takumi89

Hi everyone I dislocated my shoulder awhile ago on an icy hill shoveling snow and it pops out quite easily now if stretched out or pressured in weird ways. Overall it feels like 90 percent now with physio stuff but I知 worried about accidentally tipping over at an intersection with clipless and re popping it out . Is there a way to fall where your shoulder doesn稚 really take any pressure? Like maybe mostly on hip? I know the fall is pretty slow but without my foot to slow it down I feel it would probably force me to put my palm down which would be no bueno.
I will probably just use clipless on trainer and flats on road anyway but thought I would ask just in case there is a secret falling technique! haha thanks for your help

rumrunn6

I'm a clutz but I only fall from my mountain bike (w/o cleats) & I have no advice about how to fall w/o involving the shoulder. my road bike cleats are adjusted so if I forget I'm clipped in, they come out anyway. but they don't come out when I don't want them to.

takumi89

Ok thank you for the tip, I値l mess with the release tension on the trainer so I can try to click out super easy but not so easy that it pops out when pedaling fast or something.

Notso_fastLane

This is your best bet. Most falling techniques (30 years of martial arts here) don't involve escaping from a bike or other vehicle, and generally assume you have some momentum you can take advantage of. Falling over while clipped in, about the only thing you can use to blunt the fall is your arm(s). You can use your arm to smack the ground like in a martial arts fall, but that's not really going to do much in that type of situation.

BengalCat

On a road bike many if not most falls are a "surprise" and you really often don't have time to do anything. In fact, sometimes hitting the ground is almost simultaneous with the fall.

Rick

I have never had a shoulder injury from a fall. When the evil mad lieutenant t boned me in Germany I slid up the windshield over the roof and tumbled on the asphalt. In Florida there were golf balls, beer bottles and big gulp cups thrown at me. I had torn meniscus on my left knee. In Florida a red neck wanna be brushed me on the left side in a left turn lane and I feel to the right. I tucked my head and shoulder and landed on my back and butt. I was still clipped in on the left side. I don't let it bother me so I use clipless pedals. If you are worried at all about clipless pedals I would just quit using them. This is an accident waiting to happen.

Riveting

I fall a lot in slow technical uphill climbs in mtb, because I don't want to stop pedaling or take my foot off the pedals (aka dab) both of which will cause a loss of momentum, but that means I stall more often, so I've gotten really good at stalling and falling over, completely clipped in, at less then a hiker's pace. My rules of thumb: keep my hands on the bars the entire time during the fall-over. Never extend an arm/hand during the fall. Keep the fall-side elbow tucked in to the ribs. Try to have your outside shin (not the knee) hit the ground first, then hip, then tricep, and finally deltoid/shoulder, and tilt your head away from the fall to keep your helmet from making contact with the ground and ringing your bell.

delbiker1 

Getting unclipped becomes 2nd nature after a bit of time. As stated above, set the release for low tension. Also as stated above, most falls from bikes happen in a split second and there is no time to actually react. I did a lot of sports when I was young and learned how to fall to minimize the chance of injury. That is especially true in wrestling. I fell about a year ago and my shoes unclipped without any conscious attempt to do that. The key really is to stay relaxed turn the body in the direction the fall is going. The problem with that is that it takes quite awhile for that to become an automatic reaction. None the less, staying relaxed in body and mind is key.

delbiker1 

I disagree with the putting ones hands and arms out to cushion/slow the fall. IMO, turning the body in the direction of the fall is going to prevent injury better. The main thing with that is to keep the arms/elbows tucked in close to the body and start turning the shoulder into the fall. Which shoulder depends on the fall. STAY RELAXED is most important.