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

roadhog

Several years ago, I was VERY proud of myself for buying my first road bike...and of course I had no idea what I was doing. I coordinated to meet a friend (who was an AVID rider) on a bridge near a little village mid-way between our houses for a ride. Anxious to prove my worth, I made sure I had all the right clothes on and at least looked like I knew what I was doing. He was waiting for me on the bridge. I pulled up all smiles and feeling slick, and suddenly got that sickening feeling as I pulled to a stop alongside him because I realized (too late of course) I had forgotten to unclip. I fell right over, into him and his bike, knocked him over, bounced off the curb, and rolled against the guardrail of the bridge, denting my seat stay in the process. What a poser I was... He was very gracious though, and that bike of mine has been retired for a while, but the same pedals live on...

wackydeirdre

I' really sorry to hear about your sad ride today. I was unfortunately only able to ride around the blocks of the neighborhood today. It was a busy day but I got a short 6 mile ride in before sunset. I hope you are feeling better. Maybe you should stick to the normal pedals. I'm a road biker and can't imagine road mountain biking with clipless pedals. The first time I used my own I fell off of it in my driveway. My 9 yr old sons were running in front of me like squirrls and I was thinking I might run into them. Consequently, I didn't get my foot out of the pedal in time to stop and just fell. If I weren't laughing so hard from feeling completely stupid my boys probably would have been worried. I'm just glad I didn't land on the lawn gnome, it has a sharp shovel in it's hand and I might have gotten stabbed in the liver. Happy trails!

flyingdutch

One's gotta ask...

"WhyTF are the called 'clipless'
when we spend half our lives
clipping in and out of them???

__________________
'ungrounded' Dutch...

Eldrack

Got my new bike a week ago complete with so called "clipless" pedals. Fallen off four times already, same reason each time. Slowing down for a junction then think '**** need to get my feet out,' but by then its too late and over i go. Scratched paint on my nice new bike, scratch the pedals, the quick release and the rear derailleur, hopefully this is all superficial damage though.

Shredpirate

I remember my first clipless pedal experience. With only about a month of cycling experience I purchased a set of zeros. New cyclist + clipless pedals = ...crash. Besides the crash I'm actually very glad to have switched to clipless right away.

wackydeirdre

You were bound to love them eventually. They just take a little time to get used to. I used to crash into my garage wall every other day initially. I have one bum leg and often forgot to take my good leg out first for some stupid reason when I returned home. My left arm was always bruised from trying to hit a beam instead of a nail jetting from the wall.

IEatRice4Dinner

man u guys scare me... i just ordered some time atac pedals and some sixsixone shoes (kinda like a really stiff BMX/skate/tenis shoe with spd) they should be in tomarrow... of course im goin to put my bike on the trainer and pop in rocky or the godfather and practice for 3 hours or so before i even go ride in the wild. lol

wackydeirdre

I have to agree, it is the ultimate oxymoron.

EoinC

I've never had any problem getting out of the Look clipless pedals (especially compared with the old toe-strap days). I have had the reverse problem - snapping the tail edge off the cleat on my right shoe when sprinting at an intersection. This wouldn't be so bad, but I ride a fixed-wheel and the next revolution threw me over the bars - if you walk around in cleated shoes, check that you aren't wearing down the tail edge.
My last fall, a few months ago, was definitely a problem with the tradesman, not the tools. I was riding towards the turn-around point on a single lane road. I had a call from a manager and was sitting up riding hands-free. I was kind of absorbed in the call and didn't notice I was running out of road. When I did notice, I slowed down, pulling back on the pedals and was just moving to put my left hand on the bars whilst starting to do a u-turn. That was when I noticed a dusting of sand on the road and watched the front wheel wash out for a low-side. I ended up lying on the road (not amazing), still talking on the phone without missing a beat (I think I did let out on little "@#$&" on the way down). What I did find rather amazing was that I actually lay there, still clipped in, for a few more minutes before I finished the phone call. Some (I don't know who) may call it dedication - I call it stupid.

wolfgang

Whoah! Chill out, man!

IEatRice4Dinner

tried out my Time pedals... i like them alot not to hard to get in and out off.
some times look and some other brands can be harder to get in/out of... another thing that can help is aclually using cleats from a friend that have alot of miles on them and are worn, that makes it easier yet.

jitmo

I will guess you will like these. I've used speedplay "X" series for about 5 years or more and i love them. My previous pedals were on a MTB (Tioga) and although i could clip/unclip fairly easy, i never liked the "locked" in motionless movement allowed. When i got my road bike with speedplays, not only are they free floating but soooo easy to get in and out of. After just a couple rides, i could get in/out without looking and i'll not change these for years. Totally impressed. Recently i had one incident because when i slowed and unclipped, my cleat broke and i almost toppled, but still managed to get my foot down first. New cleats were in order anyway, and now good as new.

tinuvielberen

First, so sorry to hear about the various injuries folks here have sustained, from pride to bones...

Next--THANK YOU all for the advice and experience. It's helped me a ton!

I rode from my house to the LBS this morning to go to a bike clinic on bike maintenance, tire changing, etc. Somehow, I left the store with a new pair of shoes and Speedplay Frogs! Miles from home, and only one way to get there...

I made it home in one piece, and then went for another crash-less ride later this afternoon.

The most helpful pieces of advice were--

-practice on a trainer first (I did that for a couple of minutes in the store)
-stay alert and concentrate on when you might have to stop (abject fear is helpful for this), and unclip in advance
-tilt your head to the side you're planning to unclip on

And, the single most useful tip:

-turn your handlebars AWAY from the foot you're planning to unclip, thus tipping the bike towards the unclipped foot.

Anyway, by the time my DH suprised me with a sudden stop, the technique was automatic, and I managed not to fall over.

So...thanks again!

wackydeirdre

Very glad to have been of assistance. If you are willing to learn from the mistakes/misfortunes of others you'll always be way ahead of the game. It's a great thing to always have an open mind, so many people out there don't. I wish you many happy, healthy, clipless rides!