Rode with my wife this 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.

I think you've got it this time. Congratulations. Glad you didn't hurt yourself badly.

Welcome! I'm glad I'm not the newbie in the club any longer. Glad you weren't badly injured. I've fallen twice and my biggest injury was mental -- it's hard to forget that falling sensation.

I'm happy to report that unclipping is becoming more and more automatic with every ride. I unclip without even thinking about it as we approach stops or I prepare in advance when riding in heavily traveled streets. I plan to put clipless pedals on the new hybrid/fitness-roadie/commuter/whatever so I won't "forget" when I get back on the Roubaix.

We want DG
DG
DG
DG
DG
DG
DG
DG

Ed,
Your minor injuries are considered a badge of honor among the clipless converts here! I subscribe to the old adage, "There are only two kinds of riders who use clipless pedals -- those who have fallen and those who will fall..."

This from Tom (I'll never say never but I'll probably never ever get clipless pedals) Bombadil.

I do have an open invitation that if I fall due to using half-clips, that I'll be made a member.

Is there a written criterion for this club?

Not yet but we have to trust you. As yet we have NO photographic evidence from one single member to corroborate their claims.

I'm thinking that it might be more appropriate to require lie detector certification of anybody who claims not to be a member.

We have only got one poster who has tried to become a member without qualifying. "He" tried to qualify on someone elses fall. All other failed qualifications have pivoted on some obscure technical detail.

Club Tombay awaits....

This then is only for those who fall after converting to clipless from toe clips or platforms? So if you aren't clipless you wouldn't have to submit to the lie detector? I have yet to see any shoes that look easy enough to walk in to cause me to switch from toe clips. However Sixsixone does have some SPD shoes that look pretty comfortable.

You can definately join using toe clips..............Club Tombay has a special fondness for those who refuse to go modern an still manage to stay welded to the bike through too great a roll angle.

It is virtually impossible to join however using platforms.................not impossible as I'm sure some sad klutz can make a claim that his shoes became lodged in the platforms..................just very difficult.

Club Tombay memberships are available for all who cannot manage to get loose from the drivetrain. Those with routine falls need not apply.

I have not been back into clips long enough to forget I am in clips. And right now once I come to a stop sign or stop light I tend to leave the right shoe a bit loose. It isn’t till I know I am on a few mile straight till I cinch down the right shoe. I would worry more after I become accustomed to the feeling of being clipped in or cinched up. But not being part of the club, and no photos to prove otherwise, I could be wrong.

Any of the Mountain bikes shoes that take SPD compatable pedals are OK to walk in. Treaded sole that is stiff-ideal for Cycling- and will recess the cleat into the shoe enough to make it possible to walk. And it does not only work on Offroad muddy trails- it can also be on Hardpack and Road surfaces too.

He hasn't fallen.... yet.

That would make an excellent suggestion to the membership jersey designer.........along with a picture of some buzzards sitting on a dead tree.

Sure...........jersey's.............just what we need................another thing to think about when we should be unclipping.

Which ones would those be? I tried on 3 pairs of SPD-comp MTB shoes, two from Shimano, and found all of them uncomfortable to walk in. It was possible to walk in them, but I wouldn't have wanted to do so for more than a few minutes.

i have one pair of shimano mt20's and one pair of mt21's. both seem to work just fine for me. i wear them for the morning commute, wear them all day at work, wear them for the commute home.

i guess this is just another example of how everybody is different. i bet there would be fewer absolutes if folks would just keep that little tidbit in mind.

be well,

jim

They tend to take a day or two to break in. In addition, I think that ease of walking in bicycle shoes is relative. Its hard if your sliding around on cleats.................if the cleats are recessed then its just slightly uncomfortable untill one gets used to it. If the sole is stiff enough to be of use as a cycling shoe then it is too stiff to walk in the same fashon as hiking shoes.

Protecting the Plantar tendon and delivering power to the pedals is the purpose of cycling shoes. Walking is a secondary function.

Tom, I believe that when someone says "OK to walk in", they mean to walk from bike into pie shop and sit down to order pie. Or from bike into bathroom at a park. Or from bike to into LBS to get a replacement tube. Or any very short distance without walking like a duck.

I don't think they're intended for short nature walks and the like.

Just my .02 !

The Shimano MT21 is one of the shoes I tried. I hated walking in those things.

When I go out for a day of riding and put in 30-40 miles on my bike, I will usually put in 1-2 miles of walking too, sometimes 3-4 miles. I sure wouldn't want to walk that far in the MT21s.

Then I'm a member, too! Yay!

I fell when I was sneaking into the local state park at dawn. When I was leaving, the Park Truck was at the gate, I was nervous that they were going to ask me if I was camping there. I was right by the driver's side of the truck, when he said something. I had been trying to go slowly, an innocent pace, but when he spoke to me I got totally preoccupied with trying to figure out what he just said, which I didn't quite hear. I stopped, couldn't get my foot out of the clip (didn't even try* until I was halfway down) and the park rangers just watched me float to the ground.

If they had been questioning why I was in the park, it was replaced with "Are you all right???"

I narrowly missed becoming a member with my PowerGrips. At the end of a ride, I pulled into my garage and was moving very slowly to avoid hitting an object on the garage floor. I was about to lean left to dismount to the left when I lost my balance and my bike started tipping to the right. My right shoe was "clipped" in the PowerGrip and I wasn't able to extract it.

There is no doubt that I would have fallen onto the concrete floor. However I was close to the wall, threw out my arm, and caught myself about 1/3rd of the way down. As no part of my body, excepting for the bottom of my shoes, touched the floor, it was not a fall.