Another beautiful ride RUINED by )(&*&%$ CLIPLESS PEDALS!!!

[wackydeirdre]

I just bought my new clipless pedals and was keen to put them on and try them out. Reading all the advice on the forums, I practiced first in the garage - clip in, clip out. That's pretty easy. On to the street I go, clip in, clip out whilst riding. No worries. Oh there's the new neighbour standing on the side walk - I'l go over and introduce myself . Coming to a stop next to her, clip out right foot easy -whoops forgot left foot. In a split second, I'm sprawled out on the road in front of her! And to make it worse, my 15 year old son is at the top of the street LOL whilst I try and recover some dignity. Oh well, I explained I can ride a bike and I've just fitted new pedals that LOCK YOUR FEET TO THE PEDALS!!! Now must remember to unclip BOTH feet when coming to a stop.

unclip one foot at a time. while braking unclip one foot, put your foot on the ground and when you are at a full stop unclip the other. Unclip both while your bike is in motion and your full weight will be on your saddle. you may not recover from that one, yikes! it takes a couple times to get used to it but after that it's something you don't even have to think about. Sorry for your humiliation by the way! Happy trails!

 

[AllanST]

There's one answer to this........


USe clipless pedals all the time. Don't use platforms and you'll never have another problem with them.

TBH when I was thinking about switching from platforms to clipless I asked a load of people and heard the old "Oh you'll be trapped on your bike, etc, etc". I was a bit wary but tried them out for myself. Immediately I was hooked.

OK I had some stupid mishaps to start with, like figuring out I had to unclip before stopping (Once...LOL), but I quickly got out of that habit. Since then I have never had any problems with clipless, and use them on my MTN bike as well. I even screw them down tight. Any crashes I have had have nothing to do with the pedals, and I've been released from them immediately, as the way you fall is the way that releases. IMHO Road SPD SL pedals are better than mtn bike SPD's though.

And it means I will never have any nasty accidents like I had when using platform pedals, when I stood up to pedal hard on them, and slipped off. I was lucky I didn't break my legs!!!

Clipless all the time. That is the only way to go. Platforms are for kiddies (though really they should get into good habits young), people with some sort of problems which precludes them from using SPD's, and Dinosaurs.

 

[AllanST]

unclip one foot at a time. while braking unclip one foot, put your foot on the ground and when you are at a full stop unclip the other. Unclip both while your bike is in motion and your full weight will be on your saddle. you may not recover from that one, yikes! it takes a couple times to get used to it but after that it's something you don't even have to think about. Sorry for your humiliation by the way! Happy trails!

Why on earth do you want to unclip both feet at once anyway? Apart from getting off the bike, having long stops I only ever unclip one foot, then drop the bike to that side so I balance on one leg. That means that when I have to get away, it's not too long to clip back in either. I'm sure it's not just me either, but that 99.99% of the cycling population also do this.

 

[wackydeirdre]

Why on earth do you want to unclip both feet at once anyway? Apart from getting off the bike, having long stops I only ever unclip one foot, then drop the bike to that side so I balance on one leg. That means that when I have to get away, it's not too long to clip back in either. I'm sure it's not just me either, but that 99.99% of the cycling population also do this.

Thats exactly what I suggested, one foot at a time when getting off the bike perhaps I worded it wrong, sorry if I did

 

[AllanST]

I have to agree, it is the ultimate oxymoron.

Because they don't have toe clips on them, that's why. Even I knew that, and I've only been riding 6 months

 

[AllanST]

Thats exactly what I suggested, one foot at a time when getting off the bike perhaps I worded it wrong, sorry if I did

Ah I see, was just curious why someone would suggest taking out both feet, but I see that you weren't in fact saying that now. Was a bit confused.

 

[tingle_wayne]

I know what you mean. I was just finishing an easy 15 miler and pulled up to my truck. I unclipped my right foot, then stupidly leaned to the left. I couldn't unclip my other foot fast enough and down I went. When I got up (finally) i realized that there was another truck parked next to mine with a guy in it just watching me.

How embarresing!

 

[Traffic Jammer]

I remember years ago the forsi week I was riding my Looks...use times now, I came to an light, and simply could not get undone in time....over I go SPLAT...lol.

Once I knew I was going over I let the fall happen so no knee strike, I spread the impact over the body. The driver and I had a damned good laugh over it. Trust me these things happen rarely after the first time.

 

[Traffic Jammer]

I remember years ago the first week I was riding my Looks...use Times now, I came to an light, and simply could not get undone in time....over I go SPLAT...lol.

Once I knew I was going over I let the fall happen so no knee strike, I spread the impact over the body. The driver and I had a damned good laugh over it. Trust me these things happen rarely after the first time.

 

[MPCRUSHER]

Went for a ride when I was 14 about 16 years ago and had the old toe straps on with cleats. Tightened up the straps so I could go fast. In my head I was a pro, everyone on the street thougt I was too(this is all in my head), I thought I looked hot. Had to stop at the traffic lights in a sudden. Tried to pull the feet out, no good. I rolled over like a sleeping cow thats been pushed over. Lying on the ground next to the stopped traffic with feet still stuck in the straps. couldnt get out, I couldnt even reach the straps for about 20 seconds. I was trapped sooooooo embarrassing. Oh MY GOOOOOOOD...



Thank God for Clipless pedals..

 

[Eden]

About 2 years ago we did a tour in Spain and though I am pretty experienced with my clipless pedals, I found out that the weight of a paper back book or one sandal can be the difference between staying up and tipping over at a stop sign. After packing a little unevenly one morning and going over at two stops in one day (no damage fortunately), I figured out that I had to rearrange some of my gear....

 

[huhenio]

Knock on wood ... clipless still means fall free for me.

 

[ladyicon]

Today was a gorgeous day....ideal for riding. I put on my very cute new riding outfit, loaded up with water, map, money, health card, phone, granola, sunglasses, gloves and was off.

I'll start by mentioning that this is only my 2nd year riding, but my abilities and confidence have made great strides. Today however, the cycling gods had it in for me.

I rode down the nature path for about 10 minutes until I got to the first intersection I had to cross. I started to roll slowly toward it and planned on riding across but then I heard a car and though I'd stop. But I had forgotten I was wearing those )(*&*&^%$$# clipless pedals! I have been riding my mountain bike lately and it has ordinary pedals so I guess I forgot. Then I got the sickening feeling as I began to topple over that I wouldn't get unhooked in time. It is the most helpless feeling in the world, isn't it?

CRASH

Been ther, done that. my fall took 6 stitches. Riding a mtn. bike without clipless pedals, then a road bike with, is just a recipe for disaster.

 

[Timonabike]

Ouch!

I'm new here yet I can probably add a few interesting 'exp. des. words' to express how I feel about clipless.

I spilled on a low speed MTB ... on the pavement/sand spot and could'nt get out of the B....... things! Came down on my right hip still clipped in. Couldn't put weight on the R. leg, and 1.8 mi. from home re-mounted the bike and rode the dirt road home.

MRI/x-rays and Mucho $'s later I found I had 3 different pelvic fractures. Three weeks later I was on the Schooner Mary Day for a week long seamanship course with these fractures and a pair of crutches which I refused to use. See www.schoonermaryday.com

First thing I did in terms of bike repair was to ditch the SPD pedals and put the inserts back into the bottom of my Specialized bike shoes.

I was again riding the MTB six weeks later racking up 70 mi. on a two on/ one day off schedule the last week of August.

Now I follow more the www.Rivendellbike.com philosophy of open pedasl and your choice of shoes/sneakers/sandals &c.

With open pedals I'll now ride next year's C2C taking my Tevas and add neoprene booties for the cold & wet and have my bike shoes for clear days.

Folks can keep the 'clipless midset'. The best guess by trainers is an 8-12% eff. improvement and the talk about 'muscel memory' and perfect 'round pedal strokes' .... BS.

Since when does cycling have to mimic NASCAR and Gear Heads? What happened to Fun and a quiet "Mosey."

Enough said from here in Maine,

Tim

 

[MTB_NUT]

been riding my mtb 2 years now,and i moved over to shimano spd pedals about six months ago,ive had several accidents ,one really bad my knee looked just liked yours,but my most embassaring crash was when i was on a cycle path, in the distance i could see another cyclist coming towards me as he got closer,he moved one way i moved the other,i went left he went right as you do,any way we ended up dualing handlebars,our brakes and gears got all tangled up so we were stuck together,it happened so quick i didnt unclip and my falling made him fall to,,i felt so stupid and the other bloke was not happy,,i still use my spd's i love them and would never go back to flats

 

[wackydeirdre]

Possibly one of the more lame clipless pedal threads but here it is. I decided I need to go for a long, fast ride one night last week to blow off some serious steam (my 15 yr old daughter has me pulling my hair out lately. The girl is an over achiever in being a teenager and has been handing in many extra credit assignments so as to boost her teenager GPA). I didn't ride far before realizing I'd forgotten my sunglasses of all things so turned around and came home to my sons riding their scooters and bikes in front of the house. I asked one of my sons if he would mind getting my glasses for me while my other son stood beside me clearly seeing I was upset and trying to convince me to stay home so I didn't do something stupid and hurt myself. As I waited in the driveway with one foot on the ground and the other cleat still clipped into my pedal telling my son I would be just fine after I went for a ride I somehow, don't even ask because I don't know, managed to fall over on the leg still clipped into my bike. The bruises from the fall were nothing in comparison to the ones sustained on my ego for having fallen from a steady, motionless position. I suppose I was still shaking from the nonsense my 15 yr old had been putting me through that day since I proceeded to shift incorrectly twice causing my chain fall to off twice during my ride until I got into it and let go of my stress. Teenagers will be teenagers but I really hope for my sons to stay sweet as they grow. They enjoy riding with me so thats a plus in itself. Once they are more confident on the mountain bikes I'd like to get them road bikes if they want them.
...Until I have another real accident.

I never attribute my falls solely to the pedals yet consider them more of an "owner, operator equipment failure" also, haven't really fallen strictly because of the pedals since I learned to use them 2 years ago.

Ride safely everyone!

 

[p38lightning]

I've been riding for about 53 years on platform pedals, and am not about to "unlearn" and adapt to clipless pedals. Don't have any use for them, and never will. (I have a pair of Look Carbons, and Times out in the garage gathering dust which came on used bikes that I bought. I just know that in a tight situation I'm going to try and put my foot down as I always have and "COP ONE" bigtime.

 

[wackydeirdre]

I've been riding for about 53 years on platform pedals, and am not about to "unlearn" and adapt to clipless pedals. Don't have any use for them, and never will. (I have a pair of Look Carbons, and Times out in the garage gathering dust which came on used bikes that I bought. I just know that in a tight situation I'm going to try and put my foot down as I always have and "COP ONE" bigtime.

Can't blame you there. I can't say I'd mess with something that's worked well for as long as 53 years myself.

 

[NORECUMYET]

It's a state of mind thing, like learning to ride a bicycle. It just takes time to become aware that an extra step is necessary when you come to a stop. I ride Campy Pro-Fit, and they're set pretty tight, but haven't had an accident in three years of riding. Well, not due to being clipped in, should I say...

Clipless on the MTB was really hard, until I realized that SPD pedals were a lot easier to GET INTO than toe clips. Then, I really started liking them. In fact, I take them off the MTB and put them on our tandem when it gets taken out - much easier to get started if you don't have to stop and flip the pedal around and around - just stamp your foot on it and go.

If you get EGGBEATERS you don't have to worry about flipping the pedal around. It's always in the right position.

 

[kdelong]

After 30 years of riding with toe clips/toe straps, I tried some clipless pedals at my favorite LBS. They didn't feel right but I bought a pair of Shimano (don't remember model) and a pair of Specialized shoes. This was around 1998. If I am not moving and end up on the ground, I don't consider it a crash. I have only crashed once, but I fell over five times in a month. Sold the pedals, pulled out my good old Shimano 600 Platform pedals and I have yet to fall over or crash to this day. Motto: Use what you are comfortable with, and stick with it!