my first clipless ride, predictable result

caradale

Well todays my birthday, and lucky me got some nice road shoes and a pair of look keo easy`s. Spent a happy hour fitting the cleats to the shoes then swapping my existing flat pedals for the keo`s . I followed all the advice and practiced clipping and unclipping leaning against the fence, no problem all seems straightforward so off for a ride. I was mega carefull approaching junctions and the like and popped one foot out to be ready to stop if needed. My only difficulty was starting of again if facing uphill, more practice needed in keeping momentum and getting the second foot in'
Then the inevitable happened, saw a picnic bench by the river and thought perfect place place for a stop. swung of the road onto the grass pulled to a stop next to the bench then gracefully fell of sideways into the mud much to my embarrassment and all the familys with kids at the other tables amusment.....

at least I did it somewhere safe and no damage except to my ego...

lancew

Everyone does it. I tried to do a track stand at the lights at about 11pm and went over sideways. Fortunately no-one else around, but boy did my pride hurt.

Needless to say my clips have since been loosened.

nick1972

You're not the first to do it and certainly won't be the last. Glad no damage to you or your bike. (pride aside of course)

DiscoBoy

On soft ground sounds like the perfect place to have your first "clipless moment"... Few of us were as lucky...

bmwsport

lol.. yep I still don't know anyone who hasn't fallen off at least once, mine was after a tiring 120 mile run, I was stationary at a round-about, saw a gap, went for it, clipped in, then realised I'd mis-judged it and the car was a lot closer than I thought! jumped on the brakes which stopped the bike fine, but as I'd been caught off guard I'd given my self no time to get out of the pedal, panicked which made it worse, then hit the deck, at 6ft 3 on a 61cm bike I've a long way to fall, and the road hurts lol. Luckily no one hit me.

I use Shimano 520/540's and a specialized touring shoe, double sided spd's make clipless about as easy as it's going to get, and the Spesh touring shoes have a rubber sole and of course the cleat recessed which gives you a few options in terms of riding along with one foot unclipped, the sole gives you plenty of purchase on the pedal either just behind or in front of the cleat, so works great in stop start traffic.

The best advice I could offer is when you start out loosen the mechanism as much as is possible on the pedals you have, trying to be a hero always ends in a fail! I probably wouldn't have fallen off if I'd done this. My girlfriends just starting on clipless pedals and backed right off they're incredibly easy to get out of, I'm hoping she'll be the first person I know not to fall over!

goonz

Its inevitable like with a baby first leaning to walk. It will fall over.

I practised in the park on grass much to the amusement of a bunch of kids I fell over a few times. Much rather that than falling over in traffic though.

BrandonA

One of my most painful cycling crashes (I've been quite lucky to date) was falling off the bike in the garage when stationary as I thought this would be safer than testing cleats on the road. I grazed and bruised my knee, elbow and thigh.

Luckily I've only fallen once when on public roads but lots of people were around so pride was damaged far more than the body or bike.

Initialised

You got off easy, I have a scar on my chin from my last clipless moment.

KevChallis

I still have a scar on my knee from my first fall off clips, it happens to everybody, I would be happy if mine was on mud lol

dee4life2005

starting on an incline with clipless pedals can be tricky, especially if the pedals are single sided e.g. SPD-SL's.
If I know I'm going to have to stop I always drop down a couple of extra gears to one that I can pedal one-legged, if need be, until I get up enough speed to attempt clipping the other foot in.
This also takes practice, but it's a handy thing to be able to do.

My first clipless moment was on a cycle path when out with a mate. He was fairly new to cycling and needed to stop for a drink from his water bottle, it was a slight incline and I forgot to change down. Didn't have the strength to turn the gear over from a standing start and over I went ... thankfully missing the pile of dog crap, but not by much. Wasn't too sore hitting the tarmac at the time, but I had one hell of a bruise on my him and shoulder the following day and got really stiff for a few days.

trekker12

One of my riding group claims he has never had a 'clipless moment'. I don't believe him...

w00dster

Happens to us all (twice in my case!)
I have Look Keo pedals, I've had them a good few months, was a bit of a pain getting used to clipping the second foot back in, but now its second nature, even on hill starts. Clipping out is also nice and easy.

Phil_D

Mine was a costly one.

I did the usual falling off sideways at traffic lights that were about to turn green so I was in a rush to get moving. It wasn't until I got home that I noticed my speedo had come off in the fall.

It wasn't until the next day when I changed gear onto the biggest sprocket that I found out that the derailleur hanger had been bent out of position -> mangled rear mech, snapped chain, bent spokes, wheel bent beyond repair. All of this in the middle of nowhere 30 miles from home and the Mrs out for the day.

macleod113

dee4life2005 wrote:

starting on an incline with clipless pedals can be tricky, especially if the pedals are single sided e.g. SPD-SL's.
If I know I'm going to have to stop I always drop down a couple of extra gears to one that I can pedal one-legged, if need be, until I get up enough speed to attempt clipping the other foot in.
This also takes practice, but it's a handy thing to be able to do.

The above was the reason i invested in Speedplays. pushing off from lights in the middle of 2 lanes of busy traffic uphill.. magic!

simon_masterson

trekker12 wrote:

One of my riding group claims he has never had a 'clipless moment'. I don't believe him...

It's not mandatory. I was a seasoned clips and straps user when I started using clipless. If you can tighten and loosen your straps, you'll probably find clipless a breeze. I did.

briantrumpet

Simon Masterson wrote:

It's not mandatory. I was a seasoned clips and straps user when I started using clipless. If you can tighten and loosen your straps, you'll probably find clipless a breeze. I did.

Despite being a seasoned clips and straps rider, I still had one slo-mo topple in my early days of clipless - coming round a corner on a lane, a lorry was coming (slowly) the other way. He stopped, I unclipped. Only trouble was I unclipped my right foot (as usual) and slowly, ever so slowly, realised that I was starting to topple over to the left. But I still didn't have time to unclip the left foot to stop me getting a bit intimate with the hedge.

But I'd agree, generally, if you've had the experience of clips & straps, clipless are relatively a doddle.

bowdy1987

My first clipless moment was in rush hour traffic crossing the east lancs. Un clipped my left foot and leaned to the right to press the button on the crossing. One of the most beautiful women you could ever meet was sat at the traffic lights on the other side laughing her tits off at me. Embarrassed muchly

adr82

MacLeod113 wrote:

The above was the reason i invested in Speedplays. pushing off from lights in the middle of 2 lanes of busy traffic uphill.. magic!

Yeah Speedplay pedals have their downsides, but you can't argue with how nice it is that they're double-sided.

DKay

I've hit the deck three times. I'm sure there will be a fourth at some point.

tomhowells

First one was outside an all girls school, at school opening time (the place was mobbed!), at the traffic lights. Much laughter ensued, & I quickly made my way off. To make it worse, I have to pass the school every day on my way to work, and a few people still shout 'careful now!'.

Second time was after the wiggle South Downs epic sportive, I was too tired to unclip at the end & gracefully slid onto a raised bank of grass! I received a chorus of 'Yay'.

sparklehedgehog

bmwsport wrote:

lol.. yep I still don't know anyone who hasn't fallen off at least once, mine was after a tiring 120 mile run, I was stationary at a round-about, saw a gap, went for it, clipped in, then realised I'd mis-judged it and the car was a lot closer than I thought! jumped on the brakes which stopped the bike fine, but as I'd been caught off guard I'd given my self no time to get out of the pedal, panicked which made it worse, then hit the deck, at 6ft 3 on a 61cm bike I've a long way to fall, and the road hurts lol. Luckily no one hit me.

I use Shimano 520/540's and a specialized touring shoe, double sided spd's make clipless about as easy as it's going to get, and the Spesh touring shoes have a rubber sole and of course the cleat recessed which gives you a few options in terms of riding along with one foot unclipped, the sole gives you plenty of purchase on the pedal either just behind or in front of the cleat, so works great in stop start traffic.

The best advice I could offer is when you start out loosen the mechanism as much as is possible on the pedals you have, trying to be a hero always ends in a fail! I probably wouldn't have fallen off if I'd done this. My girlfriends just starting on clipless pedals and backed right off they're incredibly easy to get out of, I'm hoping she'll be the first person I know not to fall over!

I haven't after nearly a year of riding...





..yet!