclipped my left foot to stand, and had my right foot in the 2 o'clock position as I waited. The car in front of me pulled out, and I started the process to pull up to the stop line. Suddenly I looked to my left and realized the car had pulled out directly in front of another vehicle which was now slamming on its brakes trying to stop. I had only rolled a few feet when I saw this. My first instinct was to slam on my brakes to keep as much distance between me and the carnage that looked inevitable.

Unfortunately when I abruptly stopped my clipped right foot was now at the bottom of the pedal stroke, along with most of my weight. At this point there was nothing I could do to keep myself from falling over. I hit the ground, breaking my fall with my hands.

Thankfully, the two cars somehow managed to both come to a stop before colliding. The car that was in front of me now proceeded to back up to get out of the way of the traffic he had pulled into. At this point I was laying on the ground in a heap below his line of sight. I had visions of the guy backing up far enough to run me over, but much to my relief he stopped well short of where I lay.

Other than a slightly skinned knee and a slightly more bruised ego, there was no damage done. My loaded panniers kept my derailleur from hitting the ground. Maybe a couple additional scratches on my grip end and panniers, but they weren't the first and they won't be the last.

So, is there a badge or a secret handshake now that I've joined the club?

dynodonn 

Platforms here, never have been and never will be a Tombay member. There's been a couple of incidents if I had become a member, it could've been my last. In my urban combat commute, the extra 10 percent isn't worth it.

DVC45

Double sided here. Platform side on heavy traffic, clip in when on the clear.
Oh, I had my initiation to the club first time I switched, so I got that out of the way early.

ItsJustMe

About 6 years mostly in clipless, have yet to fall.

Chesha Neko

I just went clipless about a week ago. Had my fall a couple days ago when running errands. Simply made a sloppy launch, one foot clipped in with the pedal too low, which didn't have enough leverage to get rolling properly and the other pedal was too high and when that foot slipped trying to get on there was no where to go but down. Clipless not at fault, as would have been the same with toe clips/straps.

You now have the red badge of courage, no other initiation required. Welcome to the club.

nkfrench 

Never fell in my clipless setup.
Had plenty of falls from platform pedals when gears slipped (old 3-speed, like having a chain drop), slick wet pedals, or shoes lost contact climbing standing. Also raked shins on rattrap pedals when slipping off them just riding along.
Also had a fall when shoe slipped on wet oily sloped pavement while dismounting.

ItsJustMe

Yeah, I've nearly fallen a few times with straight platforms due to slippery shoes on the pedals. That's why I switched to toe clips, which solved that problem.

I tried clipless because everyone said it was a "must have" - I don't really buy the clipless religion, for me it's not really much better than toe clips, but since I already have them I continue to use them.

Schwinnrider

That's not an exclusive club. Come back when you've been hit by a motorist. That's when you know you're a serious commuter.

mr geeker

i've never understood why clip-less peddles are called clip-less when you still "clip" your feet into them, but, that's neither here nor there. at any rate, no, there's no badge or handshake for falling off your bike. there is for the get-hit-by-a-car club though.

Steely Dan

i've been riding clipless (SPD) for 5 years now, and i have yet to fall from failing to unclip in time. however, i have taken spills from the following:

1. being hit by a bus
2. being right hooked into the curb by a taxi
3. running into a raccoon at night (literally, he darted out of nowhere and i ran right into the poor thing, falling over at the last second trying to out-maneuver him)
4. a couple falls on ice before i got wise to studded tires

so i'm a proud member of all of those clubs

DX-MAN

The last time I fell over clipped in was with my SPD's. Had Time ATAC ever since, no more issues.

gear

If you unclipped your left foot, why did you put your weight onto your (clipped in) right foot?

Your weight should always be neutral or towards the unclipped foot. Never on the clipped in side.

One time I was strapped into toe clips and I had a twig get caught in my front spokes. Instead of stopping and taking it out I did something stupid. I reached down and tried to grab the twig while still riding. Of course my hand got jammed between the spokes and the fork and I then proceeded to go right over the bars. Can't blame the pedals or any other part of the bike, just a goofy move on my part.

Tundra_Man 

I was starting the process of accelerating from a stop, by pushing down with my clipped in foot and lifting my other foot up onto the pedal. I was barely moving when I grabbed both brakes and stopped the bike, but my weight at this point was on my clipped side. Haven't yet figured out how to push on a pedal without applying weight on that side.

unterhausen

I went a month before I fell when I switched from toe clips to clipless. Then I fell twice in a week, but not in the 2 years since. Recently, I was afraid I was going to fall when I approached a crosswalk with the wrong foot forward, but I got out in time. Some pedestrians passing by noted some cursing.

AdamDZ

I myself never fell on the street (on a trail yes) but I've seen many people fall so I always advocate against using clipless pedals in heavy traffic. Too many things can go wrong very quickly. I ride with clipless on weekends but use platform pedals when commuting or running errands.

dynodonn 

Studded large platform MTB pedals solved the slippery when wet pedal problem for me.

AdamDZ

Yup. That's what I roll with. Not a problem even in Winter.

gerv 

That clubs wears a special tatoo

Yeah and I'm a member of the car bonnet tatoo club.... we get together every month and talk about hood ornaments

sirtirithon

Just went clipless two days ago. Ate it hard the first morning on my commute. Was at an intersection and came to a stop before clipping out and flipped over. Bent my derailleur hanger bad. Still made it to work and my LBS repaired the hanger for free. Then I ate it again on my way home from the LBS when I got overly confident and tried climbing some super steep singletrack and slightly tweaked my hanger again. I have a replacement hanger on order No crashes since then! *crossing fingers

a1penguin

It takes some time for clipless pedals to become second nature. Unclipping well before you stop and waiting to clip in on the other side of an intersection might help. You won't have to think about multiple things at the same time. If I am in a heavy traffic situation and I see potential trouble, I will be proactive and unclip so that I can focus my undivided attention elsewhere. I think within 50-100 miles (assuming you have stops and starts along the way), you'll be comfortable with clipless pedals. My bike came with clipless pedals so I was forced into them. I'm not sure I would have switched on my own. But I ain't never going back. Not now way. Not no how.

cjewett65

as a mountain biker before a commuter spd's and engaging and disengaging is second nature to me. If i ride a bike with platform now I literally subconsciously do the motion of disengaging. Not a bad habit and as a result i have never fell as a result of that. But for many other reasons have taken spills and endos.

Greyryder

I once had a minor spill get made worse when I had trouble getting my foot off of one of these. Still haven't figured that one out....

Wolfwerx

I've got that tattoo, too! A nice zipper up and over my left shoulder.

Wolfwerx

sorry, double post.

modernjess

Check out the text in this Craigslist posting regarding a similar incident and it's long term effects, e.g. a good deal on a nice bike, I only wish it was my size.

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/da...905052269.html