Tales of clipless woe
Greetings from a fellow Adelaidean.
Perhaps I would feel better if I could hear similar stories of pain and humilation. Or am I just unlucky?
My first road bike and its clipless pedals are not being kind to me.
I thought I'd practised clipping in and out enough but then I cycled out of my front gate, turned up the steep path, realised I was in top gear, stalled and fell on the road. It made my ankle hurt but otherwise I'm ok. Not many people can say that they've fallen off their new bike within 5 metres of first getting on it.
I press on. 40km later I'm climbing The Old Freeway and my front tyre seems to be slowly going flat. Damn. I stop to pump it up. It seems ok so I carry on. I stop at the top of the climb and pump it up again. I ride along the disused road, turn right into the cycle path, bottom out the front rim on a bump and suddenly, as I take the sharp left corner, the front tyre has gone completely flat and slides freely to the right. At 10kph, still clipped in, I fall hard on my left knee and face plant the rocky verge so hard that my left contact lens gets rubbed out of my eye (even though I'm wearing sunnies) My eyebrow gets cut open, my nose is bleeding and I've got a fat lip. Blood starts pouring out of my knee and runs down my shin.
What kind of crazy system is this? When you fall off your bike your feet stay attached to the pedals and you land on the road with your knee and your face!
Thank you to the lady who stopped and gave me a tissue to wipe up some of the blood. And thank you to Mike on the white Scott who let me use his water bottle to clean the blood off my leg. I tell you what, it's not easy to repair a puncture and ride home with mild concussion and only one eye working.
Encouragement? Funny stories?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Wombat on -
Stay with it. You will get used to it. I have not told that many people, but now it will be out. ONLY because I recognise a person in huge turmoil over a similar issue to me...
The first time I rode with clipless pedals was in Canberra on my mate's bike. All good. Had one or two close calls, but mainly ok. No falls.
My mate gave me a set of pedals and a pr of shoes to bring home for my own bike. I had trouble putting the pedals on so had to get assistance from Bernie Jones Cycles. Went out to the carpark and practiced. All good. Put Bethany (youngest daughter) on the trailer bike and we both overbalanced and fell on the ground.
Mostly good for a week or so with just a few close calls.
Then had one horrific day when I fell 4 times. All innocuous falls at lights or stop signs, but all humiliating none the less.
I have kept with it and the pedals have not been the cause of a fall since that day.
Thankfully they did not cause the sort of pain that you have had.
Stick with it. They are heaps better than cages. :-)
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Permalink Reply by RD6 on -
yeah - its bit like ski bindings - bastard of a thing when you for split second fall over with bike on the side. Worst one was stopping at traffic lights and I fell sideways resting on the car that was stationary. The poor driver was howling in laughter, I guess he saw the funny side :)
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Permalink Reply by Michael Warner on -
Your mistakes so far are to live in the hills (!) and have enough bad luck to get a front flat, since they're fairly rare. If it helps, I once got a front flat coming into a roundabout, fell onto the lip of the island as soon as I turned and rolled the tyre, and nursed some badly bruised ribs for a couple of weeks.
As you get used to clipless, you'll find yourself instinctively unclipping the foot you normally put down as soon as anything goes wrong. It might be helpful to set the spring resistance to minimum for a while - most pedals let you do this.
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Permalink Reply by Wombat on
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I have done this with mine (set the resistance to minimum). I have not had them "pop" out when I didn't want them to, so should not be too much of an issue.
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Permalink Reply by Desmond Victory on -
i have the clip in pedals... but ride without the shoes... and / so dont have an issue....
are clips absolutely necessary?
im still pedalling with the correct part of the foot and for any riding i do (non competetive) ,,,it doesnt move....
and i can get off mid ride and walk around in public without being in moon boots
im happy with my choice... :)
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Permalink Reply by Alexander Langman Hender on -
Hey bud!
Words of encouragement: I now ride clipless on every bike I owe: race bike, fixie, mountain bike, even the fat-ass cargo bike. It's definitely worth persevering with. It's also really worth making sure that they're set up right, so I'm glad that you've been down to BJ for them to take a squizz.
Funny story: I'm a very regular cyclist and a clipless lover. Just a fixie so I thought I should try to learn to do a trackstand. Rolling into my front porch... balance... balance... took the right foot out and then lent left. This is the rookie error. I went down like a sack of s**t. My little sister comes out to check what the sound was, ascertained that I hadn't knocked over the woodpile, just myself, and went back inside. I've been riding clipless for at least 2 years. This happen last week...
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Permalink Reply by Marty Shears on -
We all have our stories .. some worse than others.
The first day I was clipped in, riding to McLaren Vale on the veloway, a friend of mine stops for a nature call, somehow I think to unclip my left foot but after 2 minutes forget my right foot is clipped in and go to put my foot down .. little did I know at the time, in the fall I bent my derailer .. which went through the spokes and ripped right off on the way home.
That was about 5 years ago. I came off again end of last year in the heat on the veloway again, lost my concerntration taking off up hill .. exhausted .. over balanced and plonk .. not moving at least but still doesn't feel the best.
I have another friend who has come off 5 or 6 times in the first couple of months. I think everyone else is just too embarrassed to tell :)
New shoes/pedals are tight and with wear they will become easier to unclip. You can back the spring off on some pedals to make it easier.
The best thing I can say for people new to clipping in is clip out one foot if you are coming up to any situation you might need to unclip. Beware of starting going up a hill, learn to peddle with one foot if you miss getting your second foot in. Beware of pushing down too hard on your 2nd foot, missing and losing your balance .. as I have seen sitting behind many people taking off from traffic lights and probably done it once or twice myself.
Is it better to clip in? I'd not go without being clipped in anymore and I have converted most of the people who cycle at work into clipping in too. At first people are sceptical but when you realise the extra muscles you can use (pull back and up) and the security of your foot on the pedal (especially in the wet).
I tried to get my partner into shoes though .. after a few falls she gave up. It all depends what you want to do as a cyclist. If it is just linear park, less than 30km trips .. it doesn't really matter.
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Permalink Reply by Desmond Victory on
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oh.... now there is something i never thought of.... i have always been quite happy sans cleats.....
especially negotiating traffic and the like around town.... but have also been a bit mystified why the cleated up persons seemed to be generating more power up willunga hill and the like.....
now i know.....hmmm... so they do have their uses..... might have to start putting on the new shoes i have never used :)
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Permalink Reply by Steven on -
Thanks everyone. I'm starting to feel a teeny bit better. My knee isn't though.
Someone told me they clipstacked through the safety tape and into a workmen's hole, bike still attached to their feet. The woman in the car following him was laughing so much she was crying.
I guess it would be funnier if it didn't hurt so much.
=o)
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Permalink Reply by Roger ... on -
Its probably too late but there are different kinds of pedals and cleat systems. Normal road bike pedals have a system that is harder to lock into and get out of but far more comfortable over a long ride. Whereas mountain bikes use a 2 sided pedal with a much smaller cleat the release on MTB pedals is much easier because MTB riders need to put their feet down much more often. MTB shoes flex slightly and are quite okay for walking around in. Anyway as you ride the 2 systems look nerarly the same but they aren't and in traffic I absolutely prefer MTB pedals and cleats. There is even a MTB cleat that realeases your foot if you kick forward hard.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Palfrey on -
So is there anybody out there who has converted to clips and not had any drama
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Permalink Reply by Clive Palfrey on
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So is the problem most likely to be that the clip sticks or that the cyclist forgets to twist their foot until it's too late
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