Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Forum rules
The information / discussion in the Cycling Health Forum is not qualified medical advice. Please consult your doctor.
Lozzie
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Nov 22, 2015 8:08 pm

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby Lozzie » Tue Dec 08, 2015 10:01 am

Thank you everybody. Rode again for the first time since he fall and this time I didn't fall! Added 5 minutes to my normal ride time but eh.

The turning the handle bars has helped a lot. I have no issues clipping in now it's clipping out. Just clip out very early (though am so good at clipping out I clip back in when I don't want to!)

User avatar
outnabike
Posts: 2455
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2013 2:53 pm
Location: Melbourne Vic

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby outnabike » Tue Dec 08, 2015 2:12 pm

RonK wrote:First, if it is adjustable, set the clip tension on the pedals to the lowest setting.

Take your bike down to the local park, and practice on the grass where a fall will cause no harm.

Before starting, make sure you know which foot you are going to put down, then practice unclipping repeatedly until the action is familiar.

Then rehearse the dismount - unclip, brake to stop, stand on other leg, lean bike slightly as you plant foot.

Then start riding - do not pick too low a gear or you won't gain balance speed from the push away.

Once moving engage cleat in the other pedal. If you miss-cleat, put your foot lightly on the pedal, carefully complete a stroke then try again, or backpedal half a turn and put another stroke with the cleated foot then try again.

Repeat, repeat, repeat until competent.


I know your thring to here Ron, but I have an alternative view.
RonK wrote:First, if it is adjustable, set the clip tension on the pedals to the lowest setting.

Take your bike down to the local park, and practice on the grass where a fall will cause no harm.
“This is a fallacy and a soft option. The correct way to get a real life expectation of clips is to get on a road and clip in then stop suddenly. You will fall over and fell lots of pain. Do it at least 3 times each side.” Or as noted… “
Repeat, repeat, repeat until competent.


Before starting, make sure you know which foot you are going to put down, then practice unclipping repeatedly until the action is familiar.
“A fallacy. Just when you think you will fall left you will fall right. If you did the above recommended procedure you would know this already.”

Then rehearse the dismount - unclip, brake to stop, stand on other leg, lean bike slightly as you plant foot.
“More explanation of the noted fallacy. Tell all that to the guys that have been riding for years and have a clip stack. I say embrace the clip stack…it is the sign of an experienced rider that can handle the pain. Other than hitting a golf ball into the scrub off the first tee, with half the club watching, where else can you so blatantly humiliate yourself.”

Then start riding - do not pick too low a gear or you won't gain balance speed from the push away.
“Correct, but straight to a bike shop to discuss decent flat pedals.”

Just a point of view of course ..... :)
Vivente World Randonneur complete with panniers

User avatar
Duck!
Expert
Posts: 9858
Joined: Tue May 21, 2013 8:21 pm
Location: On The Tools

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby Duck! » Tue Dec 08, 2015 2:14 pm

The two most important things: back the pedal tension off so it's easy to get out (and in), and unclip early, while you're still rolling & have some stability.

As trailgumby suggested, practice and become proficient with unclipping both sides, although you'll most likely develop a preferred side to unclip.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

earlybird
Posts: 65
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 2:34 pm

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby earlybird » Tue Dec 08, 2015 2:52 pm

RonK wrote:Once moving engage cleat in the other pedal. If you miss-cleat, put your foot lightly on the pedal, carefully complete a stroke then try again, or backpedal half a turn and put another stroke with the cleated foot then try again.
On an incline, if I miss the cleat, and my unclipped foot slips on the pedal, if am always ready to pull up with my clipped in leg to keep some form of forward momentum.

User avatar
RonK
Posts: 11508
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:08 pm
Location: If you need to know, ask me
Contact:

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby RonK » Tue Dec 08, 2015 3:23 pm

outnabike wrote:Just a point of view of course ..... :)
Of course, but most of us don't share your morbid fear of clipless pedals. :wink:
Cycle touring blog and tour journals: whispering wheels...

User avatar
g-boaf
Posts: 21320
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 6:11 pm

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby g-boaf » Tue Dec 08, 2015 9:54 pm

Practice in a flat grassy area so if you do go down, it should be softer. You always should push off with that side pedal at the same position roughly as the down tube, that should give you ability to get going and up to a modest speed so you can get the other foot clipped in without worry of stalling (and going over).

Eventually you'll get the hang of it and it will become second nature. If your other foot doesn't clip in immediately then don't worry, just keep pedaling with the one that is clipped in until you gain speed.

Best of luck out there! 8)

Lozzie
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Nov 22, 2015 8:08 pm

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby Lozzie » Wed Dec 09, 2015 1:11 pm

Thank gboaf. That's what I'm doing now by just taking it slow. I'm aboustly terrified on the bike but that will just take time. Clipping in is relatively easy now but clipping out still a struggle. I have to put my left foot down before attempting to clip or right or I go over.

User avatar
yugyug
Posts: 1826
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2012 10:27 am
Location: Sydney

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby yugyug » Wed Dec 09, 2015 11:33 pm

Lozzie - seriously and with respect - why do you think you need to use clips so bad that you are willing to put up with being terrified?

Lozzie
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Nov 22, 2015 8:08 pm

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby Lozzie » Thu Dec 10, 2015 2:06 am

Because when I'm cycling flat I can feel the difference. Plus I've just spent $150 on them

I'm giving it a month. I'm getting better it just doesn't help that my current route is on a detour so I'm already iffy from that. Plus the three stupid ass bollards that caused my finger to jam in the fence today.

I've never had the best balance and I'm TERRIFIED of falling in general (to the point I've never been able to slide in softball despite playing for years cause of that falling feeling) I need to work through this fear.

User avatar
kb
Posts: 2570
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 3:22 pm

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby kb » Thu Dec 10, 2015 5:46 am

It could be worth practising slow riding and track standing without clipping in too. Tackle the issue from both sides - get better at unclipping and reduce the need to unclip.
Image

User avatar
wombatK
Posts: 5612
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:08 pm
Location: Yagoona, AU

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby wombatK » Thu Dec 10, 2015 9:02 am

Most of it's been said (clip out early, loosen tension, practice etc.,.), but one thing that's been missed is that it's
usually easier to unclip when your foot is at the bottom of the pedal stroke. This lessens the angle you have
to twist your foot through and avoids throwing your knee about as you do so.

A tip I regretted ignoring was to find a doorway and practice unclipping (rotating feet counter-clockwise as necessary). That
gives you a support on each side so that you can easily recover from any mistakes. I thought a wall on one side would be enough
and of course overbalanced to the other side.

Remember, clipless pedals are based on snow quick release bindings (Look being responsible for the first). So they're designed
to come apart in a stack and aren't that difficult to get to unclip before you have a stack.
WombatK

Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us -Jerry Garcia

User avatar
bychosis
Posts: 7250
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2012 1:10 pm
Location: Lake Macquarie

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby bychosis » Thu Dec 10, 2015 9:24 am

Lozzie wrote:Thank gboaf. That's what I'm doing now by just taking it slow. I'm aboustly terrified on the bike but that will just take time. Clipping in is relatively easy now but clipping out still a struggle. I have to put my left foot down before attempting to clip or right or I go over.
Take the time to practice getting both feet out before stopping then. Practice more of the side that you have difficulty with (right side).

I have been riding for years with clipless and it is second nature to me, however from time to time when a pedal gets a bit sticky or the cleat has twisted I find i need to consciously release that foot before stopping.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

Lozzie
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Nov 22, 2015 8:08 pm

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby Lozzie » Thu Dec 10, 2015 11:25 am

I'll definitely be practicing on the right! Even now I have to have my left foot firmly down and get my right pedal down to unclip. On Sunday will be going to the park to Practise.

User avatar
KGB
Posts: 1629
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2011 3:49 pm

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby KGB » Thu Dec 10, 2015 4:21 pm

Wow. Some people make it seem like rocket science - it's not that hard. Once upon a time none of us could use a spoon either right? Practice. Practice. Practice.

Lozzie, make sure you keep your foot FLAT against the pedal and twist your heel out. As soon as most beginners panic, they try and reef their foot off the pedal which usually means UP at an angle. That's going to make it hard to get out.
Image

fat and old
Posts: 6179
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2014 12:06 pm
Location: Mill Park

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby fat and old » Thu Dec 10, 2015 5:08 pm

Lozzie wrote: I need to work through this fear.
Bingo!

Conquer the fear, then move on proudly to the next challenge :D

Until then, stay on cycle paths, or side street where there's no cars.

And if you can't, go flats! Bugger the cost of the pedals....you're worth more than 150 bucks!

Lozzie
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Nov 22, 2015 8:08 pm

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby Lozzie » Thu Dec 10, 2015 8:12 pm

I will! I'm going to give it a go but I really want to use cleats so will keep working through it. If I'm still this terrified at the end of January it wasn't meant to be.

User avatar
trailgumby
Posts: 15469
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:30 pm
Location: Northern Beaches, Sydney
Contact:

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby trailgumby » Thu Dec 10, 2015 8:32 pm

wombatK wrote:A tip I regretted ignoring was to find a doorway and practice unclipping (rotating feet counter-clockwise as necessary). That
gives you a support on each side so that you can easily recover from any mistakes. I thought a wall on one side would be enough
and of course overbalanced to the other side.
The other benefit from this is that the practice makes your clipping out muscles and tendons stronger, so clipping out is easier.

Yes, this is a thing. ;) Since my grade 2 sprain in March, my left side ankle is weaker at teh clip-out action and I am prone to getting stuck on that side.

User avatar
wombatK
Posts: 5612
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:08 pm
Location: Yagoona, AU

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby wombatK » Thu Dec 10, 2015 10:02 pm

KGB wrote:Wow. Some people make it seem like rocket science - it's not that hard. Once upon a time none of us could use a spoon either right? Practice. Practice. Practice.t.
Watch a 10 month old struggle with a spoon. Some things are harder than they look :)
WombatK

Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us -Jerry Garcia

Trevtassie
Posts: 825
Joined: Sun Jun 28, 2015 10:57 am

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby Trevtassie » Thu Dec 10, 2015 10:08 pm

One more thing to check: the colour of your cleats, if they are Shimano they should be silver. This indicates they are SH-56 multi-directional. If you unscrew the tension on the pedal you should be able to yank your foot out in any direction, really slack and your foot will pop out by itself. SH-51 cleats are black, they will only release sideways, no matter what the pedal tension, you don't want them as a beginner (and I don't particularly like them myself).

User avatar
KGB
Posts: 1629
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2011 3:49 pm

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby KGB » Thu Dec 10, 2015 10:12 pm

No kidding? I have kids. When they were 10 months they couldn't use clipless pedals either. They still can't. Maybe they never will if they don't want to race or cycle seriously.
I think you missed my point. It seems we both understand the fine motor skills required to feed oneself but nobody is born able to use a spoon.
I'll say it again: practice, practice, practice. Maybe then practice some more in this case since Lozzie seems to have an unusual fear of falling off and weaker than average balance skills (it makes sense that they would go hand in hand, not meaning to have a go or make fun of you Lozzie - keep trying).
Image

User avatar
wombatK
Posts: 5612
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:08 pm
Location: Yagoona, AU

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby wombatK » Thu Dec 10, 2015 10:27 pm

Just saying: to the cogniscenti, everything is easy-peasy and it can be easy to forget how unsimple things once
were. Like spoon-feeding. There are many skills in life that take practice that involves failure and
learning from it. Indeed, you wouldn't have to practice anything if it weren't for the probability of failure.

So it's not always as simple as practice, practice, practice - failure often occurs along the way.
Maybe there are some incredibly talented people out there who got it right first time with no
practice, but the OP is like a lot of us who didn't have such a fortunate experience.
WombatK

Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us -Jerry Garcia

Lozzie
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Nov 22, 2015 8:08 pm

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby Lozzie » Thu Dec 10, 2015 11:40 pm

No offense taken! Working on my balance now.

My cleats are yellow and black. Shimanos.

User avatar
yugyug
Posts: 1826
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2012 10:27 am
Location: Sydney

Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby yugyug » Fri Dec 11, 2015 11:07 am

Lozzie wrote:Because when I'm cycling flat I can feel the difference. Plus I've just spent $150 on them
Fat and Old said what I was going to say about the money. You can always sell them too.

What is the difference you speak off? I used to ride clips but since going exclusively to flats, with the right pedals and shoes and a little bit of new skills, I have found no difference in capacities or performance. I can climb, sprint and bunny hop with equal facility. And there are advantages - clip stack avoidance obviously but also the ability to micro adjust the position of your feet to help on climbs, reduce muscle fatigue and avoid repetitive strain type injuries on long rides. The only significant difference I can think of is in very high cadences on the fixie or at the track and I think that's an appropriate kind of cycling for foot retention. On my road bike it's not needed. I don't ride much mountain bike but James Wilson makes a good case for riding flats on the mountain bike in his book the Flat Pedal Manifesto.

I don't want to make any assumptions about your situation, but when I have gone out in bunch rides using flats I have experienced jibes and comments, perhaps well intentioned, that question my choice. Comments like "surprised you could make it up that climb with those pedals" or assumptions that I am new to cycling. This could be interpreted as peer pressure, but I am not a teenager anymore. On one occasion I forwarded the above mentioned book to a rider and while it didn't change his choice, it stopped the comments.

Cycling is meant to be fun. There is no reason to need to put yourself in a situation for needing to 'confront' your terror. I confronted a bit of terror when I used to skydive, but that terror is intrinsic to the sport and matched by rigorous safety protocols. In your case you can simply choose to ride flats and suffer no difference in engagement to the sport.

Sometimes I think the acceptance of clips in non-competitive cycling is the biggest kool-aid situation in our community - next to thinking that tread matters on a road bike tyre, lol. Actually it's worse because there is little harm done by thinking tread does matter. In both cases there are marketing reasons for companies to act to perpetuate the beliefs.

User avatar
rodneycc
Posts: 2879
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2013 1:50 pm
Location: Melbourne Eastern Suburbs, Victoria

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby rodneycc » Fri Dec 11, 2015 11:21 am

+1 to your health (and teeth) are more important than a $150 set of pedals. If you don't get it soon its going to suck all the fun out of riding and its no shame to go back a step and put to one side these pedals and buy something easier to get out of (like click 'r or xt or even speedplay light action), then when you get your confidence up go back to your new pedals. Secondhand would be cheaper (and worn in a little even). But just check the hole compatibility between spd and spd-sl, you may need adapters or new shoes if going to spd.

Those silver cleats sound interesting though, maybe give them a shot first. Ive only really seen the yellows and Reds mostly (which are mainly float related).
2013 BMC TM SLR01;2013/14 Bianchi Inf CV
2013 Lynskey Helix;2013 XACD Ti Di2
2013 Giant TCR Adv SL1;2014 Giant Defy Adv SL

User avatar
Duck!
Expert
Posts: 9858
Joined: Tue May 21, 2013 8:21 pm
Location: On The Tools

Re: Best ways to avoid falling off bike with clip in shoes

Postby Duck! » Fri Dec 11, 2015 1:42 pm

Lozzie wrote: I've never had the best balance and I'm TERRIFIED of falling in general (to the point I've never been able to slide in softball despite playing for years cause of that falling feeling) I need to work through this fear.
Given it's an issue not restricted to cycling, have you perhaps considered psychological assistance to overcome your apparently somewhat irrational fear?
Last edited by Duck! on Fri Dec 11, 2015 11:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users