Can't stop falling when riding with clipless pedals! Need stopping tips!

tictactoe

I am riding a Giant hybrid with combo pedals, one side SPD, one side you can use with regular shoes. It seems that every time I go out for a ride with my cycling shoes, I fall at least once (ok, this is an exaggeration). But whenever I do it, it's embarassing and not at all a pleasant experience!

I try and concentrate on releasing only one leg, but depending on the stopping situation, I lean different ways. Any tips you can share about training yourself with clipless pedals?

K.O.

Try these::
Clip out with the same foot each time to get used to it.
Then just make shure that you always lean to that foot plenty of time before uncliping.
Use same pedals and shoes on each side to get better feel, control etc
Be prepared to unclip ur other foot if you start to lean the wrong way
come to a stop smoothly and perhaps slower so you have plenty of time to get your footing right
Hope it helps

Feanor

I feel your pain,

I regularly get distracted in different ways besides exhaustion, other people, absentmindedness etc... that delays that preplanning you need to always remember to unclip in plenty of time, roll to the correct side and so on...

I take the worst case scenario approach and as I am coasting to a stop, I'll unclip the right side (I always default to that unless conditions demand otherwise) and make sure it is completely disengaged (lift off foot) and then having done that mentally prepare to quickly come out of the other side if I need to.

If you do this, you will rarely go down even when you're dead tired... Unlike being clipped in while Mountain biking, where you always seem to have these nice little dances together

Make the process of unclipping instinctive while stopping... As much so as knowing that depressing the brake lever will compress the brake calipers and slow you down, at that level of instinctiveness you'll rarely have a problem, unlike me at times:

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t35319.html

As far as a "mental trick" to keep from forgetting, unfortunately the only one I have is simply to always remember how stupid I felt the last time I fell over and never wanting to repeat that... I think the main problem is that it more embarassing than it is dangerous... If people broke their arms every single time they came rolling to a gentle stop and fell over, it would never happen...

Good luck!

Feanor

JohnO

Practice, practice. It becomes second nature after a while. Until then, it will take a few knocks.

I always unclip my right foot (am righthanded) just before stopping. On the road, it shouldnt' be an issue to always put the same foot down every time. Also - set the release as light as possible. You'll misfire a couple of times and come out early, but that's better than coming out too late. After you get used to them, tighten the release back up.

On the MTB, it's a little different, and I'm still not totally in love with the SPD pedals on the MTB. Seems like I need to unclip a lot more quickly, a lot more often.

Spider1977

I fell over tonight on the way home from work at traffic lights. Usually unclip the right foot from the Shimano pedals well in advance, but thought I'd be a smart arse and grab on the trafficlight pole on the left. Leaning over that way with the right foot out and left foot still in, I misjudged the roll to the pole. In slow motion, over I went. Get up and look at the motorists like nothing has happened, it's just what you do when you're dressed up in your flash bike gear with bright yellow shoes. Hope no one I know was in the traffic at the time!

Practice, practice, practice I guess that's the only answer.

steve

Make sure you unclip the same foot each time, the more you do something the better you will get at it (I think). Falling over is something everyone has done at some stage.

It might pay to check the tension on your pedals and make sure they are at the lowest setting, and increase them as your confidence increases. Also try to unclip a couple of seconds before you stop, this way you have a 2 - 3 second buffer if you get into a panic. It could make the difference between ending up on your arse OR chatting to two hot blondes at the traffic lights

cheers

__________________
Steve

CyclingForums.com

jonstagg

Two suggestions:
1) Unclip way in advance if it looks like you're going to stop and hold your foot just above the pedal, so if you don't have to stop you can just push it back in.
2) If you have unclipped on the left and start fall to the right push your handle bars to the right. This will cause the bike to move to the right and help you to fall back to the left. It works!

jonstagg

Two suggestions:
1) Unclip way in advance if it looks like you're going to stop and hold your foot just above the pedal, so if you don't have to stop you can just push it back in.
2) If you have unclipped on the left and start fall to the right push your handle bars to the right. This will cause the bike to move to the right and help you to fall back to the left. It works!

tictactoe

Wow, that 2nd one makes so much sense! Funny how you never think logically like that when you're in mid-fall. Thanks for the tip!!

Velvet

Yes, that second tip might be just what I'm doing wrong when I tip to the wrong side occasionally on stopping. I'm VERY glad I'm still lurking here.

Insight Driver

I'm new to clipless and use a Giant OCR2 road bike. I recently got the bike fitted to me and had my clips angled for my feet. Now I sometimes get stuck in the pedal (because I have to rotate out more than I did when the clips were straight). I guess I'm lucky because I only fell over once.

I adjusted my clip tension to make exit easier. I can pull up hard on the pedal and not come out, so I think keeping the tension light helped me.

tictactoe

Update: I went out riding twice this weekend, and fell both times! WTF?

My pedals clips are really loose and I have been trying to be very conscientious of my unclipping, but sometimes when I'm nervous, or I can't plan ahead, I get flustered and fall. So in addition to my practicing this, I am also curious whether LOOK pedals are easier to unclip from than SPD?

marion

there is nothing worse than looking the part eh? and the traffic lights made me laugh so much i need to carb up!!! being a smart ass is the same in nsw as tasi he he he just to make ya feel better i did similar hope yours wasnt peak hour traffic? being a female lots of male came to assist me ha ha ha that made me feel even worse....

TheDude

Remember to unclip before the last possible moment. Depending where your pedal is at the time can make it hard to get out. I personally have more trouble clipping in than out when in traffic.

You might want to go somewhere with lots of room and no cars (like a school during off hours) and ride around real slow and practice. You'll get better and, more importantly, confident that you can safely clip out when necessary.