my first day of riding i fell while on a rail-trail at a road crossing. actually ended up on my back in the middle of the road with the bike still clipped in above me, and cars stopped in both directions. wtf???

Scott1 welcome to Club Tombay! I wonder how many people using clipless have never fallen? Just par for the course I think.

It happens to everyone, I practiced in the backyard some to make the falls a little easier. Make sure the tension isn't to tight on the pedals.

Loving all the stories - brilliant The angry squirrel scar will be my mark of pride, that I've joined such an elite group of balance-impaired superstars of two-wheeled excellence

You crack me up

My first ride with the family this spring down in the metropark was the scene of my first fall with my new bike and its clipless pedals. It was only my third ride.

I was biking up a hill and way ahead of the others and slowed down to wait and look around. I saw a turkey--pretty big one--and hollered to my kid to hurry up--there's a turkey! It was fun, until I fell. The turkey ran into the woods and the kid only saw me fall, and had a big chuckle. My wife followed him up the hill in time to see me on the ground and ask "what are you doing?" She says that too much.

I learned to use SPD pedals on a mountain bike, alone in the woods. Only wildlife have ever seen me fall.

I suggest you spend half an hour practicing starts and stops, clipping in and out and putting your feet down. Change up which foot you put down first, and do so very deliberately. Unclip the foot, get out of the saddle, and just before your come to a complete stop, turn the front wheel away from the side where your foot will land. This will force the bike to lean toward your landing foot. Make every stop happen as if it's on purpose.

Soon you'll be twisting your foot to step off of platform pedals, as I do subconsciously when I ride occasionally in sneakers.

I've never been scared of riding with clips/straps. I fell over once. I pulled up to a stoplight on an extremely windy day, and did I say it was windy? Really windy? Before I could even think about putting a foot down a crosswind knocked me right over. It might even have done so had I still be rolling.

This thread has reinforced my lack of desire to go clipless! Experience tells me that the bike works much better when the wheels are on the bottom.

That's a great line, especially under the circumstances.

I started with them about 3 years ago and in spite of about 4 - 5 falls, I'm still happy with them. I like the way my feet and lower leg are relaxed in them. I had one nasty fall early on when a Taxi faked me out with a little lunge. Got arrested when I picked up my bike to throw through his windshield.

A word of caution. Many or most of my sudden totally unanticipated stops, the kind that produce falls, are when I'm coming up behind female runners. For some reason, they will suddenly turn around, change lanes or do something else completely unpredictable. Won't even look. I now often unclip when I come up on them from behind.

It happens to a lot of cyclists. I fell last year while clipped in because I blacked out while riding. I remember staring at a traffic light while going very slow. I quickly found myself on the street with my feet in the wrong place. I woke up real quick! I was still in a bit of a daze but quickly got back on the bike and slowly pedaled until I could get my act together to ride home.

benda18

my first day of riding i fell while on a rail-trail at a road crossing. actually ended up on my back in the middle of the road with the bike still clipped in above me, and cars stopped in both directions. wtf???


Now that is funny.

I think everybody falls over three times with new clipless pedals.

First time: you forget to unclip at a stop and do the slow motion tip-over while jerking your foot spasmodically.
Second time: you unclip the wrong side, and do the slow motion etc.
Third time: you anticipate a stop by unclipping early, then accidentally clip back in, and do the slow motion etc.

At least that's the way it happened to me. What a person should do is get the three tip-overs done on a grassy area before braving the street.

I was going to say it never happened to me, but I also had the shoelace around the pedal fall. In the rain. And I hadda let a 50 Schwinn lay on me. (See avatar). But never with my clips.

Three was my magic number. The last was the most embarrassing as I had un-clipped the left pedal (had a routine of doing that side at every stop), moving forward in traffic a little, going off balance and trying to pull my right foot up. Slow motion fall to the left.

I say this as someone who has been riding clipless for the last 15 years and regards myself as a fairly cautious biker -

Sheesh, reading this thread I would think that riding clipless was a highly hazardous activity. And that clipless riders are all adrenaline crazed "it's ok if I get seriously hurt as long as I don't die" kind of bike junkies who fall over like 5 or 6 times a year! lol

Sure am glad I am somehow not part of that group! (despite using clipless every time I ride...)

I used clipless for a couple of years in Hobart. I rode my bike to a park with nice soft but short grass, changed the pedals over, put the shoes on, and started riding around, stopping, unclipping, clipping, going, stopping etc.

I took one tumble the first time I stopped, which felt very stupid.

In the next 2.5 years and 3500 km, I crashed a few times, but never from not unclipping.

Whenever I was going to stop I started to look for something to lean on so I didnt have to unclip at lights etc.

Now I ride normal pedals, but may go back to clipless again soonish.

z

If you do, make sure you get a double sided clipless pedal. With practice, you can clip back in (assuming you only unclipped with one foot) without even looking down at the pedals.

Yeah, I had those before, and after a short time it was easy. I am thinking about going clipless on my touring bike, but will wait and see first.

z

me. 15+ years. never. I've crashed yes, but it had nothing to do with the pedals.

This thread has convinced me of getting double-sided pedals with multi-release cleats

I'll confess to falling over 3 times in my first week with the clipless We'll see how week 2 goes...

My catlike reflexes are pretty much limited to this sort of thing too. LOL

I can't remember ever doing it with clipless pedals, but I did it with toe clips and straps over running shoes at a downtown intersection once years ago. Lots of witnesses.

My most recent embarrassing no-speed crash occurred last Monday night after stopping at the bank on my way home. I was wearing loose-fitting pants, a little too big for me since losing a little weight, and the extra fabric caught on the nose of the saddle as I was dismounting, causing me to topple over. Naturally someone was pulling into the parking lot in a car just in time to see it.
The following night I went to a club ride with big bruises up and down my left leg, and lo, one of the other people in the group toppled over at a stop sign towards the end of the ride while trying to get out of her SPD's. Perhaps it's contagious and going around???

I've been using clipless for almost 1 year now, and haven't fallen because of forgetting to unclip (yet). I had one very close call, but unclipped just in time.