The question is causation. The only time I've fallen that I could partially attribute to being connected to the pedals, was when I tried to turn around on my road bike on a narrow gravel road. I turned too sharply and went down quickly. Was this 'because' of the shoe/pedal attachment or because of my miscalculation? I blame the latter, 'tho maybe I would have gotten my foot to the ground in time had I been riding with plain old flat pedals, no clips no 'clipless.'

Twice within a few weeks of getting them. First time it was a stop, wiggle, and fall in a parking lot. The second time it was a stop for a truck pulling out of a driveway on a narrow street. I can't believe I remember these almost 20 years later. None since. The pedals were Mavic/Looks.

Is the Clipless Wiggle a real name for this?

Scene: Attempting to ride over a short hump of compressed gravel while on a climb. Problem: Gravel wasn't compressed enough and the grade was too steep. Result: Sudden slowing and unable to unclip in time to stop falling to my left. My left hand and knee kept the bike and me from completing the fall.

Scene: 3 minutes after the above incident I came to a stop at the appex of the climb and unclipped the right foot successfully. "Time for a picture of where I just came," I thought, so I pulled out my camera and turned around at the waist to snap the picture. Result: the front wheel rolled forward and reoriented the bike/human center of gravity from right to left. Unable to unclip my left foot in time, I flopped over with one hand on the left hood and my right hand holding the camera. With deft handling, I was able to keep the bike from hitting the ground by using my arm, shoulder and hip to rotate onto my back, finishing with the bike now above me. And I managed to keep ahold of the camera. Unfortunately, there was no one around to witness that awesome moment.

I once sped into a gravel parking area in Northern BC, screeched to a halt beside a packed tour bus, and unceremoniously tumbled onto my side. SPD pedal springs has rusted after riding through days of rain on unpaved roads.

+1

It was on a mountain bike years before I owned a road bike. Talk about a helpless feeling slow motion fall, my riding buddies had a good laugh though. I haven't fallen on the road bike due to my pedals (Look Deltas), but my wife has a couple of times. She uses Keos.

Dean

My first bike with clipless pedals was a mountain bike and I fell over on the first ride. Came to a stop at the top of a hill and couldn't unclip before tipping over.

For the record, I fell with an M502/M086 combination. I await my flogging for using MTB parts.

Nope. I used to ride with clips and straps in the old days. Check this out kids: if you had them tight enough to actually do anything, you had to lean down and manually release the strap to get your foot out! Can you believe it? (Oh, and don't get me started on having to get off the couch to change the channel!)

Best advice I got when I put them on, unclip everytime you think you might have to and do it at least 100 feet up the road. I also put them on in the winter so although I had some outdoor rides with them when new I spent alot of time on the trainor getting used to them so no falls because of them.

I fell once clipped in learning to trackstand (went down hard, too). Other than that, I've been able to rip my speedplays apart through brute force to avoid falls twice. I've only had them for about a month, though, so I'm sure my number will come up sometime.

so how did you stop, back in the dark ages?

Haven't fallen. Shimano M520 with spd cleats. FWIW, I never fell back in the day with toe clips/straps either.

I have a theory that people who "lean" to the side when they stop are way more likely to fall because they didn't unclip than those of us who don't lean but come off the seat in a forward motion and keep the bike basically upright while stopped. I've even had people argue with me that it's impossible to stop with one foot down without leaning. I don't even want to get into what they are doing wrong (do we have to shoot some video footage?). But I think a lot of the fallers are leaners because they usually start their falling story with "I unclipped my right foot but leaned to the left and fell that way," or some such thing.

Three times. All due to idiot error.

1. First one, two weeks after going clipless. Coming up to a red light in peak hour traffic. Go to unclip the left foot and accidentally grabbed the (right) front brake. Over the bars I went and broke my elbow.

2. Trying to be smart. Tried trackstanding at a red light. I had the left foot unclipped so I could put my foot down when I couldn't balance anymore. I leaned right instead...

3. Not paying attention to my cleats. I replaced the cleats on my shoes and didn't check the orientation correctly. Riding up a hill with a friend. He stopped to use his inhaler for his asthma. I stopped but couldn't unclip because I'd put the cleats on the wrong shoe (left cleat on right shoe).

1 & 2 were with single sided SPD MTB pedals and shoes on a hybrid/commuter. The third one was with Crank Bros. Mallets on my recumbent. In the 2nd & 3rd instances I only hurt my pride.

Not yet, much to the annoyance of my wife. But I've only been using them for a little more than a year. Which is partly because she talked me into getting them in the first place, but has yet to put hers on her bike. I do, however, leave the pedals on a fairly loose setting to make it easy. The only time I had a problem was once when the cleats came loose on a shoe, and I couldn't get it unclipped. I actually had to take my foot out of the shoe to get off the bike. Now I make sure the cleat is securely fastened.

Once with SPDs, once with Speedplays. There were no witnesses the second time so technically it didn't happen.

Matthew

You'd roll up to a light, bend down, grab the strap, and loosen the strap. Since I fancied myself a triathlete, not a roadie, I was usually wearing running shoes rather than proper cycling shoes. Because of the wide toe box and waffle sole of my Nike Pegasus trainers, it took a bit of wiggling to get the foot out. So you had to start the process a good distance from the intersection.

In contrast, with clipless it's just kicking out your heel. Easy peasy.

I have fallen 3 times during the first 4 years of cycling. Those were on the Look Delta system. I never fell on my Speedplays or SPD-SL's, nor on SPD's or Onzas on my mtb, but it might have something to do with my experience by then since I haven't fallen since my 4th year, which would be 12 years ago.

Yep
Once
SPD's
(In front of a waitress in the parking lot of my local pub - forgot I was clipped in
No, I had not been drinking
Yes, I was embarrassed)

i never fell down for the first two months of clipless pedal use. Then after that I lost concentration and fell 9 times.

First pedals were Ritchey spd's. They sucked so bad I thought I would just go back toe clips. Then I got eggbeaters. Much easier to get in/out of. Now I fall less, but it's glorious when I do.

No.

Yes, both times on my old imitation spd's. Never since I got speedplays.

once ...

It's true: Clips, TA J. Anquetil cleats with Alfredo Binda Extra straps snugged up were nearly impossible to pull out of, without reaching down and pushing the strap buckle open.

Here's what we used to use.

Heck i fell over with my first pair of toe clips over 35 years ago.
And with my first pair of clipless.