clipless horror stories

In article <[email hidden]>,

Gary said:

I had been researching peoples comments on the use and techniques of
clipless pedals as I was trying to decide if I was going to make the
switch.

I made the switch and tried to take all the advice I read in this
group and on various websites to prevent any big falls.

I lasted 3 miles.

I ride to work every day and there is one spot where I take a shortcut
from a parking lot onto a bike trail. It's steep, 30feet long, then I
have to do a 180 degree turn in a space about the length of my bike.
Completely impossible to do without putting at least one foot down.

Quoted message said:

The next 2 seconds are definitely not my most glamous. I fell and
started a mini cartwheel, the bike rolled over the top of me and
dragged me back to the bottom of the hill. Thankfully, the hill was
grass and the only damage was to my pride.

This got me thinking that there has to be a tonne of great clipless
horror stories out there.

Sorry, nothing impressive. Clipless have been a lot less trouble for me
than toe clips, and much more comfy. But early on, I did the classic
"fall down clipped in at a stoplight in front of cars" trick. Which I do
not recommend.

Oh yeah, and there was one or two truly spectacular mountain bike
crashes last year, but those had nothing to do with my pedals.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine/wiredcola/
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

"Gary" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Do you have a horror story?? I'd love to here it..

I used to ride Onza pedals. These have a nasty habit of not releasing at
the top of the pedal stroke. They seem to snag up becauseof the design of
the cleat mechanism. They release best with weight on the pedal at the
bottom of the pedal stroke with perfect horizontal-only rotation, which is
somewhat counter-intuitive in an emergency. I was riding a sidehill trail,
fairly steep, but not that high, maybe 50 or 75' to the bottom. Now keep in
mind, I RARELY crash..in that last 10 years, maybe 2 or 3 spills, all fairly
minor. I'm trailing a weaker rider (mistake #1..) and that person had to
stop on the trail because it was getting too technical and steep. So I look
up to see this person stopped in the middle of the trail, no warning and I
had my head down (fatal in hockey!). I veer off to the open side, which
also happened to be the open side...didn't quite make it and desperately
started trying to get my foot out. I swear, I nearly tore every frickin'
ligament in my knee and ankle trying to get that god-damned pedal out!!
Anyway, didn't happen, fell perfectly sideways down the ravine, did two
perfect loops, fscking bike still clipped to my bloody feet. Gave upon the
Onzas after that ride, after 2 years with them. None the worse for wear
really, but rather embarassing. Nothing quite like that feeling when you're
going past the balance point on the steep side, next stop, 12' down...

Cheers,

Scott..

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ryan Cousineau said:

Sorry, nothing impressive.

Same here. It bodes no good to talk so disparagingly
of clipless pedals. When properly adjusted, there
should simply be no problem.

Quoted message said:

Oh yeah, and there was one or two truly spectacular mountain bike
crashes last year, but those had nothing to do with my pedals.

I had one last year, w/ my Zfal MTN toe clips -- I was
going back home from the Jiffy laundromat with a sackful
of wet laundry sticking up outa my milk crate. I forgot
it was there, went to cowboy-mount, my leg bounced back
off the sticky-uppy bag o' laundry, and I toppled over
at such an angle, I couldn't easily free my foot from the
pedal and its infrastucture. I experienced having my own
bike sorta jumping my bones. A little embarrassing, but
no big whoop.

Those cheap-assed Zefal plastic "MTB" clips & cordura straps
are great, 'cuz they don't lock one in so hard as the
old fashioned stuff. Yet they provide lotsa retension.
And when ya pull yer foot out, they're easy to re-enter.
(Except when ya fall over at a certain vector <g>.)

It's just as trivially easy to squirm out of clipless pedals
as toke-lips & toast-wraps.

Plain flatties in the city, though, are nearly idiot-proof.

I've got some old leather belt-&-buckle straps and metal
clips around here somewhere. I guess ppl remember that
old-fashioned [censored] and it scares them off. I don't
blame 'em. Cordura straps are the best invention since
bottle openers.

good ride,
Tom

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On Fri, 23 Apr 2004 00:39:51 -0700, [email hidden] (Tom Keats)

Quoted message said:

Same here. It bodes no good to talk so disparagingly
of clipless pedals. When properly adjusted, there
should simply be no problem.

My last one was because Shimano ships their pedals set to max release
pressure out of the box and I set my pedals at minimum - which I did
as soon as I got unclipped and got off the ground. Knowledge is of
marginal value when all you know at the moment is exactly why you
aren't going to get unclipped and why you are about to fall. At a stop
on a recumbent, so no big deal.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

Not really a horror story, but...

A couple months back I embarked on my first distance ride of the season (not
too far, ~45 miles). It was probably only my third time on the road with
clipless pedals, having spent the winter on the indoor trainer. About a
mile from the end of the trip I hit a pothole, which knocked my pump and
blinkie onto the ground. Suffering from both winter atrophy and exhaustion,
I stopped to go back and pick them up...

At about 5MPH, I decided to unclip from the pedals... My legs decided that
they didn't want to go along with this plan. They were apparently happy
right where they were. 4...3...2... I'm going to fall, aren't I? 1...
STOP... WOBBLE... CRASH!!! Well, the good news was that I came unclipped
during the fall. I'm a pretty big guy, and luckily enough I didn't break
the arm I landed on.

Now, I hadn't seen another cyclist ALL DAY LONG. Of course, moments after I
fall a couple glides right past and doesn't even say a word (I was standing
by then). One of the things I like about cycling is that we always give a
nod, wave, or simple "hello" as we pass eachother. In this case, I can
envision two possibilities: 1.) I was the idiot who didn't know how to
ride my bike and didn't deserve the time of day, or 2.) Every cyclist out
there has fallen over after failing to clip out and they were giving me the
requisite few moments to swallow my pride in solitude. If it was, in fact,
the latter of these, I thank you!

MSM

"Gary" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I had been researching peoples comments on the use and techniques of
clipless pedals as I was trying to decide if I was going to make the
switch.

I made the switch and tried to take all the advice I read in this
group and on various websites to prevent any big falls.

I lasted 3 miles.

I ride to work every day and there is one spot where I take a shortcut
from a parking lot onto a bike trail. It's steep, 30feet long, then I
have to do a 180 degree turn in a space about the length of my bike.
Completely impossible to do without putting at least one foot down.

Knowing this was coming up I unclipped both my pedals just before the
steep 30 foot hill. If I plan it right I have just enough momentum to
get the crest before I stop and then make 180 degree turn.

Just before I reached the top my foot clipped back into the pedal. I
am now at the top of the hill, almost stopped, clipless rookie, steep
30 foot hill to my left, and starting to panic.

The next 2 seconds are definitely not my most glamous. I fell and
started a mini cartwheel, the bike rolled over the top of me and
dragged me back to the bottom of the hill. Thankfully, the hill was
grass and the only damage was to my pride.

This got me thinking that there has to be a tonne of great clipless
horror stories out there.

I did read of one online somewhere of a poor recently seperated guy
who was slowing down for a light and then saw his ex-wife snuggled up
with some new guy in the car also stopping at the light. He was so
suprised and upset that he completely forgot to release his shoes and
toppled over right in front of her. Not one of his fining moments.

Do you have a horror story?? I'd love to here it..

..gary

Gary <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
....

Quoted message said:

Do you have a horror story?? I'd love to here it..

I switched to clipless a year ago, on various friends' advice, and
didn't ever have the manditory "I forgot I'm clipped in" fall. I like
clipless, I get less tired and less sore, so I bought new shoes cheap
($30 canadian) at the bike show.

Mistake #1 - I attach the cleats loosely, so I can adjust them once I
check my old shoes and I don't lose the hardware.

Mistake #2 - I forget that I have done this when, weeks later, I
decide to try my new comfy shoes out, and don't realize why my
connection to the pedals feels weird until I've clipped both shoes in,
I am riding along a major arterial road, and the light ahead of me is
red.

The sidewalk looked safer than the road, especially is this was
morning rush hour, so I dove for it. My pride had the worst bruises.

After that, though, it was a beautiful ride. 🙂

Carolyn

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 18:13:21 -0700, Gary <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Do you have a horror story?? I'd love to here it..

When I took up cycling again in the late '80s I bought a Trek 1400. It
came with Look pedals. Not wanting to invest in new cycling shoes, I
bought a set of Instep adaptors, which I rode with for a couple of
months. I finally bought a pair of clipless shoes and headed out for a
ride. As I was approaching an intersection I noticed a particularly
good-looking woman walking a dog. I rode right up next to her, came to
a stop, and promptly plopped over. :-(

When I first started going out with my girlfriend she only had a MTB
with platform pedals. She soon acquired a used Trek 520 with SPDs. I
bought her a pair of cycling shoes and cleats and we went out for a
ride. As we were riding past a friend of her's house she spotted her
friend. We rode up the driveway and came to a stop next to her friend,
whereupon my girlfriend demonstrated the horizontal trackstand. :-(

There's those who have and those who will!

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

Michael S. Moorhead said:

envision two possibilities: 1.) I was the idiot who didn't know how to
ride my bike and didn't deserve the time of day, or 2.) Every cyclist out
there has fallen over after failing to clip out and they were giving me the
requisite few moments to swallow my pride in solitude. If it was, in fact,
the latter of these, I thank you!

I only clipless moment I've seen someone else have was getting on the
ferry for the Chilly Hilly ride last year. A recumbent rider (late
fourties or so) was pulling to a stop next to me. She stopped, I could
see her flexing to snap out of her SPD's, and slowly toppled over. She
obviously was unhurt, and so I silently pretended not to have seen
anything (knowing from my own clip-less moment's the thing I wanted most
was noone else to have seen it).

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
I brake for chronovores

In article <[email hidden]>,

Dane Jackson said:

She
obviously was unhurt, and so I silently pretended not to have seen
anything (knowing from my own clip-less moment's the thing I wanted most
was noone else to have seen it).

There's /always/ an audience nearby for such incidents.
I think it must be some sort of law of nature.

Maybe the best way to have an incident-free ride is to
go where nobody's lookin'.

good ride,
Tom

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S. Anderson said:

"Gary" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Do you have a horror story?? I'd love to here it..

I used to ride Onza pedals. These have a nasty habit of not releasing at
the top of the pedal stroke. They seem to snag up becauseof the design of
the cleat mechanism. They release best with weight on the pedal at the
bottom of the pedal stroke with perfect horizontal-only rotation, which is
somewhat counter-intuitive in an emergency. I was riding a sidehill trail,
fairly steep, but not that high, maybe 50 or 75' to the bottom. Now keep in
mind, I RARELY crash..in that last 10 years, maybe 2 or 3 spills, all fairly
minor. I'm trailing a weaker rider (mistake #1..) and that person had to
stop on the trail because it was getting too technical and steep. So I look
up to see this person stopped in the middle of the trail, no warning and I
had my head down (fatal in hockey!). I veer off to the open side, which
also happened to be the open side...didn't quite make it and desperately
started trying to get my foot out. I swear, I nearly tore every frickin'
ligament in my knee and ankle trying to get that god-damned pedal out!!
Anyway, didn't happen, fell perfectly sideways down the ravine, did two
perfect loops, fscking bike still clipped to my bloody feet. Gave upon the
Onzas after that ride, after 2 years with them. None the worse for wear
really, but rather embarassing. Nothing quite like that feeling when you're
going past the balance point on the steep side, next stop, 12' down...

Now *that's* a clipless horror story. I hope you don't mind me saying
it's an awful shame it wasn't caught on video.

"Ryan Cousineau" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Gary said:

I had been researching peoples comments on the use and techniques of
clipless pedals as I was trying to decide if I was going to make the
switch.

I made the switch and tried to take all the advice I read in this
group and on various websites to prevent any big falls.

I lasted 3 miles.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Sorry, nothing impressive. Clipless have been a lot less trouble for

me

Quoted message said:

than toe clips, and much more comfy. But early on, I did the classic
"fall down clipped in at a stoplight in front of cars" trick. Which I do
not recommend.

Oh yeah, and there was one or two truly spectacular mountain bike
crashes last year, but those had nothing to do with my pedals.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine/wiredcola/
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

Hahaha... same goes for me. I actually adapted to clipless with almost no
trouble. I never had ONE fall until the first day I went out with my new
Look pedals. Previously I had a pair of shimanos which I'd gotten used. The
first ride with the Looks I stopped at a stoplight and BLAT! It's happened a
couple of times since then, but mostly at stoplights.

The worst I can think of was when I was hit by a car in 2002. I wasn't very
seriously injured because the car was just starting up at an intersection,
so I hurt my back where I fell and broke a bone in my right pinky. However,I
also twisted my left ankle, which I didn't really notice until the next day.
It was all sore and swollen, just badly twisted, obviously from being
clipped in when I fell. But that's about the worst of it. In case anyone is
interested, bike was okay except for one wheel which was [censored].

"Michael S. Moorhead" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Not really a horror story, but...

A couple months back I embarked on my first distance ride of the season

(not

Quoted message said:

too far, ~45 miles). It was probably only my third time on the road with
clipless pedals, having spent the winter on the indoor trainer. About a
mile from the end of the trip I hit a pothole, which knocked my pump and
blinkie onto the ground. Suffering from both winter atrophy and

exhaustion,

Quoted message said:

I stopped to go back and pick them up...

At about 5MPH, I decided to unclip from the pedals... My legs decided

that

Quoted message said:

they didn't want to go along with this plan. They were apparently happy
right where they were. 4...3...2... I'm going to fall, aren't I? 1...
STOP... WOBBLE... CRASH!!! Well, the good news was that I came

unclipped

Quoted message said:

during the fall. I'm a pretty big guy, and luckily enough I didn't break
the arm I landed on.

Now, I hadn't seen another cyclist ALL DAY LONG. Of course, moments after

I

Quoted message said:

fall a couple glides right past and doesn't even say a word (I was

standing

Quoted message said:

by then). One of the things I like about cycling is that we always give a
nod, wave, or simple "hello" as we pass eachother. In this case, I can
envision two possibilities: 1.) I was the idiot who didn't know how to
ride my bike and didn't deserve the time of day, or 2.) Every cyclist out
there has fallen over after failing to clip out and they were giving me

the

Quoted message said:

requisite few moments to swallow my pride in solitude. If it was, in

fact,

Quoted message said:

the latter of these, I thank you!

MSM

Isn't that always the way?You'll see no one all day and then have some dumb
mishap, and suddenly you're passed by some big group, snickering and
tittering.(Or so you imagine).

Quoted message said:

Isn't that always the way?You'll see no one all day and then have some dumb
mishap, and suddenly you're passed by some big group, snickering and
tittering.(Or so you imagine).

When I first went to clipless, I had the pretty standard fall where I forgot to
unclip before the bike came to a halt. I discovered the single advantage to
having a large rear end - a cushioned fall ;-) After that, for a goodly while,
whenever I was out cycling with my husband and/or my son, whenever I approached
a situation which required me to unclip, I was surrounded by voices shouting
"Unclip! Unclip!" Not that it was in any way embarassing.... ;-)

Cheers, helen s

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"Chris B." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Now *that's* a clipless horror story. I hope you don't mind me saying
it's an awful shame it wasn't caught on video.

Heehee..oh, it woulda been on TV! It's remarkable how quiet things get and
how much goes through your mind in the 1 or 2 seconds it takes from the
initial "Oh [censored].." to the ka-thud as you hit the ground. I had a lengthy
debate in that second or so about whether I should put my arm out to absorb
the impact, or take it on shoulder hockey-style. I kept my arm in and rode
it out pretty well unscathed. Must have been hilarious to look at though!!
Fortunately there was some undergrowth (it was in the bush..) and I only had
a few scrapes.

I once watched a guy in a race try to ride over a creek bed on a wet 2x6
plank bridge..that's 6" wide. The bridge was about 3' above the creek.
Went over sideways, much like me, and did not come out quite so well!!
Couldn't get his feet out and heard this horrible crunching sound as he
impacted the rocks with his ribs!! Very nasty..I'm no shrinking violet and
I chose to walk it..he was yelling at me to get out of his way so I wouldn't
"slow him down"! I think I beat him...

Cheers,

Scott..

S. Anderson said:

Couldn't get his feet out and heard this horrible crunching sound as he
impacted the rocks with his ribs!! Very nasty..I'm no shrinking violet and
I chose to walk it..he was yelling at me to get out of his way so I wouldn't
"slow him down"! I think I beat him...

I think he beat himself pretty badly as it was.
--
Rick Onanian

Quoted message said:

John Everett [email hidden]

wrote in part:

Quoted message said:

As I was approaching an intersection I noticed a particularly
good-looking woman walking a dog. I rode right up next to her, came to
a stop, and promptly plopped over.

I think it's a rule of nature that all of our least impressive moments will be
witnessed by one or more attractive members of the opposite sex.
My own most embarrassing failure to unclip moment occurred fairly late in the
summer about five years ago. I was riding on a two lane suburban road that has
a center turn lane and stoplights every four blocks. The only other traffic on
the road was a convertible occupied by three girls in their late teens or early
twenties. The driver signalled a right turn so I passed them in the turn lane.
They apparently decided they didn't intend to turn after all and continued
straight. I pulled back into the turn lane to allow them past me and ended up
drafting them to the next red light. The rear seat passenger struck up a
conversation with me at that light, the subject being how fast I'd been riding.
The light changed and like a fool I sprinted to keep in their draft. By the
time we hit the next red light a mile up the road I was so badly blown I simply
forgot to unclip. Kerplunk!
Ain't hormones a wonderful thing? <g>

Regards,
Bob Hunt

P.S.- A little road rash, one severely bruised male ego, and a chorus of
giggles were the only results of the fall so it could have been much worse.

S. Anderson said:

"Chris B." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Now *that's* a clipless horror story. I hope you don't mind me saying
it's an awful shame it wasn't caught on video.

Heehee..oh, it woulda been on TV! It's remarkable how quiet things get and
how much goes through your mind in the 1 or 2 seconds it takes from the
initial "Oh [censored].." to the ka-thud as you hit the ground. I had a lengthy
debate in that second or so about whether I should put my arm out to absorb
the impact, or take it on shoulder hockey-style. I kept my arm in and rode
it out pretty well unscathed.

I think that's the best decision in most circumstances. Falling with
outstretched arms seems to result in a lot of broken clavicles and
shoulder injuries which never seem to heal completely.

Not as far as being able to un-clip. I used to wear toe clips and straps
with cleats. The only way I could get out of these _quickly_ (read:
emergency un-clip) was to lean my foot to the outside to get the strap
loose and the cleat to clear the rat-trap, then twist my foot out. So
changing to clipless was easy, as I already had the twist out part
mastered.

The only horror story I have concerning clipless was shortly after
"upgrading" from the original Looks to the more streamlined Shimano
version. Unlike the original Looks, these didn't hang in a convinient
upright position, but tended to hang in a more face down position.

One day, I happened to stop on a particularly steep street. When I tried
to start out again, I found I didn't have enough coasting time to flip
the new pedals into a clip-able position. As a result the nylon cleats
came down on the powder coated smooth underside of the pedal.

My foot slipped off, the crank back pedaled with painful results and I
almost went down. This is the main reason I switched to the double sided
SPD's as soon as they came out!

- -

"May you have the wind at your back.
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

There's /always/ an audience nearby for such incidents.
I think it must be some sort of law of nature.

Yeah, I remember when I was new to clipless. I was riding with friends. We
stopped at the light, and I did this slow motion tumble into a nearby
juniper trying to get my foot out. They thought it was hilarious.

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato and .net for .com
Home of the meditative cyclist:
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