I would call this thread resolved. Theres nothing else I can do for now that woun't make things worse for later. I'll pick up a cheap pair of toe clips just to hold my feet in place, for now I'll just have to pray the same thing doesn't happen to me eippo1. I will eventually go clipless. Thanks for the help everyone, seems that I'll like this forum.

The funny thing is, they're usually harder to get into than out of.

Shimano makes, or made, a pedal that was a standard pedal on one side, and a clipless pedal on the other, so you could ride in either type of shoes. The best feature is that there's a small screw that allows you to adjust how strongly the clipping mechanism holds. On its loosest setting, unclipping is almost entirely effortless. I found it perfect for learning clipless. As a result, I've never fallen as a result of clipless pedals in three or four years of riding them, even though I've moved on to a different clipless system.

Your Dad probably DOESN'T want you to go faster. In the end, he probably just wants you to be safe as possible. Understand that first. Every dad knows that you are at an age where you want to do things bigger, faster, louder and sometimes stupider. If he doesn't ride, something like this is hard to explain - offhand it SOUNDS more dangerous. Coming from a 13 year old, the whole thing could sound "fishy" especially if he doesn't ride. The bikes he rode at your age definitely weren't clipless.

I would avoid the whole speed angle and take it entirely from a safety angle. If you can convince him that it's SAFER - which I strongly believe everyone would agree - you would make a tough argument for him to say no. Especially if you are paying for it.

Remember though that your bones, muscles, tendons etc. are still growing however. I would think that if you did get the pedals, a proper fitting would be ESSENTIAL. And you should evaluate that fit often as you grow. You do NOT want to screw your knees or anything else up, which - after all - may be why your dad said no to begin with.

In my experience though, feet slipping off of the pedals is much more dangerous than being clipped in...

Im glad i didnt have your dad when i was 13 but hopefully you can turn him around. most of the time i would tell you to listen to you father as i am also a dad but this is just silly and seems he is way to controlling. if he was a cyclist he would know this but he isnt so its up to you to educate him.. ignorance is a bad thing

Have repeated, nasty crashes in which your "foot just slipped off the platform...if only I had some way of my foot being attached to the pedal..." then leave it at that. It's a long term strategy. Sure, it will hurt in the beginning, but you'll get what you want eventually.

In all seriousness, as a parent (I'm 33 with three daughters, oldest is 7) having a teenager that respects a parent's wishes even when they disagree would be a dream come true. It's good practice for you too, it will happen a lot in life and learning to pick your battles when appropriate and accept things at other times when it's not as important will be a useful skill to develop for your emotional well-being.

Having said that, I'm kind of saddened at how hard it seems to be for many (myself included at times) to have an open, honest conversation followed by decisions based on reason and logic as much as possible (parent of course has ultimate veto authority). I gather it's not possible for you to sit down and both present your cases without hurting the other party. But I guess there's not a whole lot you can do about that at your age.

do what I always did. buy the pedals and use them anyway. Then we you get caught, you can scientifically prove to him that you didn't die.

dad is right.

..and owns your ass until you are a self supporting adult. Just do what my kids do and wear him down. He will eventually say yes.

Fixed for accuracy.

Tell your dad that sedentary lifestyles with no exercise are dangerous, and can lead to diabetes.

Rarely. But he does hold legal and financial authority over you, so you have to listen to or reason with him

After you spend some time here, you'll come to appreciate that the free advice you get here is worth every penny you paid for it.

Having said that, BF is the electronic equivalent of chewing tobacco. It's an idiotic and disgusting habit, yet strangely addictive all the same...

I just bought a new bike for my wife and the first thing I did was take off the clipless pedals and put on an old pair of platforms. I could almost guarantee you that she would take one or two falls before she learned how to get out of them at stoplights, etc.. She is in her late 50's and has some early osteopenia and has already broken a wrist and a leg from falls in the last 10 years. There is no way in hell that she is getting clipless pedals on her bike.

I also have a friend and experienced cyclist that crashed on a downhill this summer. He couldn't get out of one his clipless pedals and suffered a very serious fracture of his ankle (tib/fib). He is out of commission for 6 months. He probably didn't have his pedals adjusted properly (intentionally for sprinting) but clearly wouldn't have twisted that ankle as much with platform pedals. He will ride again with them in the future but he would also disagee that they make cycling safer.

I am in some agreement with your Dad. There are significant advantages to using clipless pedals (I wouldn never ride without them) but increased safety isn't one of them especially in the initial learning phase. Don't be too surprised if you feel the same way as your Dad someday with your young kids (and wife).

you know how you can pick up wifi signals from neighbours' houses? one of the local home network names is "Dadz rule, kidz drool".

Good advice all around I'd say.

One more thing if it hasn't been mentioned: bring a friend who rides clipless over and have him/her show your father how easy they are to get out of, and more importantly that the majority if falls on clipless pedals happen at very low speeds.

You'll fall in them. Everybody does. I haven't in over 5000 miles but I'm special.

When you fall it could be into traffic. If you fall in traffic you could be hit by a car. If you get hit by a car you could die.

So, no. No clipless pedals for you.

Now go do your homework.

I am a Mom (of a 13 yo male idjut, incidentally) and I KNOW clipless are safer - better control of the bike.

Your Dad is just being a guy. To put things in perspective, in 30 short years you will be juuuust like him.

Good Luck

SF

It is OK, it is just a warm-up before battle for car keys. Such is life.

SF

Show your dad this gallery of other junior riders: https://www.usacycling.org/gallery3/...hony-Skorochod

It's just not the same without umd. He needs to get a sock.

5K is still n00b.

If you fall in traffic while in motion because of clipless pedals, you have managed to do something even more idiotic than the numbskulls here can manage. The Lord watches over fools and drunks, so you'll be fine.

your dad is not unusual to think clipless is dangerous. people who do not cycle much and is not into bikes usually think this way about pedals. how about asking him to join this discussion and asking the expereienced cyclists here to explain why clipless is safer? he might not think what a 13 year old says is likely to be right but how about people older than him?

That's my road bike total since I started again in April of this year.

My pesky 6 years of riding 30-60 miles a day from 1982-1988 would put me somewhere around 30,000 lifetime miles. One year of riding for pcad but still qualifies me for a ticket out of the newb category, thank you very much.

If the goal is to persuade with logic, I'm not sure bringing anyone to the 41 is a good idea...

Yeah the dad would ask a question and two posts later the subject would turn to bikinis and, well, you know.....