Well, I'm sure you wouldn't have fallen if some fool didn't crash into you.

this is so funny. I've watched the poll move more and more towards "no" recently. The initial results charged into "yes" and then the "no" believers obviously started to rig things to hold back the stampede.

Someone is trying to rig it! I blame UMD...what a sham of a democracy this poll is. UMD is a dictator! Let your people go, UMD.

In the 10 years i've been riding clipless, my first fall was the first time I ever tried them, as I was trying to pull the back wheel up before hitting a curb, I pulled too hard and went over the bars (on a mountain bike with Time ATAC Carbon pedals circa 1999). The second and last time I fell due to clipless pedals happened at the end of a wide radius turn to a stop, I clipped out my left foot which was on the inside of the arc and fell the opposite direction flat on my back. This happened in a pair of Crank Brother Quattro pedals.

Three times in the first week. Never after that.

Did it again today.

Even the fastest unclipper is not immune to crashes, nor is a match for the slipperiness of the road shoes we all wear. It's almost like walking on greased ice.

Point?

Since using Power Grips, I haven't fallen at all.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. What I don't get is the constant discussion/debate on the subject. It seems to me that if one wants to use clipless, fine; if one does not, also fine.

Just ride and enjoy biking and its benefits.
Best regards
Barry, 63
New Jersey

There are people who aren't using some system of clipless pedals on a road bike?

*shock*

My GF fell yesterday because she accidentally clipped in while moving her bike from gravel to the pavement after a rest stop. I did warn her to get off the gravel first before trying anything but, oh well. I'm sure its my fault because the double-sided SPDs were TOO EASY to get into...

It was her FIRST fall with clipless. Hmm.

What I don't get is how you think this is relevant? This is not a discussion/debate about whether or not to use clipless, nor is it an attempt to get anyone to switch to clipless.

The debate here, while not knock-down drag-out like some others on BF, is more about whether someone's use of clipless pedals contributed to their fall, or if the blame lies solely on the user.

I toppled over at a stop sign once. As I approached it I wasn't sure if I should go across or wait for the car to pass. By the time I figured it out it was too late and I kind of panicked and just fell over. Embarrassing... The woman in the car behind looked so concerned and mouthed "are you okay?" I had to laugh it off.

I had been using clipless pedals for a few months before this happened though so it was pretty much a random, isolated event.

I use entry-level Shimanos, by the way...

Oh yeah -- I nearly fell down yesterday... but on the unclipped side. Look for the *key point*.

I had stopped, with my left foot unclipped as usual, and was standing there with my left down and my right still clipped in, bike leaning to the left. I can't exactly remember what I was thinking, whether I wanted to move my bike or was turning around to look at something. But, I was shuffling my left foot closer under me -- imagine straddling your bike with both feet down, putting your left hand on the saddle, and twisting to look to the rear while your feet shuffle around.

I put my left foot far enough underneath me that it was almost past my center of gravity. *If I was using plain pedals, I would have been able to easily stand on my right foot.* But, putting weight on my right would have flung the bike to the right and surely thrown me down; if I tried lifting my left foot off the ground, I would lose the only support I had. I gracelessly hop-shuffled my left foot away from the bike, thankfully avoiding a fall.

As dumb as I felt about my first 0-mph fall, I would have felt even stupider with this one.

Yes, t is certainly true that this is not a discussion/debate......
What I don't get is why there are, and have been, so many threads on the subject, or related to the subject, of using and falling with clipless pedals. So yes, I certainly feel there exists relevance despite the fact that this particular thread is not on the use or non-use of clipless.

Whether or not you get it is certainly irrelevant to me
Best regards

This thread was precicely to point out to all the people that keep bringing up "everyone falls" that it is not inevitable, even if it is likely. Anyway, your power grips are still not relevant.

I think we knew that already. "everyone falls" is as impossible as "nobody falls".

Doesn't stop morons from repeating it.

Or starting polls, eh?

I've not fallen becasue of clipless. But I feel I had an advantage. At the time I started cycling with clipless the skiis I used had a binding system where to release you 'kicked' the heel out. Pretty much the same action as SPD pedals, which is what I went wit. So it was an action I was used to. I could even claim net negative falls as I have caught at least one other rider who failed to unclip. (unclip right, lean left).

I've also seen at least one rider who went from clips and straps to clipless. For those I'd expect no falls, you are going from a much more difficult process to an easier one if you are making that transition.

My only observation, based on experience, is that once you unclip, step away from the pedal. It's not that hard to clip back in if you keep your foot near or on the pedal while stopping.

Well, what do you know. Today, my cycling partner and I were out for a rather frigid ride and as we passed a little local coffee shop, the call of the warm shop & hot coffee got the best of us. We turned around and I pulled up on the sidewalk, stopped at the cafe, leaning my bike by the door at the window. A few seconds later, my buddy who's ridden nearly 10,000 miles this year and has ridden about the same last year, who I work my ass off just to try to get to his level of ability, who I've never seen or heard about him not being able to unclip, couldn't get the cleats out as it stopped behind me. He fell down ON his Kniessl as it fell down on the drive side, bending his lovely-only-a-few-months-old DuraAce back derailleur really badly, jamming the entire system.

The moral of the story and this stupid poll/thread is... whether or not you've fallen yet doesn't matter, the universal law of "sh*t happens" still & always will reign supreme. You may never find yourself in that tiny micro-moment where you can't unattach from the pedals and good for you, but it says absolutely nothing about your skillz or about those who have fallen. Sh*t just happens.

bump

I biked pass the bush that I first fell into when I got my first biking shoes. Nostalgia

my road bike came with clipless pedals already on (bought it from a friend) and I didn't fall while I was getting used to them. I want to scream every time a friend with a new bike says to me "the guy at the shop said I'd fall if I started out with clipless pedals so I should use <fill in the blank: platforms, cages, whatever> for a while."