Falls when clipped in.

[smokeysmoo]

Never fallen due to being clipped in, (he says's touching wood!).

My mate did the traffic light classic though!

Is it wrong that I was not able to keep a straight face when he was telling me? I knew he hadn't been hurt though.

 

[GrasB]

A couple of times around town but not fallen but rather pushed my self over. At a particular junction if I'm turning right & far enough over to stop motorists from pulling up against my right hand side there is a big enough gap for a car to pass on the left. Once in a blue moon (I'm guessing once every 18 months to 2 years) the timing & space given is just so that as I'm putting my foot down a car gets in the way & I push my self to the right... cue a clipless moment as my right foot is still attached to the bike.

 

[gaz]

Fallen once, that was when i tried to start but i had forgotten to change down gears. So was pushing a monster gear and just fell over straight away. LOL!
That was 4 years ago.
It's easy when you learn to twist from your heal, you have the better leverage from there and it's easier to unclip. I see a few people twisting with their foot and it works ok on MTB pedals with low tension but try that on a road pedal and you will be stuck!

best thing to do is learn how to trackstand.

 

[PaulSecteur]

So far, my only clipless moment happend right here...

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=52.551734,-1.969708&spn=0.00034,0.000905&t=h&z=21

Was tootling along, the towpath had turned into a sunken rut about 3 inches deep, and 6 inches wide. I must have startled a crow because it came squarking at me from nowhere! The tyre bounced about in the rut and in slow motion the horizon became vertical.

For the first few rides it was always in the back of my mind to clip out, but it soon became second nature.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Had clipless, time freerides, on my best bike since last September and so far so good. I'm running toeclips and straps on my fixed, have used toecips and straps for many years and have had one or two falls, no damage done, just embarrassment. I can remember a club ride many years ago where we crossed a field, I managed to end up going down a small hole still strapped to the bike, when I crawled out of the hole the lads were giving me marks out of ten for the fall

 

[Hydra]

Having read lots about riders falling at traffic lights etc while clipped in, and the struggles clipping in and out. Is there anyone who has never fallen because of being clipped in, never struggled with clipless and who have found clipless pedals a total success? Looking for some positives before I go ahead.

I got on with my SPDs really well. I had absolutely no problems, and became comfortable within the first hour or so of riding them.

I did, however, have a 'clipless' moment one morning. I was still half-asleep, coming down a side road to join the main road. Usually it's just a simple case of turning left and continuing to pedal, but this particular morning I was caught out by a rogue van coming up the main road. I got confused, braked, wondered why I was falling to one side... kerflump. I laughed, got back up, got on with it.

Since then, though, I've had not even an inkling of a fall

 

[ttcycle]

I've fallen off a couple of times - it's been the case where I've come to slow at a junction for a car to make it's turn and the cars waiting for me instead of turning which actually is the exception not the rule despite right of ways etc and as I'm hovering on the pedals and at a crawl sometimes the slowness means I have a moment!!

The other time was after not cycling for a bit and just a daft oops moment when I came to slow and misjudged the turning out of my heel and had the bike fall onto me and twisted my ankle - if you're going to fall, do it in style! Still had to get to a bike meeting so got up and carried on with a dodgy ankle! Apart from these mishaps, I've found them really easy to use and excellent for pulling off at traffic lights, going up hills. Just a good feeling on the bike.

 

[Cubist]

Only off road,ad then only occasionally (except for my first ever SPD ride which was in the snow at Dalby where I fell off about a thousand times. ). Two years down the line it's absolutely second nature.

 

[Red Light]

Only had a problem once in many years. Went shopping, got back to the bike and had trouble clipping in. First traffic lights I could not get my feet out. Rather than topple over I managed to grab the traffic light pole and then had to undo my shoes to get my feet out. Much puzzling before I discovered some abstrad had been round with an allen key and done the tensions up to max.

 

[Slaav]

As per my previous comments - new to all of this cycling lark but after a week or two on my new steed (if you can call it that) went to SPDs - Allez road bike.

When a kid, had toe clips and remembered the massive difference so was itching to get into SPDs as a grown up.

Went for them and havent looked back since - only one slight moment and that was fine - foot came out as I 'won' the battle with the pedal! It was just me being c0cky to be honest - was trying not to stop in lots of traffic and should have simply prepped....

Go for it and you will 99.999999999% love them and not look back! HTH

 

[cadseen]

very rarely fall, but you wont be able to guarantee not falling when or if something undexpected happens.

 

[david1701]

can I add when the dickhead in front of you just stops for a breather, fortunately we were going dead slow. In the interests of fairness I landed on her/her bike

 

[slowmotion]

I changed to SPDs eight days ago and fell off within three minutes, witnessed by two other cyclists in a car-free part of a park. Early last Saturday morning, at about 1:30 am, I stopped for pee at an all-night ASDA in South London.....and fell off right by the front door. This was witnessed by about 130 cyclists on the night ride to Brighton

 

[the_mikey]

I've fallen off a few times, once because of a dog straying into the road, another trying to clip in and another cyclist crashed into me, and another arriving home after a ride and all I could think of was a cup of tea, forgetting I needed to unclip, I fell over outside my front door! Most of the time I don't fall over, I don't trust dogs or their owners though...

 

[funnymummy]

I've had a few near misses, going up a steep hill once, my left foot wasn't clipped in properly, as I stood on the pedals my foot skidded off & toppled forward , managed to put my foot down but couldn't keep my balance & landed in the bushes with my bike twisted round me, took me about 4 minuste to figure out how to get untangled & stand up!
Riding my new bike for the first time & was going up a 25% hill, having just gone from drop bars to flats I had a momnet of sheer dumbness, tried to chnage gears & went the wrong way - I promptly fell flat on my side!

My funniest one though has got to be when I used a van to stop me!!
About 1/4 from home, traffic light on red so long tailbacks, I want to turn left at the lights, so I had pulled through a gap & was riding on the inside (I know stupid of me) as passing entrance to petrol station I realised a large lorry was pulling out the exit, I was doing 15mph at this point, apllied brakes slightly, twisted foot, nothing happened, braking more - hoping the lorry would keep moving & be gone by the time I get there, Nope it's turning right, so has stopped right across my path - Split second decsion, aply brakes harder & twist foot harder, but still nothing, less than 20 feet to go, lorry still stationary. PANIC! I saw the van, big brown transit, passenger window open & a nice large wing mirror - AHA! As i drew level i sat up & lunged at the van, right arm through the window, left arm across my body & grabbed the mirror, my bike carried on for a few inches then fell over. I was left hanging from the van with my bike still attched to my shoes swinging away.
"Alright Mandy" I looked up into the face of my mates husband who was in hysterics... I still get weekly reminders about it!