DreamRider85

This issue has happened. When I was going up a hill, I got off my bike. I got out of my clips. And for some reason I wasn't able to transfer my weight to my right side and I ended up falling to the left, couldn't get my left foot out on time. Luckily no cars were around.

And so this is a concern. What would you do? Please don't just say lose the clipless pedals immediately. I want a real answer based on people who have had this experience. Getting off an a hill doesn't seem to be as easily as the flats.

My other issue is this. Sometimes you know that something broke. I think the chain. And your pedals will stop turning. So you have to get out. What if you're going downhill? Or uphill?

FBinNY 

It's purely a question of habit and learned motions. Just like when you first learned to walk, you'd wobble and fall a few times before being steady. Same with riding clipless.

Just focus on releasing your preferred down foot, and as you reach it to the ground, you'll naturally shift your weight to it. If you're nervous you might release the other foot (just in case), but if you go that route, I suggest you do that foot first, so the correct sequence of releasing the down foot as you prepare to stop and putting it down becomes ungrained.

Within a very short time frame, all this will become 100% automatic and you'll properly execute the sequence without thinking, using the same motor control part of your brain that allows you to get the soup spoon into your mouth without the help or a mirror.

So, the secret: don't think, just do.

europa

And for the times when this doesn't work, which also happen once in a very long time (ie, years), just react and you'll be right, untidy but okay. Had one this morning where I went to put my foot on a kerb... and fell the other way. Had to pull the foot out of the toe clip pretty darned quick I can tell you, but my precious steed stayed safe, only my pride suffered.

Stormsedge

Practice, practice, practice. I've had that happen this year more times than I care to admit. In my case, I seem to get my left foot released quicker and more accurately than my right. Some of it has to do with fatigue. During my first century attempt (ended up a Metric) last May, I went down twice---once when I threw the chain into the BB gap on a long uphill-pedals stopped, I toppled right...and again near the finish when traffic in town suddenly stopped dead-I jammed the brakes, couldn't get my right foot out and toppled, and then traffic started moving, nearly got run over. Lately, my close calls have been with dogs coming out (they seem to like the uphills)...have nearly not been able to get my feet under me in time. Practice. Look ahead, plan ahead. Break out of the clip early for anticipated stops. Loosen your pedal tension as much as possible.

dabac

Only times it’s ever a problem for me is when something disturbs My sequence of motion and I try to unclip at the top of the stroke instead of on the bottom. That tends to cause the foot to release slower, which can get a bit ”exciting”.

DreamRider85

So when I’m going uphill, practice? The problem is it’s hard to get back on and in the clips once I’m going uphill.

I’m not sure why I fall to the other side sometimes. I’ve beeb using clipless a while now, but how do you do well in last minute situations?

DreamRider85

Hmmm I’m wondering if maybe u clipped out at the top.

BlazingPedals

Plan ahead. And practice, practice, practice. If it helps, you should know that there are two kinds of clipless riders: ones who have fallen and ones who will. Some of us are in the first group, and all of us are in the second.

noimagination

Some terminology first:
clips = clips and straps, the old style where you had a cleat nailed to the bottom of your shoe, toe clips and straps that you tightened up. To get out, you had to reach down, loosen the straps, and slide your foot out. Or, you just use regular shoes and slide them under the straps and clip and either tighten the straps or don't

clipless = modern pedals with cleats on the bottom that 'click' into the pedal and are held by a retention system and spring, no straps or toe clips involved, you rotate your foot to pop the cleat out of the pedal.

From your description, my best guess is that you have clipless. Anyway, I guess it doesn't matter, the principles are the same, it is just with old clips and straps you had to plan ahead even more than with modern clipless because you had to reach down to loosen the straps before you could slide your foot out.

I'm assuming that this happened rather quickly, for example you were going up a hill, realized you couldn't make it up or had to stop for some other reason, and because of the hill you slowed more quickly than usual and had to unclip hastily. As others have said, plan ahead where you can, otherwise it is a matter of practice. You need to get into the habit of unclipping and leaning to that side, so that in an emergency you can do it quickly. It will help if you get into the habit of always unclipping the same foot. Most people unclip the foot nearest the curb, though some do it the other way.

It doesn't matter what the cause of the stop is - going up hill or down, a planned stop, a mechanical, avoiding obstacles, etc. You need the muscle memory of practice so that you can do it quickly in any circumstance. Until you have the muscle memory, you need to be more cautious and plan ahead more in order to avoid having to unclip quickly and, possibly, getting it wrong and falling over.

Keep in mind, however, that stopping is more important than unclipping , so in an emergency worry about stopping first. It is better to keel over like Arte Johnson than to crash into something because you're focused on unclipping rather than stopping.

pvillemasher

At some point it becomes second nature.
Just like you know you can't push your foot straight down on a platform pedal, you need to slide your foot left or right off the pedal and then to the ground. You don't think about that or plan for that, you just do it.
Same with clipless. I never think ahead to what I'm going to do, which foot first, which way to lean, top of the stroke or bottom or middle. I just put my feet down, as natural and as seamless as if I were riding platforms.

cyccommute 

It may seem counter-intuitive but you get a better start going uphill if you use the brakes...especially the front one. It's takes some timing, however. Hold the front brake closed and position your crank so that you can get a good boost when you push down...let's say about 10 o'clock. When you are ready to go, push down on the forward pedal and release the brake at the same time. The bit of resistance on the front wheel will stabilize you momentarily and allow you to get into the saddle while putting weight on the rear wheel so that it doesn't spin. It takes a bit of practice and, as with most things bicycle, a mountain bike will teach you how to do this in an afternoon vs years of riding road bikes.

Alternatively, get next to something that you can put the foot on (the one not on the crank). Again, hold the front brake but this time you should be seated on the saddle. This puts weight on the rear wheel so that it doesn't spin. As above, push down on the pedal foot and release the brake at the same time.

The other method is better to learn because you don't always have something that you can put a foot on.

Most likely, you are putting your foot down too close to the bike. This is too narrow a stance for you to support the bike and you counteract the imbalance by leaning away from the side you put your foot down on in order to lean back towards the side that you feel like you are falling towards. It's a bit like counter-steering on the bike. Unfortunately, you can't usually recover this way and topple to the opposite side of where you put your foot down.

One question, are you trying to remain in the saddle when you put your foot down? If you are, you are much less stable. I always get off the saddle when I come to a stop and move forward on the bike. I can't even reach the ground from my saddle with either foot. A properly adjusted saddle height shouldn't allow anyone to put a foot down from the saddle.

Flip Flop Rider

awareness. think as you are descending or ascending about unclipping

cyclintom

Don't think that at some time or another this doesn't happened to everyone. The only way is to learn that in times of danger always plan so that your pedal side is DOWN and you can swerve slightly to the left and the weight transfers to the right. Because of the medication I take the bike has to balance itself and I simply push the pedals. So I'm especially aware of having to plan ahead to not fall. I still fall but I do it in safer conditions where a car isn't going to run me over.

Of course none of this prevents cars from threatening you at least once on every ride. But at those times you usually have complete control.

I use Look Delta pedals and there is a large margin of operation of those pedals since I have multiple bikes. The slightly earlier ones are easier to get into because of the balance and weight of the pedal vs the bearing friction. The later 206's are much lighter but the balance of the pedal was all screwed up and they often would not rotate into a position to clip in. But they clipped out easier.

The latest Look Keo CX-7 pedals are really well balanced and easy to clip out since they are a cyclocross pedal.

Phil_gretz

@DreamRider85 !!!

Stormsedge

I don't always do well (or graceful) in last minute situations...sometimes getting a foot down anyway possible is okay. Starting uphill, I sometimes will ride the pedal with the arch of my dominant foot until I get some speed up, then clip in. Another option is to orient your bike across or down the hill until you feet are in with a little speed/ power, then reattack the hill.

Lazyass

It won't be hard after time passes. Eventually, clipping in and out will be something you don't even think about, it will be a natural reaction.

Phil_gretz

I can recall exactly three times (in the last twenty years) that I've had to bail on a difficult incline, each time while on my loaded touring bike.


Otherwise, my advice would be to not stop. Don't give in. Don't give up.


This doesn't include MTB riding, where bailing out (or stalling and falling over) occur pretty frequently for many reasons.

Tape2012

+1. Whenever I sense that I may need to stop, or navigate through something slowly my first reaction is to get off the saddle. When off the saddle you can really throw your weight around as needed to remain upright.

AlmostTrick

You're stopped on an incline and want to resume riding uphill. Try this:


One foot clipped in at the top of the power stroke. The other on the ground.


Jump up and forward with the grounded foot, while pushing the bike forward.


Immediately mash down on the clipped in foot. Get the other foot on the pedal and push as soon as it comes over the top, even if not yet properly clipped in. Once rolling you can fully clip in if necessary.

79pmooney

And ... when you do realize you are about to fall over relax! Realize you just made a fool of yourself, stay loose and just flop onto the road. (Keep your hands on the handlebars! Putting one down is a good way to break bones.) I often make it a bit of a roll and wind up with the bike in the air. You aren't moving so there will be no road rash. With a good flop, probably no bruises either to anything but ego. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, remount and go like it was all planned.

The fear of falling is often far worse that the fall AND that fear makes it hard to relax and take the fall right. If the fear is blocking you, try putting on some beater clothes and practicing on soft lawn. Then when the real thing is about to happen, you can think "I know what to do!"

I've been riding toe clips, straps and old fashioned slotted cleats for 40 years and still do. Also clipless on a couple of bikes. And I still fall over periodically. Just not a big deal. (Did it a couple of months ago trying to start on a hill at a light behind cars. Missed the pedal, my foot slid on the road and I was down.)

Ben

drlogik 

After a while getting out of and in to clips should become instinctively reactive. There is always that time though that the mind wonders and... oops. Hills can be a challenge though I'll give you that.

SethAZ 

This is kind of a funny topic for me because I went back to platforms for my MTB but I've been on clip-in pedals on my road bike for years and years. For whatever reason I never have any trouble with it on my road bike, though I have baubled a couple of stops before. On my MTB, however, I've fallen over a couple times where I very seriously fubared my shoulder and arm because I failed to get my shoes unclipped in time. I guess I have a phobia about it now on my MTB. One of these days I'll have to put my egg beater pedals back on my MTB and try again. Given how many thousands of miles over several years I have with clip-in pedals on my road bike, I feel pretty stupid that I don't use them on my MTB too. Go figure.

Riveting

During MTB (on steep technical uphills) my mantra is essentially "Don't give in. Don't give up. Don't unclip. No dabbing. Keep pedaling and maintain momentum at all costs!" And is the reason I've stalled, fallen over, and smashed my hip/knee/shin more times this season than I'd like to admit.

But once you become proficient at riding clipless on technical mtb, any clipping in/out on the road seems ultra simplistic.

sweeks

If it's possible to do safely, you can "tack" across the incline to lessen the steepness, or even go downhill a bit to get your momentum back.

Also, make sure your pedals' mechanisms are properly lubricated and adjusted. There's usually an adjustable range of effort to unclip. It need not be said that both pedals should be equally easy to get out of.

I had the good fortune to be at the InterBike "Outdoor Demo" last September and was able to borrow a nice full-suspension Pivot (after waiting in line for 20 minutes then forking over my driver's license and a credit card!). They put SPD pedals on the bike for me, but one of the pedals was really hard to get out of. I didn't want to wait in line again (things were really busy), so I just went out. The trails were covered in sharp rocks, and I was reluctant to take any risks, so I didn't have as much fun as I had hoped.

My most embarrassing clipless moment happened a couple years ago on a trail near home. I was approaching a street crossing and opted to reach out to a pole for support rather than unclipping as I waited for a car to pass. Of course, I missed the pole and went down... the driver was a really cute young thing who asked me if I was OK. I was, but felt like an idiot. At my age (67) it's hard to accept sympathy from the young for my own stupid moves.
Steve

Maelochs

if you do this right you sort of roll onto the back of your shoulder and back.

it's almost fun unless there are people watching.