Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Cycle Girl54 on August 9, 2013 at 4:19am

So my first season on clips I practiced in a parking lot (as was suggested by my bike shop) well I fell a lot...big surprise.

Well it was getting dark and I did my final fall-I hit the deck...I was still clipped into the bike and was lying on the ground...I was lying there for a bit as I was just tired...a car drove up next to me and asked if I was ok and if they could help me get up-because I had been laying on the ground for so long.

I told them I was ok and I was just tired of falling and I was laughing hysterically. They probably thought I was nuts.

It was embarrassing yet comforting that they saw me on the ground still clipped in but people still wanted to be helpful

* wear long sleeve when first working on getting used to the clipless...bruises I can handle bloody scrapes and cuts not so much..especially when you work in the beauty industry.

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Permalink Reply by Ellie on August 9, 2013 at 4:24am

I had a similar experience at Milwaukee and Addison- the classic topple over on the day I bought my spd's-but the most embarrassing tip over was when I went down to watch my first 'cross race at Jackson Park--- a momentary hesitation as to whether or not to stop at the intersection full of other cyclists, and I was over....I felt like every totally cool 'cross racer witnessed it.......aah well- I decided to become a 'cross racer myself anyway.....good times, yes good times. 

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Yoshida on August 9, 2013 at 4:43am

The first time I went out riding clipped in, I fell into garbage can on my way to work. I was stopping for a light at Grand and Wabash and as I was stopping had trouble getting out. Instead of continuing to pedal and unclip later, I just tipped over. Not my proudest moment in public.

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on August 9, 2013 at 4:44am

+1  How many warm and fuzzy and humorous "I fell down" stories do we need to hear before it becomes obvious that clipping in for urban riding is actually dangerous? 

Kevin K said:

Clipless pedals for commuting are nonsensical.

You're not racing.  You don't need to squeeze some marginal 2-3% of additional power from your upward stroke, or whatever the supposed benefits of clipless are (disputable, btw). You're schlepping to the office with a 15 pounds of work shit, a 2 pound rack, and 1 pounds of fenders, for chrissakes.

You just end up clipping in, clipping out, clipping in, clipping out, clipping in, clipping out at every stoplight and stop sign.  It makes no sense.

Not to mention falling on your ass.  "Oh, yes, you're guaranteed to fall on your ass, but it will only happen a couple times per year."  Or, I could just ride regular pedals, or regular toe clips, and fall on my ass ZERO times per year.

Not to mention having another, special pair of shoes.  Isn't biking supposed to simplify our lives?

Last but not least, pain.  Clipless pedals lock in your range of motion, so it's quite common for people riding clipless to experience knee pain, joint pain, muscle pain, etc.  This is obvious -- they create a perfect environment for overworking specifc joints, ligaments, & muscles, at very specific angles.  "Oh, just keep riding, you'll get used to the pain." "Oh, spend four months making adjustments to the position of the cleat, the angle of the cleat, the locking tension on your pedal, etc.  Then the pain might decrease...slightly."

Don't drink the Kool-Aide, commuters.

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Permalink Reply by Sarah D. on August 9, 2013 at 4:47am

+2

(P.S. I was crashed into a year or so ago by someone who was clipped in for Chicago Critical Mass! Ridiculous.)

Tony Adams 7 mi said:

+1  How many warm and fuzzy and humorous "I fell down" stories do we need to hear before it becomes obvious that clipping in for urban riding is actually dangerous? 

Kevin K said:

Clipless pedals for commuting are nonsensical.

You're not racing.  You don't need to squeeze some marginal 2-3% of additional power from your upward stroke, or whatever the supposed benefits of clipless are (disputable, btw). You're schlepping to the office with a 15 pounds of work shit, a 2 pound rack, and 1 pounds of fenders, for chrissakes.

You just end up clipping in, clipping out, clipping in, clipping out, clipping in, clipping out at every stoplight and stop sign.  It makes no sense.

Not to mention falling on your ass.  "Oh, yes, you're guaranteed to fall on your ass, but it will only happen a couple times per year."  Or, I could just ride regular pedals, or regular toe clips, and fall on my ass ZERO times per year.

Not to mention having another, special pair of shoes.  Isn't biking supposed to simplify our lives?

Last but not least, pain.  Clipless pedals lock in your range of motion, so it's quite common for people riding clipless to experience knee pain, joint pain, muscle pain, etc.  This is obvious -- they create a perfect environment for overworking specifc joints, ligaments, & muscles, at very specific angles.  "Oh, just keep riding, you'll get used to the pain." "Oh, spend four months making adjustments to the position of the cleat, the angle of the cleat, the locking tension on your pedal, etc.  Then the pain might decrease...slightly."

Don't drink the Kool-Aide, commuters.

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Permalink Reply by J2O on August 9, 2013 at 5:25am

I wouldn't say nonsensical, just not required.  I use clipless pedals on all my bikes because I don't have a dedicated commuting/cruising bike.  My old commuting bike was a mountain bike that I used every month to ride at Palos or Kettle Moraine, where clipless pedals are just as much a safety device as a huge mechanical advantage over toe clips or plaforms.  My current bike is a CX bike that I race on weekends.  I don't feel like swapping pedals out every day and I haven't had any problems walking around town in my MTB shoes.

I'm curious where you get your 2 - 3% statistic from.  Even if there is only a slight overall effect, upstroke has a huge effect on acceleration, which is something I need to do a lot with the number of stop lights and signs on my 10mi. commute.  Conversely to your logic, with the increased load of commuting gear, any mechanical advantage you can gain becomes *more* important....

At stop lights, I clip out.  Light turns green, I clip in.  That kinda makes a lot of sense to me.  Of course, I used to ride when people used toe clips, so you'd have to loosen the straps when coming to a light, unclip, then clip in and tighten the straps when the light turned green.  So the idea that I can just flick my foot forward and go makes things seem easier.  Just in my experience.

In eight years of commuting to and from work, plus riding 2-3 times a week, I've fallen over once.  One time.  And it was funny.  I learned that I should keep my pedals free of ice.  Conversely, I regularly have to bunny hop obstacles to stay in the bike lane.  A task made much easier with clipless pedals.

Yeah, you need special shoes, but it's not that big a deal.  Lots of people wear special shoes to commute, as they don't want to scuff up or destroy their office shoes.  In my case, my shoes can arrive at the office with mud, sand, water, snow, slush, or ick on them.  I find it's kinda nice to slide into my office kicks when I get in.

If you experience knee pain in clipless pedals, it's probably indicative of poor bike fit.  Most pedals have enough float to allow your knees and ankles to wash a bit.  I put about 10k miles on my bikes every year and the only knee problems I've had were when I totally screwed-up my bike fit.  Fix the fit and the pain went away.  For good.  And it's not like I have to get fancy pedals to get enough float.  A cheapie pair of CrankBros Candy pedals work great and pretty much forever (for most people).  For bike and shoe fit, the shop where you bought your stuff should be able to get you in a good position.

Go ahead and vilify clipless pedals all you want.  It's your right.  But I've seen just as many accidents caused by people's feet flying off platform pedals and a *whole* lot more injury caused by people using toe clips than clipless.

And I agree you're right:  clipless pedals aren't needed for commuting.  But they don't make it any more dangerous.

Kevin K said:

Clipless pedals for commuting are nonsensical.

You're not racing.  You don't need to squeeze some marginal 2-3% of additional power from your upward stroke, or whatever the supposed benefits of clipless are (disputable, btw). You're schlepping to the office with a 15 pounds of work shit, a 2 pound rack, and 1 pounds of fenders, for chrissakes.

You just end up clipping in, clipping out, clipping in, clipping out, clipping in, clipping out at every stoplight and stop sign.  It makes no sense.

Not to mention falling on your ass.  "Oh, yes, you're guaranteed to fall on your ass, but it will only happen a couple times per year."  Or, I could just ride regular pedals, or regular toe clips, and fall on my ass ZERO times per year.

Not to mention having another, special pair of shoes.  Isn't biking supposed to simplify our lives?

Last but not least, pain.  Clipless pedals lock in your range of motion, so it's quite common for people riding clipless to experience knee pain, joint pain, muscle pain, etc.  This is obvious -- they create a perfect environment for overworking specifc joints, ligaments, & muscles, at very specific angles.  "Oh, just keep riding, you'll get used to the pain." "Oh, spend four months making adjustments to the position of the cleat, the angle of the cleat, the locking tension on your pedal, etc.  Then the pain might decrease...slightly."

Don't drink the Kool-Aide, commuters.

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Permalink Reply by Frankie on August 9, 2013 at 5:33am

Funny people.!!!

Been there as well on Clark and Addison during a Cubs game when there was a heard of people everywhere!! Hikes.  Embarrassed to say the least but stayed on the ground laughing .  What else can you do.

You just have to think a bit more with clip-less pedals, that's all.!   

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Permalink Reply by Ann Sch 9.3 on August 9, 2013 at 5:49am

I got hit by a boat 4 years ago and although I have all my parts, they don't all work.  I have to use the clipless because my left foot won't stay on a pedal (never tried a clip but imagine the same problem).  It will slide off at least 2 or 3 times per block.  Which I can manage to go two blocks to a store, but not much more.  And I can bike better and farther than I can walk so I love my bike. The issue is that I have to twist my whole leg and hip to unclip on the left....

That being said, I had two falls....not the first day, but close.  One was on St. Clair leaving work, going left onto Ohio.  Construction workers, hotel and valet guys,many tourists, rush hour traffic, and I did the slow-mo fall.  Greatly embarrassing.  The second was leaving Physical Therapy on Irving Park, again, slow motion, in front of the big glass window so everyone could see. 

I am definitely in the 'unclip way way before the light/stop sign'.  Even when something looks like a possible slow down, I unclip until I know I can speed up.  Of course, I'm a bit more cautious when I ride, I'm less concerned about getting hurt than cracking up all my carbon fiber accessories!

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Permalink Reply by S on August 9, 2013 at 6:08am

I think you're falling for selection bias since this thread has a lot of people recounting their stories without context as to frequency.  A lot of people ride clipless pedals and you don't see people falling over left and right at intersections.  So I think you're getting an inaccurate sense of how dangerous clipless pedals are when riding around in urban environments.  After all, most MTB people ride clipless and if it works fine for people bombing down twisty trails, it'll be okay in urban streets.  

Tony Adams 7 mi said:

+1  How many warm and fuzzy and humorous "I fell down" stories do we need to hear before it becomes obvious that clipping in for urban riding is actually dangerous? 

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on August 9, 2013 at 6:34am

I've run over 2 people on two separate occasions during CCM.  Once when a woman came flying over from the side of the road (at about 60-degrees to the direction of the road travel and yard-saled right in front of me.   Alcohol was probably involved.  Clipped or not I would never have been able to avoid her.  She wasn't hurt, but seemed pretty drunk and didn't want any help or to call anyone.

Another time was when someone directly in front of me tried to high-five a ped at the side of the road, hit hands harder than they expected and promptly lost control of their bike and face-planed 4 feet in front of my front wheel.  I only rode over his bike, not him (thank god)  as he fell to the side.   Had I not been clipped in I probably would have crashed too. 

There have been a couple of other times when people have crashed RIGHT in front of me and the ONLY thing that saved them from being run over was because I WAS clipped in and han greater control of my bike.  A second incident very similar to the first above (lots of drunks weaving all over the place at ccm as we all know) crashed RIGHT in front of me while I was riding next to my friend Gerry last summer.  We were both amazed that I was able to miss running over her.  I am sure I wouldn't have been able to avoid her had my feet not been solidly connected to my eggbeater clipless pedals.  It was so close that only by quickly back-pedaling to get my crank higher was I able to make my pedal/foot miss her head.  Had I not been clipped in I probably would have not been solidly connected to the bike enough at the point in mid-massive-swerve to do this. 

Clipless pedals give you MORE control -not less.  Yes there is a learning curve.  But once you are beyond that you are MUCH safer.  

If you have never tried them or were uncoordinated and forgetful enough to not be able to get past the learning curve then don't use them.  But don't disparage those of us who have learned to use them safely.  

They are not unsafe, or any less safe than riding with platform pedals. 

Sarah D. 1-3.3 said:

+2

(P.S. I was crashed into a year or so ago by someone who was clipped in for Chicago Critical Mass! Ridiculous.)

Tony Adams 7 mi said:

+1  How many warm and fuzzy and humorous "I fell down" stories do we need to hear before it becomes obvious that clipping in for urban riding is actually dangerous? 

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Permalink Reply by djm on August 9, 2013 at 6:58am

Ditto.  After riding clipless for 25 years, I dont even think about it when starting and stopping.  I remember a few falls while riding with toe straps when I forgot to loosen them before coming to a stop on longer rides (on shorter rides or with frequent anticipated stops, you would leave the straps loose).

J2O said:

I wouldn't say nonsensical, just not required.  I use clipless pedals on all my bikes because I don't have a dedicated commuting/cruising bike.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cohen on August 9, 2013 at 7:12am

True, especially for short distance (20 miles or less) around town riding.  However, I made the mistake of using them on an Adventure Cycling tour (400 miles in a week) and the balls of my feet were killing me at the end of each day.  For that type of riding you need a road bike pedal with a wider platform than the MTB.


S said:

If you got with MTB pedals and shoes, the treads on the MTB shoes extend past the cleat so you get pretty good grip and can walk around in them.  Aside from the other advantages people have mentioned, clipless pedals can also reduce any hot spots you get in your foot since the rigid sole plate on cycling shoes means that you're pushing with more of your foot and don't have all the pedaling force concentrated on the small bit of your foot over the pedals.

SlowCoachOnTheRoad said:

Perhaps you may fill me or us in, for the uninitiated (I spelled that 5 times before getting it right).  Firstly, why is it called clip-LESS if it is has a clip?  Secondly, would I be right (just guessing here) that the advantage is that one is pulling and pushing (duh) thus doubling the foot power (but also doubling the rider's actual effort since there is no free ride - but maybe not completely double as the leg still has to go around the half circle one doesn't ordinarily pull - so approaching double the effort).  Thirdly, I was always under the impression that clipless pedals require special shoes that hook on somehow, thus would I assume one must carry an extra pair of shoes for just walking around after getting off the bike?

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