Originally Posted by
maddmaxx
I believe that it was about a year ago that the members of this forum conspired to name "Club Tombay" Stapfam came forward with the name used in Europe "Le Toumbeur" or "The Fallen". Tombay is the Anglesized version of the word for here.
The club is not to be taken seriously as it is merely a gathering place for the telling of stories about the 0 mph fall over due to forgetting that one is clipped in. (forgetting to unclip is the #1 cause of clippless pedal falls)
I seriously doubt that the stories told in this venue are chasing riders away from trying clipless pedals. If these funny stories (I have yet to hear one that involved serious injury other than to pride) are scaring riders away than they probably wouldn't have tried the pedals in the first place.
I understand that there is some humor involved, when I do something clumsy (these things occure with more frequency than I care to admit) I also like to joke about it. Its also nice to feel like you've earned your stripes and belong to a special club (and I use the word "special" in that small school bus sort of way).
But I disagree with your theory that it doesn't scare people off to hear those stories; the most common response I get when I ask a non clipless rider if they have considered clipless pedals is that they "heard they are dangerous". You have to ask where are they getting this impression.
If this (clipless pedals) is some secret that we want to keep to ourselves; we are going about it the right way.