Clip in pedal's (we have all done it)

dudemark

Hi all,

I have recently bought some clip in pedals for the road bike and I was pretty chuffed that straight away I could get on and off the bike easily.

Well that was until Saturday, I got held up in traffic and I thought about clipping one foot out but decided on a track stand instead (can you what happend next). As the tragic started to move so did I - then we stopped again, only I needed to put a foot down. Had I clipped out? No! Could I clip out? No. I fell in slow motion in busy traffic and there had to be a White van filled with workers right beside me. Of course there was a muddy puddle and of course I landed in it! I would have been embarrassed if it wasn't so funny.
Everyone around me was laughing except the woman in the car behind me who was just shaking her head!

mgittings

everyones done it at least once! but good work doing it into a muddy puddle!

the best ones are when big sprinters down the velodrome forget to undo there straps lol

deptfordmarmoset

I even managed a slow-motion off at about 2 mph with toe clips on Saturday. Foot just wouldn't come out. So I executed a lateral dismount and started to direct traffic in a ''nothing-to-see-here'' kind of way.

Wear a red jacket and nobody sees you blush :oops:

AndyRubio

I used to do it on very steep hills in the Dales, just come to a standstill and fall over. Ahh happy days.

redvee

Dome the muddy puddle thing but swallowed some too :shock:

zippypablo

Yea, think we'll all done it. I remember stopping at a red light and as I came to a standstill realised my foot was still clipped in. I then fell in slow motion as a crowded bus pulled alongside me. No physical pain but mentally scarring :oops: (for a few minutes)

Pigtail

I'm pretty new to clip-ins and just seem to struggle finding the right knack to unclip. The best way seems to be to twist my heel in, rather than out.

They're great out on country roads - but I stay in town with busy traffic and it can be a real challenge getting out of town in the first place - though you do learn to anticipate and time traffic light changes.

One of the last times I was out I got about 300 yards from my house, reached a t- junction with traffic crossing in front of me, stopped and fell off.

One of my feet had unclipped in the fall, but the other hadn't so I had difficulty removing it. - I jumped up pushed my bike across the junction very quickly, jumped back on and tried to do a flying start to get away from anyone who had seen me. My feet or the pedals seemed to be slippy, because as I tried to clip in my foot flew off the pedal, I unbalanced and fell off again.

There was an old man who had been walking on the pavement and he had been right beside me on both falls. He studiously avoided me and continued walking both times!

James

shouldbeinbed

Double sided pedals are helpful if you do lots of urban riding in stop start traffic. Also a food squirt of lube all over the spd mech every couple of weeks helps

Harry B

I did it at the traffic lights at the bottom of Westminster Bridge right besides the Houses of Parliament. There were about 50 tourists on the crossing at the time. It seemed to take for ever for the lights to change so that I could get out of there :oops:

ilm_zero7

redvee wrote:

Dome the muddy puddle thing but swallowed some too :shock:

you dont want to do that out here - the muddy puddle will be TSE !!! :shock:

upperoilcan

Had my SPD learning curve a few years ago on an MTB,Saved my blushes falling off as i was on my own in Bracknell forest........

oscarbudgie

After stopping for a pee on the edge of a muddy field on the club run yesterday I had so much muck on my cleats I couldn't unclip on the left and only just managed to get my right foot out in time to avoid a fall

dudemark

All excellent stuff.

Fancy doing it on purpose just to get a rest!

garrynolan

Never not unclipped - got foot out, put it on kerb, kerb not there, over I went. At the traffic lights so lots of people watching (and laughing)...

neilo23

I did it at traffic lights in front of a beer garden to provide entertainment for the 200-odd people drinking there. I got a standing ovation from some of them which was nice.

cyclingmev

i find it worse if i end up thinking about unclipping, so try to keep my mind off it now...but a few years ago, i ended up in a big heap at a T junction just as an elderly couple were driving past...as i was brushing myself down and giggling at myself for being sooo stupid, they'd driven back to see if i was ok, bless 'em! Another memorable time was unclipping the uphill foot instead of the downhill foot, but i was leaning downhill...needless to say, i ended up doing a slo-mo fall off down a slope and a most elegant sideways roll...hurt like a bugger! :roll:

ChrisSA

Tried to track stand outside Costa in Wokingham at the pedestrian crossing last September.
It went horribly wrong.....

Sirius631

shouldbeinbed wrote:

. Also a food squirt of lube all over the spd mech every couple of weeks helps

Is ketchup more slippy than salad cream or should it be avoided because it washes off too easily? :P

slowlanejane

I practised clipping in & out in my dining room before first heading out on them. Managed to crash while stationary and holding onto a chair. ow, ow, ow, falling onto furniture left me with whopping bruises in surprising places, would have been better off tumbling off outside. Which I still did of course.

mingmong

First FAIL was on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Tatton Park. Pulled up to the cattle grid and somehow fell forwards onto the grid, bike still attached. Much to the amusement of quite a few picnickers.

We've all done it. So long as it's only your pride that's hurt.

plumpy

I have Speedplays and find that I can get out of them pretty reliably. With me the issue is messing up the clip-in as I pull away again and cracking my knackers on the top tube. Just as amusing for spectators.

I find that if I am wobbling up to a traffic light which is on red, I can make it change to green instantly by unclipping and saying the magic words "Oh, bollocks".

straas

I never have any problems clipping out, clipping in is always a bit of an issue when pulling away from lights though - is this because I have them on the most relaxed setting?