Hopefully going clipless tonight
 

I got my campus pedals and some shimano shoes in the mail yesterday, so hopefully today, with a quick setup time, I can give a go at being clipless. I can not wait!!!

you're gonna fall...just be ready, it doesn't hurt you, just your pride. Hopefully there aren't any hot chix around

You'll think you are alone when it happens, but TRD is right..... there magically appears an attractive woman when you (eventually) go down in super-slow-motion.... It's hurts your ego more than your bum...

Ha!

I beat the naysayers!! Went 20 miles clipless and had no problems at all! WOW, what a big help in peddling! My knees are little more sore, but I don't nearly as wore out as I usually do!!

that's not true - not everyone falls.
I made the transition easily from cleated shoes and toes clips.

first i practiced clipping in and out in a doorway for like 40 mins

then went outside and rode back and forth stopping and clipping out every 50 ft

i tipped over a week or two later tho :D

I practiced outside, while holding on to a fence in the yard for about 1 minute and that was it. Neat thing is that clippling in takes no effort at all, just get the front of the cleat in and pedal.

Yea you wont fall because of the pedals for sure. I have never gone down due to the pedals...I have gone down while clipped in but not because I forgot to unclip. My wife just recently started riding clipless and she has yet to fall in about 10 rides and she is a total klutz....so she will. :D

Perhaps you won't fall, but I think it's more likely that you will. There will be times that you overbalance or simply forget. But don't worry, you only fall while at a standstill and forgetting to unclip so no road rash. If you are mentally prepared for it, you will be annoyed rather than shocked. I fell because my Crank Bros system clips in so effortlessly that it captured my foot unintendedly, so I crashed down at an intersection. My banana broke my fall.

Another time at an intersection waiting for the light, I spotted a $2 coin, on my right side. I leaned over to pick up this windfall only to crash down coz my right foot was still clipped in.

I went clipless last night! I now have the obligitory skinned knee. I was doing so well, clipping, un-clipping, stopping until I had to stop. I didn't un-clip in time -- perhaps I was distracted. I went down! I'm a real cyclist now!

Hope I don't do it again.... :o

I have had a few slight close calls, I just have to remember to unclip when I am still moving along. I find if I do it when I am about to stop, that is when I almost fall.

I practiced in a parking lot for about 30 minutes. In and out of both feet.

then I went riding with a friend on a local trail. Pulled up at the trailhead... and promptly toppled over into a thorn bush, to his huge amusement.

If you never do that--not even once--i'm impressed.

If you fall, it will happen in slow motion. A true doh! moment. You'll have a cool road rash scabby to show off for a while.

Hell, I fell before I got my clipless pedals from having the straps too tight on my clip pedals. :p

You didn't beat them yet. It might take 1000 miles, but you'll fall. It took me a couple of hundred miles before my first clipless-caused fall, but it happened. So far I have experienced a total of 2, and have been fall free for the last ~1000 miles, so I'm hoping that's it, but don't count your chickens just yet.

yea what I do is clip out like 20 seconds before I'm going to stop so I make it a habit and dont forget.

I got my clipless the day before I did my first century, lollL. Century went well, only fell once at a stop sign.

Yeah - you'll fall. You might get lucky and just fall, or you might fall in traffic and get killed - in which case we'll never know because your survivors won't be posting on bikeforums, will they? For cyclists who are experienced with clipless pedals (or with toe clips and straps), their speed may be enhanced (but little) when spinning or climbing. Until you get that experience, though, you're a hazard to yourself and to others on the road.

After doing a risk/benefit analysis, I've concluded that platform pedals are safer, saner, and smarter. I'm a "one in a million" minority voice on bikeforums on this topic, but it doesn't make me wrong. For any but the racing cyclist, clipless pedals are at best, unnecessary, and at worst, a life-threatening risk for no significant benefit.

Could you copy me on that risk/benefit analysis? Do you have it on a spreadsheet?

Clipless does help while climbing in my experience. Even if speed isn't a priority, it also helps with endurance in my experience because you are spreading out the work to more muscles.

And bikeforums probably gets news of most cyclist fatalities so I think we would know. They just aren't that dangerous. Being a minority voice doesn't make you wrong, but my experience of the benefits and hazards of each leads me to disagree with you, and that's what, in my opinion makes you wrong. I have ridden thousands of miles on each type of pedal, so I have experience with what I'm speaking about. Do you?

No spreadsheet needed:

Benefits of clipless pedals and shoes:
1. help while spinning or climbing (neither of which I do)
2. makes me look like a "racer" (doesn't matter to me)
3. allows feet to remain on pedals during wet cycling (I don't ride in the rain)
4. allows easier "jumps" over obstacles (I've never jumped - just ride defensively)


Negatives of clipless pedals and shoes:
1. I'll fall a lot while learning to use them (from minor scrape to potential death or serious injury)
2. I'll fall on unexpected emergency stops when I can't "clip out" (same hazard as above)
3. expense of special pedals and shoes (not a significant negative)
4. can't ride conveniently unless alternate pedal attachments or special shoes are used (inconvenience)

For me, clipless pedals offer no benefit and significant risk. Other riders may have different priorities - if you're training for racing, the benefits change significantly. If you ride in mountainous areas, the benefits change significantly. Each rider must evaluate the benefits/risks for their own riding style. I still contend that for the majority of cyclists, clipless pedals and shoes are not only unnecessary but also expose the rider to potentially lethal hazard for little or no benefit.

Good work! :)

If you haven't fallen yet, you're gonna fall. I'm sorry to say it but every single clipless pedal user ever seems to have had that experience... exactly once :)

6th ride on them today. Still like them a lot. So glad I got the campus pedals. The one with the platform on one side and the clip on the other. It makes it so easy to ride!

I have already noticed that I am not nearly as fatigued at the end of a ride. After 20 miles, I feel like I could go much much further.

You will fall!!! Its really easy to remember on a short or easy ride or a ride where you are starting and stopping alot. Ride a head wind for 30 minutes or several fast miles in the heat of the day when your body is done and needs a quick break and clipping out just skips your mind.

It happened to me on a group ride with more than 30 others.

Just keep the right side with all the pretty $tuff off the ground!

Hey, I am thinking about going to Crank Bros Eggbeaters. Any insights.

BTW, why the hostility? do the "fallers" have an agenda of fear?

No no, don't take it as hostility. The thing is, EVERYBODY seems to fall once. It's best to get it out of the way as soon as possible, so you don't fall at a traffic light or something dangerous like that..