hahaha!! That was great!! (not the fall, the post by the way)

My Coach told me I had to take it in turns clipping out and resting on alternate feet, first your natural foot, then the "other one"...it feels really wierd at first, but at least after time a quick click-out will come naturaly with either feet...

Try it, it worked for me!!

Maybe a Bubble Wrap cycling shirt and shorts will help you too...

Is anyone here old enough to remember the show "Laugh In"? I think it was the comedian Arte Johnson who used to tip over on his tricycle; I imagine he was using the special Speedplay Tricycle pedals with the SIDI shoes.

I won't be offended if you laugh at my falls, I do all the time!

I'm actually thinking full motox gear is the way to go.


Diane

I went clipless almost 2 years ago in preparation for a coast-to-coast ride. At the time I didn't know much about shoes so I bought a pair of road shoes (i.e., without the nice grippy soles of mtb shoes) with for the regular SPD pedals that came on the bike (a Trek 520). I took the normal advice, sat out in my yard for a while practice getting into and out of the pedals. I found that I basically needed most of my weight to get get clipped in (I actually got used to it being this way and hate riding SPD's if they aren't really tight), so I soon started rolling out into the street. Luckily, at the time I lived on a fairly empty rural road and so I was fairly safe. The next morning I started riding to school with them.

My real trouble came after a couple of weeks, when I started to get cocky. I remember one time I came into my driveway and just forgot to clip out- I wasn't thinking. I reached for the car that was next to me, but it was just a little too far away and I went down, bending my arm in a weird way but thankfully not injuring myself.

That summer I rode across the country with them, with only a few mishaps caused by the pedals- including one of the infamous u-turns. Another time as i came to a stop my bike was leaning to one side but I unclipped on the other and just went right over. By that point I didn't really care- I remember laughing uncontrollably as I hit the ground.

I've been riding them ever since. My biggest problem has been clipping in the the small SPD pedals with the road shoes- I have bad aim. It was all right back when I lived in the boonies of massachusetts, as I didn't have to stop that much, but it started being annoying when I moved to the city. Up until now I've just run clips & straps on my city bike (a fixed gear) but today I purchased a pair of 'casual' cycling shoes that accept SPD's. Luckily, they have a grippy sole so hopefully they will work better for city riding.

ride on (on whatever kind of pedals)
jeremy

I like this thread. I also had my learning curve on clipless pedals. About 6 months ago I got a new bicycle. It came with SPD pedals so it was the perfect excuse to get a pair of bike shoes and cleats. I am one of those guys who reads the directions (shame on me), so the first thing I did when I got home was adjusted the cleats for easy release. I tested by pulling straight up to make sure I couldn't pull my foot off the pedal. I was confident at this point.

My first fall was when I was going around a turn on the bike path a bit too fast. I made an expletive as I skidded along the pavement, with that funny feeling that comes when your head is close to the pavement and you see it's moving. When I finally stop I pause for just a second and get up. I check for damage and see I've got a bit of road rash on my hip and elbow plus a gouge out of pinky finger. I see how much metal got ground off the edge of the handlebar and edge of the pedal. I don't see much other damage. I get off the trail and sit down, shaking a lot. I figure it would be better to start riding rather than sit and stiffen up since I had about 6 miles to ride to get back home. As a side note, that ride home did me good for I did not stiffen up and after a few miles my muscles loosened up. I think I healed more quickly because I kept moving.

I had read in the directions that it helps to turn the handlebars away from the side that's uncliped for it pushes the bike in the unclipped direction. I found that works pretty good when the bike speed dribbles to a stop and I realize suddenly I forgot to unclip. That doesn't happen much any more.

Another time I decide to take a break and spy a water fountain and park bench up ahead. I coasted off the trail pretty fast and my front tire just sunk into soft dirt which brought me to a quick stop. I fell over at that point. I was laughing. Fortunately there was no audience.

Another time I have one foot unclipped as I cross the road. I'm looking down trying to get my foot clipped back in and run into the weeds on the other side of the road because I had some problems getting clipped in. I had finally gotten clipped when I realized I was being scratched by the weeds.

One other time I came to my smooth full stop at the light signal button and fell over backwards on the side that was clipped in. I know people in cars saw that fall.

My wife is also a new rider with speedplay pedals since the LBS guy told her they had more play and were easier to clip in and out of. She has her falling over stories as well. She is more cautious than I though and has only fallen twice.

As others testify, there is no going back. The feeling of being securely clipped in feels good. Pedaling efficiency is much greater, and I find, on long rides that I can switch muscles to let others rest by concentrating on pulling up on the pedals for a while. For my next bike I'll get speedplay pedals. My wife likes hers a lot and I think I prefer them over the SPD clips.

Never pop a wheelie with clipless. I learnt this the hard way when I forst got my clipless. The bike went over with me landing flat on my back and straight into the hospital. Couple months later I was ok.

I've always ridden clipless on my road bikes. It still doesn't stop you falling over thouhg. lol.
I have just bought a brand new road bike for just over £1k and I was out on it for the 4th time (twice in the snow!!!) and as I came to a round about I signalled right to get into the right hand lane for the round about, there was a car in the distance so I started to cross, the next minute the car that was in the distance wasn't and just drove past me like I wasn't even there, I panicked and couldn't unclip my foot quick enough and fell to the floor, (only doing about 10mph) and was gutted when I saw that I had scrached my new £40 Look A3.1's. lol.

Ben

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Gibbo.

Army CU

Well, that's good then!!

I'm really glad started this "First clipless" thread, there have been some really funny replies.....

I rode 97 miles over the weekend, actually, it was a 4-Day weekend for me, and I haven't fallen...yet... << this is me every time I approach a stop ...

while ive seen enough people fall when starting out with clipless to know that its definately somthing that happens i kinda dont understand it. i mean isnt it a natural reaction to stick your foot out when you lose balance, and even if youre clipped in which is certainly an unnatural feeling, doesnt your foot unclip when you try to do that even if you panic? when i was starting out my foot was going to get outta the pedal before i fell no matter what. and besides, clipless are a lot safer than clips and straps anyways.

No, your natural reaction is to take your foor off the pedal and then stick your foot out. It's not as easy as that to take your foot off the pedals, you have to twist your ankle/foot to unclip them.

Ben

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Gibbo.

Army CU

Yes the part that´s hard to learn is to push down and twist not pull up and twist - which of course blocks most pedals solid .

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' too old to rock 'n' roll : too young to die '

my little story, dont laugh too hard:

i cant say ive ever had an experience riding clipless.... or even riding a real road bike, but back in my younger days i would duct tape my feet to the pedals of my GT BMX while leaning against a wall and ride around everywhere to get the clipless feeling and to bunny hop higher. needless to say getting out of the 4 or 5 layers of duct tape was interesting, luckily i never really ate it.

I went clipless today. I'm trying to figure out why they are working without these spare pieces. There is a sticker that says place in midsole, a silver piece that appears to go under the cleat bu I'm not sure, then another peice the I thought went into the cleat piece with two threads on it, and it fit last before you put the screws in but the screws aren't long enough. If someone can shed some light on whats these are for, exspecially the stickers, please help. All I did was screw the cleat in with the one piece that lets it slide left an right until tighten it. I haven't done anything to the shoe but I think I'm supposed to. The metal peice in the shoe doesn't slide, is it supposed to?

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"$1000 and it doesn't come with a kickstand?" - My Grampa

sticker for inside shoe, under the sole is supposedly to keep water out. the sticker for my shoes came with the shoes, not with the cleats. i don't use it, but it might work.

you might want to check out the website for the cleats you have--maybe it has better information about what all the pieces are. the spd's i've used sometimes come with extra parts that seem to be for cases where the shoes are missing the inner plate.

If you can find a website for Northstar. I recently gotten into the serous biking scene. I bought a $1000 mountain bike and it's coming this week. I have the pedals on the BMX bike I ride. I've been taking it to church and back every sunday. It's a 20 mile trip but I enjoy it. I've been messing with this clipless pedals for tyhe last 3 hours and I LOVE them. I plan on riding my bike to school tommorow and friday before we set the clocks ahead and it's dark again. I don't think the sickers will help much for keeping water out. The top of the shoe where the toes are is mesh anyways