What a great weekend. Picked up a shiny new carbon bike to replace my 6mth old felt z100 that got me started in riding/tri's - whacked on my 1mth old clipless pedals, the shimano shoes, and oh so sexy new bib-shorts from probike kit along with my sleeveless cycling shirt (to help blend my t-shirt tan-lines for the raby bay tri next weekend.)

Took the bike out - great pace, what a difference carbon makes, bike rides like a sports car

All going great until right turn at some traffic lights... .slow down, unclip... stop... ok... get going, oops wrong gear - oops wobble - oops fall over and end up falling INTO the lane of moving traffic on my left , head hit the rear of a toyota corrolla and i end up head on the tarmac looking at his rear wheel that just passed me, and thinking Im gonna get squished.

I had about 1 second of "oh - i need to be in foetal position - and - oh there is traffic coming from behind me and my head is in on the floor - Im gonna die "

Anyhoo I survived , all the cars stopped, pride is the worst damage and elbow is pretty wacked up. Bike is ok - contrary to what I thought the Carbon doesnt shatter on impact :-) Everyone gets 1 fall on clipless, hopefully this is my only one. It would've been a lot less frightening if it was on the kerbside rather than middle of the road, I"ll sure be planning different ways to do right turns from now on. I am left to reflect how I came about 60 seconds from having my head squished by a car wheel.

If that was you driving a toyota corrolla watching a middle aged fat dude in a silly sleeveless cycle top do a wobble and hit your trunk - thank you for stopping :-)

maybe a spare slot at Raby Bay next weekend - I doubt I'll be swimming by Sunday. :-(

163, good to hear you are ok, must have been quiet a fright.

I wasn't driving the corolla but I do live down that way, so next time your heading out can you let us know, there giving away cars on funny home vidoe at the moment

sure thing man, I'll be easy to spot - the only guy on a racing road bike with big fat kids mountain bike pedals on it.

nice recovery mate - hope you're right to race soon

the bad news is that this may not be your last. I can count 4 times when I've personally done this

It always seems to happen in the traffic doesn't it. I've had several stacks with my clipless pedals. Get up and back on the bike and get the hell out there, that's my motto.

dont even think about changing your pedals.
wow - sounds scary though!

Glad you're OK - but you ARE allowed 3 stacks with clipless. As long as they're slow-motion or stationary ones.

Ya hear that, Miners - only 3!!

Muz

Been there done that and yes the pride does take a beating.

Get the clipless back on and try a few things on a quiet backstreet -

- Practise stopping and unclipping and then starting again. Use the leg that is already clipped in to pull up as well as pushing down. It's clipped in so won't come out. Then clip your other foot in.

- Lean up against something or put your bike on a wind trainer and practise clipping your feet in and out. practise makes perfect,

- ALWAYS put your bike in a low gear to when coming to a stop. It makes it easier to pull up with your clipped in foot when you start off. Even if you forget, when you have stopped drop the gears back, lift up the back wheel and pedal with the clipped in foot. Need OK balance for this one so try it in a quiet street or the garage at home.

Most of all have fun!!!

Good luck with it.

Cheers
Andrew

Thanks for the comments Im really annoyed because the week before I did a 100k ride with the clipless - plenty of stop-go action. Imnot sure what I did wrong this time really it just kinda happened.

Had x-rays this morning :-( nothing broken but no chance of competing at raby bay this weekend. The dr looked like he was about 10, a sure sign at 38 that Im really getting old....

I shall investigate panier mounted video cameras for my next event on the bike and cash in on the funniest home video suggestion.

Glad it wasn't as big a disaster as it could have been.

I am particularly sympathetic at the moment as I have a big bandage on one elbow and am covered in bruises from my first stack. Thank god I wasn't on the road but had the misfortune of not paying close enough attention on the bike path as my front wandered to the edge of the path and ultimately off the edge and on to the grass. Feet wouldn't come out of the clips fast enough and over I went. My head bouncing off the concrete made me forever more a fanatical helmet wearer. How do people survive such things without one. They don't, that's the whole point I guess.

Disappointed to hear the number of allowed stacks is 3. I was feeling kinda pleased my '1' was over and done with! 2 more to go......

I guess as grown ups we get little sympathy for " I fell off my bike " :-) , its more like - "its your own fault dumbass"

Welcome to the club

Glad to hear that you are ok.

If it's any excuse, the 4th time occurred when I was trying to evade a wayward garbage truck ...

I am glad you're OK #163 - that was too close for comfort.
I fell off my new steed the other week - cruising up the driveway to a standstill - went to unclip but found the tension way tighter than I'm used to on my old bike and ungracefully toppled over into the gravel. Sported some nice gravel rash on the elbow for a couple of weeks.

On three stacks ever? I've had three on one ride!

Hehehehe, EXACTLY!

Two types riding clipless; Those that have stacked it, and those that haven't yet

I had my first clipless stack right outside the bike shop.

cyclists have much better horror stories than runners

When I started riding I had six falls off the bike due to inexpert 'clicking out'. That was in the first week!

Now I dont ride because it makes my knee sore and bike riding I have decided is inherently evil!!

And all the riders on this forum should stop riding and run instead. And if you must ride dont post on this forum. This is a running forum not a riding forum.

Running is safer, uses less equipment, and is on the the whole a much betterish activity.

Clipless bike stacking should not occur because you should be running instead.

rtw

It wasn't UCB was it?

Glad you are OK, but as you can see, it has happened to all of us.

I even lay claim to representing Australia in Clipless Pedal Bike Stacking with a fine performance in Florence in 1999. I stopped at some traffic lights, and tried to balance a track stand while similtaneously forgetting that I was riding a bike with fully loaded panniers. The weight of the panniers immediately toppled me over, with the bike and I crashing into an obviously expensive, lovingly polished car, being driven by a noticably large and clearly unimpressed Italian man, possibly of Calabrian decent and possibly with strong family ties. He jumped out of car very quickly, giving me a distinct impression that the Italian word for 'imbecile' is, in all likelyhood, "IMBECILE!!!!" Those traffic lights just couldn't change quickly enough, from a red very similar to the Italian gent's complexion to a colour somewhat akin to that of my own.

Where is EverReadyBunny? I believe she may also have a story to tell.

Never ever say "I fell off".

Always say, "I crashed". You get more sympathy, even if the crash happened at 0 km/h

M

OK you win

163

well done on being brave enough to tell the story and remind us all of the dangers of riding on the roads.

Over the years ive had my fair share of stacks due to not being able to unclip at lights or cboth feet coming out whilst downhilling on the mountain bike. its just part of cycling and most of the time its just your pride (as u said) that cops the most damage.

Its even worse when u think your good and try to stay clipped in and balanced at a set of lights with your brakes on. You know the cars ebhind you are just waiting for u to crash. The mind is pretty strong and has forced me to stack it a couple of times. smiles and waves is the best remedy for embarrassment

163
glad all is ok. keep your chin up and don't give up we have all been there. try to practice more in a car park or park. make you your pedals are not too tight as this will make it harder for you to un clipp. also always on low gear before you stop.
enjoy and stay upright

I fell over 3 times TODAY while clipped in, luckily all were on dirt and all were while doing less than 5kph, and there were no spectators.

At this point I decided to analyse what was going wrong and realised my pedals were clogged with grit making an exit near impossible. Half a drink bottle squirted on the pedals and I want then able to dismount more gracefully.

Gee looks like I only have one stack to go then! First one was in my uncle & aunties drive way (no witnesses thankfully) Unclipped my left foot but some how managed to shift my weight to the right and preceded to topple over. The second time occurred in the lounge room of all places ( witnesses to this one unfortunately). Had just finished adjusting the release tension so I could unclip easier managed to topple over breaking a foot stool on the way down, nearly smacking my head into a chair and now have three nice little scars where my chain ring decided to gouge my leg.

That's HILARIOUS!

I thought you might get some entertainment out of that.

AS others have said, I hate to disappoint you but it's not one stack or even three as someone else said. It has a habit of happenning from time to time with even experienced cyclists. Usually when you are least expecting it. Something happens and suddenly you can't uncleat fast enough.
Always uncleat the left foot first, then if you fall, you fall away from traffic.

For the ignorant....What are clipless pedals?

Clipless pedals (also clip-in or step-in) require a special cycling shoe with a cleat fitted to the sole, which locks into a mechanism in the pedal, holding the shoe firmly to the pedal. Most of today's clipless pedals lock to the cleats when stepped together firmly, and unlock with when the foot is twisted outward. Clipless refers to the lack of an external toe clip (cage), but not to be confused with platform pedals without toe clips.

Clipless is an odd name, a carry over from the old toe clips (a toe cage with a strap to secure the shoe/foot to the pedal). Clipless pedals don't have straps or a cage, they have cleats on the shoes that 'clip' into the pedal so that your shoe is fixed to the pedal. If you are still unclear, LOOK, TIME, SPD, SPEEDPLAY are some common brands that you could google to get an image of the what the actual pedal looks like. You must have the corresponding cleat in the shoe in order to 'click' into the pedals. They make a huge difference when cycling up hill and they are so much fun to learn to use, yes one often does seem to fall when there is traffic around, remember it well!

Clipless pedals are the ones which you will see any half serious cyclist using. They are a smaller than a pedal such as you would find a child's bike and are designed so the cleat on the sole of the cycling shoe clips firmly into the pedal, securing the cyclists foot to the pedal. This allows the rider to exert pressure through the full rotation of the pedal stroke. The foot is easily disconnected from the pedal by turning your heel away from the bike.

Clipless pedal systems became popular in around 1987. Prior to that, the pedal system on racing bikes included a toe clip (a piece of metal that extended from the front of the pedal, over the point of the toes to the middle of the top of the foot) and a leather toe strap with a locking buckle mechanism (the leather strap running through the back of the pedal and over the foot via the top of toe clip). Essentially, the pedal, toe clip and strap would form a cage for the front half of the foot, holding it firmly to the pedal.

If clipless pedals bring out tales of uncoordination and embarrassment from cyclists, image what it was like riding in toeclips. When you mounted the bike you would place your right foot in your pedal, tighten the toe strap and start pedalling until you had enough momentum to flip your left pedal to the horizontal (the weight of the toe clip always meant the pedal would hang at an inconvenient angle without your foot in it), slide in your left foot, then lean down and tighten the left toe strap. Before stopping, you had to lean down and loosen the buckle of the toe strap to enable you to take your foot out of the pedal.

Toe clips. That's a whole new thread of cycling accidents.

Dude you're 38...stop calling yourself middle aged. I'm 41 and would never call myself that! (even if it's technically true hehe)

Haha

Wow this thread re-awakened so since it has I'll post an update.

April 11th was when I stacked - Its august - 4 mths later. Back on the bike after a month and elbow healed but very much more wary.

To be honest -Im still a little shell-shocked and wary of riding in traffic but maybe also because the cold weather & travel for work has kept me off the bike. I have sought out long-distance rides with no right turns (!) and I haven't ridden that route since the accident. It was my favourite route but something mentally blocks me from doing it. I think Im scared of being "at-one" with a vehicle on that corner again.

Still - Triathlon season starts in a few short months so it'll be back to long distance riding again with the better weather and hopefully to exercise the demon of that particular corner.

To answer the question of "what are clipless pedals" they are an invention of the devil.

Paul,
Your exposition on toe clips brought back memories of may many many years ago when I raced bikes as a juvenile (under 17) rider. The toe strap buckles were designed so that you could flick them with your thumb to release them when stopping. On more than one occasion (many more), when riding in traffic, I would have to stop hurriedly and not have time to release the toe strap. I think I now have a fairly impressive total of toeclip and clipless falls, as I have been using clipless for many years now. Incidently, track riders still often use toe straps, especially in sprint events and they are riding with fixed gears.

Might be best to exorcise the demon, I think you have given him exercise enough already.

Yes Bert, toe straps were about as safe as any other piece of equipment made out of leather and metal that is clamped tightly to the human body.

Undoing a toestrap while braking sharply is simply not possible. Not without going over the handlebars.

Yes, except when it doesn't!

I have several kids with clipless pedals. They love them. When ever they get on, I always make them check they can unclip as the first order of business. Not long after I got a mountain bike I was riding up the the track to Saint Helenas, off the Oaks Fire Trail in the Blue Mountains, and stalled going up hill. I couldn't get my foot out and fell sideways onto a soccer ball sized rock. The ensuing broken rib was bad enough, but Trail Walker was the following week, and that was bad. It only hurt when I breathed. But, then, after Trail Walker, I was holding a horse by the bridle and it rared up and just about sent me into orbit. That really was the last straw. Anyway I would never ride without clipless pedals, once you use them there is no taking them off.

Another time, the bolts that hold the cleats onto the bottom of the shoe had come loose. I twisted my foot and nothing happened. After conituning to ride in a circle, I ended up having to take my foot out of the shoe and then stop. Then Locktite^R was invented.

By the way, I used to ride up the Oaks Fire trail with a group on a wed or thurs night. While waiting for everyone to turn up, there was a little game in the carpark. Ride round in circles and try and cut each other off. You weren't allowed to put a foot down. So when some one cut acrross your path, and stopped, it was a battle of who could stand still the longest, before some moved off. It really improved balance and made you balance rather than unclip. Occasionallyt there were collisions. It was great.

Best advice I ever received: 'there are two types of cyclists - those who have just fallen off, and those who are soon to fall off'.

Just Did It

Um what is clipless?

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Im to scared to try clipless. At the moment i have the old fashion cages on my bike and am slowly getting used them.
What is the major benefit between the two. Will you still get some of the benefits using the toe cages?
I'm so unco-ordinated i think i would fall off every time i have to stop.

Paige, about the only real benefits your current system has over clipless are that you are comfortable with it and it would cost you money on pedals and shoes to change. Having said that, what you have is more efficient than just a flat "platform" pedal.

A proper cycling shoe with clipless pedals would give you a more efficient pedal stroke, (especially on hills), but it all depends how seriously you want to take your cycling.

If you do change to clipless pedals, practise clipping in and out until you feel profficient and confident before heading outdoors. A couple of half hour sessions of "clip-in, clip-out" on the windtrainer or while leaning up against the loungeroom wall while watching the TV should do the trick. Practise until you can do it comfortably and quickly without looking.

Once you are used to it, take it out on the road. Despite the stories on this thread, if you take the time to learn and use a bit of sense, it is not as scary or as dangerous as you imagine.

Many of the accidents on this thread entail an element of stupidity (eg. trying to trackstand with panniers, riding with a loose cleat, not being profficient with the pedals before heading out on the road). Usually, it is not so must the pedals which are dangerous, but how the cyclist used them.

I've been mountain biking for over two years now and have never come off even when riding with clipless pedals and cleated shoes. Just recently, my work colleague, while riding his road bike hit the kerb, stacked it and broke his nose! I've never heard of anyone getting hurt mountain biking though. Maybe you should trade your roadie in for something classy like a dual suspension specialized.

Just reading this thread has put me off trying my clipless pedals and I was only thinking the other day I need to try them out... I wear the shoes without the pedals as they have a little cover so you can use as normal, but thought it might be good to learn to use clipless. Now not so sure.

I agree completely with what Paul has said about practicing. Practice at home first, releasing with either foot, and get the tension right so that the clips release fairly easily. Then find a quiet place to ride and practice some more. Make sure you practice releasing either foot, as most riders tend to put the same foot down when stopping. You have to do it often enough that releasing your foot becomes instinctive.
In the process you will find that clipping in becomes automatic as well.
Enjoy your riding and your running.

I find feet are far more likely to get stuck in clips/straps than clipless. Once clipless becomes second nature there is no going back! I feel more unsafe on a bike without clips as I fear my feet are going to slip off the pedals when pushing hard. When you first start, unclip long before you need to stop to give youself plenty of time. After awhile it become second nature and you do it without even thinking

Then again I ride fixed gear so some of my ideas may be considered strange in some circles

Clipless allow you to power the bike on the up stroke (while lifting the feet up). This equates to 20 to 30% increase in efficiency and speed.

If you are cycling seriously - like 20k+ in a ride and doing a few sessions a week clipless will make abig difference when you switch to them - you have more power, and you can pull up on the stroke which sounds silly but it makes big difference.

Riding with cages is easier if you are pootling around with the kids and have to do frequent stops etc.


Exorcise vs Exercise - I'll blame being distracted by a crown lager at the time.

I had my first crash riding them home from the bike shop a number of years ago. Never having ridden clipless before I thought how hard can it be. The guys at the shop kindly put the pedals on for me and the cleats in my new shoes. They did suggest that I should practice first. When I said "she'll be right", they told me I was very brave, but I think they meant stupid. I got not far from home before having to stop at a red light. As I came to a stop I tried desperately to get my foot out to no avail (I later learned twist the heel, not lift the foot). I recall toppling over in slow motion and landing on the road near an oncoming car. I think I have passed my 3 crash quota.