Clipless horror stories
 

So, ive recently started riding clipless, huge improvement btw, and i dont really understand these stories people tell about crashing and not clipping out, or not being able to exit.

It took me, 10 minutes tops to figure it out, and ill trade my dignity fallin' in public twice for nearly double speed and acceleration forever.

Do these stories circulate to scare? im not trying to be rude, just seems like folks dont want people discovering how easy it is, haha

one day you won't be paying full attention and it will happen unless you are one of the few lucky ones. I did it once and haven't done it again.

You doubled your speed by going clipless?

That's either (a) really impressive or (b) not true.

No one ever said it was hard.

People fall for different reasons.

chances are you are clipping out well in advance of coming to a light. that's natural as you are just starting out. The more you ride, the closer to the light you will clip out and one day you'll stop thinking about clipping out and it will just happen. Then one day you'll forget completely and do something awkward and fall down. They you'll go back to thinking about the pedal and clipping out. Happens to almost everyone.

(c) Never had pedals on crank arms before

(d) Trollin

^^ Or slight exaggeration to make a point, you literal-minded yobos. Yeesh.

Is anal retentive hyphenated?

Acceleration, FEELS doubled, if that floats yer boat a little better.

as for tipping over due to not paying attention, thats more learning than crashing, right?

You'd be surprised, I get a lot of customers at the shop who have been told it takes a lot of skill to ride clipless.

Practice helps. Paying attention helps. But some day something may happen that distracts you in a way that you don't expect, or you may have a mechanical issue that strikes at just the wrong time (say, when you're just clipping in or rolling to a stop, or turning a corner while going uphill). My one and only fall in clipless pedals came after about 25,000 miles --- I had a mechanical issue as I was making a very slow turn on an uphill slope; I didn't know whether to blame the rider (me) or my mechanic (me).

Also, it's very bad luck to say you've never fallen in clipless pedals. Same as bragging about not having flats.

I fall over plenty, keeps things interesting! haha

what kind of customers are these people? commuters pushing their limits, or the overly hardcore type?

I don't consider falling from a non-moving bike a "horror" story, more like an embarrassing one. And I don't think you'll find many arguing that clipless pedals aren't worth the effort.

Not remembering to clip out is merely one of the many ways you could fall due to clipless pedals. I've never forgotten to unclip, actually. Most people don't fall on their first ride with clipless pedals, but a few rides later, once they have gotten a bit complacent and are no longer as attentive. For my first fall, I had completely stopped and put down my right leg, while leaving my left clipped in. Buddy of mine rode up on my right and I instinctively moved over a bit to make room for her. That that caused me to lean too much to my left, overbalance and fall onto the left side, due to not being able to clip out my left leg fast enough.

It takes a while for your non-dominant foot (the foot you leave clipped in) to have enough muscle memory to do an emergency clip out when that happens. Now that the muscle memory is there I don't fall on my left side anymore, though from time to time I've had to do an emergency clip out to save myself from falling. Maybe you'll end up being one of the lucky ones and not fall. Maybe not. Who knows. Not a big deal usually.

i hear some folks just unclip both feet when theyre learning, just to be on the safe side, i find myself in the most trouble missing clipping IN instead of out.

eh, why bother with clipping in both feet to get going again? As for trouble clipping in, I find it a lot easier to clip in on my fixed gear

I feel this weekend. Charity event. About 50 miles into a Metric Centry. Coming to a red light. Unclipped my left foot came to a stop and had a lean a little to far to the right(right foot still clipped).... and down I went. Luckily no one was to my right. The other cyclists asked if I was ok and and one guy said...."I hate when that happens". Made me feel better...but still felt like a tool.

I fell on my ass twice the first day I rode clipless... It happens, didn't really hurt though.

Once you have your first tipover you'll see where the stories come from. You absolutely will have one......and then you'll have more. It's just a matter of time. On my last group ride I saw 2 different people fall over coming to a stop where they were gonna go....then decided not to...then tried to do a quick yank out.....didn't happen....fell over and tore up knee and elblow. I broke my humerus into 4 pieces and had a paralyzed arm for a year from not being able to clip out in time during a mountain bike wipeout. These aren't horror stories to scare you...it's real sh|t that happens all the time. I use toe clips now....I'll never go clipless again....the advantage doesn't come close to outweighing the risk for me.

It'll happen when you're distracted. Probably when you see that hottie who sometimes shows up to the Tuesday night club ride. You'll ride over, say hi, and promptly plant your face on the pavement.

Enjoy!

I second that. I picked up a beater fixed gear a few years ago, started riding on flats to get used to it, then switched to clips/straps because I figured the hipster kids who ride with Vans sneakers must know something. Wrong. I quickly switched to clipless and it is way easier (eggbeaters FTW).

The key to your post is "recently switched". Don't assume you won't fall because you haven't already. I fell over with clipless, not because it was hard, but I did anyway. I had a broken elbow to show for it. Riding a biek period is not hard necessarily, but we still have crashes right?

Crap happens

Or (c) rhetorical.

I came to a stop light one day, clipped out with my left foot ( I'm a righty, and don't know why I stand on my left foot at red lights ), and was waiting for the green. Someone on the sidewalk asked for directions somewhere, and I leaned a bit to the right, enough to lose my balance. I sort of threw my weight left, and managed not to fall. Another time, a couple days after I got the pedals, I turned on this dirt path to find my picnic area had been graveled. I took a fall right in front of some guy eating his lunch, when my front wheel sank into the trap. Come to think of it, that was right after I felt good about an easy transition from toe clips to clipless.

Only time I've had a moment was hopping to turn myself around in a tight spot when a trail ended. Lesson, unclip to turn around in a tight spot.

Clipping out of speedplays with 8 miles of float can be daunting in a pinch.

Oh, man! You just ruined my theory that riders who started with toe clips don't fall when going clipless.

I'm with you. I tried clipless and had a car stop in front of me and couldn't unclip in time, wreaked my shoulder (completely torn rotator cuff). I will not go clipless ever again.

Yup. I used be one who thought it was crazy to fall over clipped in.. until I did. It was early in my commute and I guess I was just out of it. At the stop light I just kinda forgot to unclip and I fell over. Luckily nothing happened and someone asked if I was ok. I was mostly just embarrassed. But now that it happened, I don't think it will happen again. (right?)

Well ... I did find the transition really easy and natural thanks to the toe clips. And in my defense, that picnic area didn't have any gravel on the surface the day before I fell, so it was more the rider's fault than the shoes and pedals. :rolleyes: But, still, I had the same theory, and it was very disappointing to ruin. :(