If you're on a real steep hill in your lowest gear, and you just have to stop, how do you get back on the to pedalling and clipping in the pedals before the bike stops and you fall down? The only way I can think it you have to go down hill for a few metres, clip in, then turn around again.

Is there some other technique ?

I have never had a problem clipping in while going up hill... I have trouble clipping out while going uphill. I can't pause pedalling long enough to twist my feet out and I fall over. This tends to make me never stop on a climb.

Oddly enough, it was getting the clipless that really gave me the confidence I needed to make it to the top. With the toe straps, I would yank me feet out and stop with the least amount of pain. Then with the clipless I couldn't stop and I learned that I really could make it to the top.

ride perpindicular to the slope of the hill for a second.

^ ya, that

+1

Practice one foot pedaling.

How tight do you have your pedals? If you aren't yet confident with them, loosen them off some. Shimano seem to have their pedals quite tight out of the box, which isn't so helpful to beginners. It's not some macho contest to see whose pedal clicks the loudest... Although when I climb up a steep hill, I often pull quite hard on the upstroke if my cadence starts to fall, so if you do that, you'll want them nice and tight.

I have the same problem except it was scary as hell for me one time because there was a car behind me and I was thinking I was going to fall over and get run over. I conquered the hill but I relaxed for a good 5 minutes on the ground after that before I got going again.

Perpendicular is the way to go. Then to gain even more mementum, traverse your way up instead of trying to go in a straight up line.

If its a steep hill and you need to stop, maybe its because your fitness level does not match the demands of the incline. Consider a lower gear cluster for the rear. What you don't want to do is to put too much pressure on the knees.

Perpendicular to the hill is the same as flat ground, so as long as traffic is clear, that's a good method.

It's also a way to avoid not having to walk up a hill that's too steep for you. Zig-zagging across the road effectively decreases the steepness (but adds distance). Again, you need to make sure there's no traffic, but if "plan B" involves walking, I'd rather zig-zag. You can also use this method partway up a tough climb to recover until you can go back to heading straight up.

Don't ride yourself into a situation you can't handle. If you are going to flame out on a hill quit while you are still in control.

What is the fun in that?

Clip in with your stronger foot, have that pedal forward and up a bit.

Start moving with a strong stroke on the lead foot, then bring up the other foot onto its pedal. If the weak foot doesn't clip in instantly, just pedal as best you can with it until you can get things sorted out and clipped in.

Don't stop!!!!!!!

Clip in on one foot and don't bother clipping the other one in till you have enough speed. Just get it on the pedal and keep turning.

I worry more about tight turns when going up hill. There are 2 places in NYC where I have problems with that, the entrance to the GWB on the NYC side, and the climb from the west side trail after the lighthouse, also under the GWB. The one on the entrance is made even harder by the a-holes that want to blast up and down the ramp as if they're in a cat-2 race. This ramp is shared by bikes and peds and can barely allow two bikes to pass.

I once "attempted" to climb a 22-23% incline... straight up with a 38-25 gearing and couldn't turn the pedals over after about half way up (a 34-27 would have been much easier). I couldn't make it up the rest of the way and I had to turn the bike sideways to unclip and then it was somewhat of a challenge to turn the bike and clip in again but I did it without falling. It didn't help that I was not acclimated to the 7,000 feet altitude I was attempting the climb at either but that's another story in its self. My friend who weighs 30 pounds less than me (and 24 years younger) uses a traditional compact 50/34 crankset, made it about 50-75 feet higher than me (I'm not a climber by any means).

I could have zig zagged up, but what fun is that?

On hills 18%+ its almost impossible to get clipped back in. I HTFU and ride it out otherwise I have to walk up the hill to where it flattens a little bit

No, you walk back DOWN and try again.

It's been years since I've been there. Does Athens still have that nasty little cobbled street up to Court? Is it Union? That one is awesome.

Platforms, baby. You get to wear regular shoes too!

No way...

All I can say is thank god for my mountain biking experience...

I was climbing the steepest SOB I've ever climbed. I was granny gearing it, just about out of gear as my whole body weight was on the pedals and the bike was barely moving. I was 2 feet from the peek when I heard a loud noise, and my whole drive train locked up. Derailleur had went into the spokes, locking up everything. I was able to unclip quickly, and get out very uneventfully.

Whoo hoo, go me!

The pedals I have now are a beautiful thing! I ride with my left foot clipped in, and my right foot on the platform. I can climb without fear of falling over when the hill gets too steep ... and start again if I stop on hills.

I ran into this problem riding up one of the cable car hills in San Francisco in the middle of a block. A tourist stepped out between 2 parked cars and I had to stop as there was a car to the left of me. Heading back down wasn't an option as there were cable cars, car & pedestrians all around me.

After a couple of attempts to clip in, I pushed off with my right foot, got my left foot moving and managed to crawl ahead. That was fun. Nothing like a dead stop on a 17% grade to test you.

I had a problem climping in on steep hills with my Shimano pedals. Then I replaced them with Speedplay pedals and now clipping in on hills is easy. No problem. I clip in the left foot bring the foot to the 12 o'clock position and push down. Once the bike starts moving, I just step down wih the right foot. It doesn't matter if I clip in my right foot or not, I can pedal without clipping in anyway.