NOS88

I know, for some of you unclipping is not something you do. So, feel free to ignore. But in reading some of the recent posts about climbing, I remembered a time when the only reason I was able to finish a climb is that it was so steep that if I had tried to unclip, I'd have fallen over before I could get out. I had to keep the pedals moving. If memory serves me correctly the particular stretch I didn't think I could ride was about 21%. I learned that my will was less strong than my actual body on that ride. It was one of those growth points as a rider when you realize how mentally tough great riders have to be.

cyclezealot

It can be a real dilemma . Fearing that you haven't enough momentum to keep going. Yet, if you unclip you loose momentum.. Plan in advance of such a steep grade. If you think you are not up to it. - Don't do it. Or unclip in anticipation of such a steep grade. I usually plan ahead and if I think it's too steep I clip out of fear that I might not be up to it. Its rare I ride in such steep grades that I am not up to snuff. So, such experiences have been rare.

gear

Not sure I completely understand the question. If I unclip my pedals, I positively won't make it over a hill as I will not be able to pedal any longer because I am out of the pedals. I also can't even imagine a scenario where I wouldn't be able to unclip, you just do it and put your foot down. I've done this in a split second in an emergency.

Retro Grouch 

Clipless pedals, once you get the knack, come loose pretty quickly. Mountain bike riders use them and, if you're doing real mountain biking, you're going to attempt some climbs that you can't complete. I took lots of falls back when I was mountain biking (if you're not bleeding you didn't try hard enough) but I can't remember one due to not being able to unclip. Most clipless pedal falls come from clipping out on one side and falling the other way.

Back in the olden days I used toe clip pedals with cleats on my shoes. That combination requires some planning to extricate your foot every time that you stop. I remember once climbing a hill that I didn't think I was going to make. I think that my adrenalin must have kicked in to give me the added boost that I needed.

globecanvas

What the OP describes is a genuine risk in major hillclimbs. The risk is compounded because climbs that steep are often winding and narrow roads with sharp drops off the side. If you commit to the grade and fail physically, you may not have the energy to unclip fast enough to keep from falling either into the road or off the edge.

Essentially you either have to beat the climb, or fail with enough in reserve to get yourself into a safe standing position. That fine line can be very hard to find when you are at your maximum physical output. And the risk is actually higher for decent riders, because they are more willing to redline themselves.

I've seen good riders fall into the road on Platte Clove, a brutal climb into the Catskills, several times. (That hill is famous for reducing some pros to walking during one particular rainy race.)

RonH

I've had a few close calls trying to unclip on steep climbs. Scary.
Another problem I've had a time or two is my chain dropping off on the inside when shifting from the large to the small chainring when climbing long hills. Also scary.

jppe

I can relate to what your referencing. There is a 21 per cent hill where I've seen riders unclip and fall over when they tried to put their foot down. Often their cleats would slip due to the steepness and they'd start going backwards. It is not a simple matter of unclipping and stopping. Restarting is another challenge in itself.

BluesDawg

This has happened to me several times while climbing steep and rocky/rooty hills on a mountain bike. Sometimes the difference between success and failure on a climb can be a very fine line. Make it and you keep moving. Don't make it and fall. It is very hard to unclip while you are pushing as hard as you can on the pedal up to the point that you are no longer able to move it. I have made a few falls like this leading to tubling down the side slope or being pinned under the bike without room to move my foot enough to get unclipped. Very comical sometimes. Kind of painful others.

The only time I have come close to this on the road was on Brasstown Bald. I was straing so hard in my lowest gear that I was afraid I would break my chain or my gut! I managed to turn to the side enough to relieve the pressure enough to quickly unclip. To restart I had to start across the grade and quickly build enough speed to turn up the hill and struggle on.

Sculptor7

So far this is the thing I fear most since I started using clipless pedals last Fall. Particularly on a group ride where I have not scouted out the terrain first. Applying the brakes while unclipping might hold you in position long enough to unclip and get a foot on the ground. Lately I have been practicing on a short steep grade near home to see how well I can climb. Actually even before using clipless pedals I once ran into difficulty after coming around a corner and suddenly faced with a steep climb before having shifted down. Have fallen over twice on fairly level ground when I first started using them but the results were just sort of humorous; a skinned knee in one instance but nothing serious. A hill, however, seems far more potentially dangerous.

Allegheny Jet

Maybe some tips to glean off this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxWceFTkLRU

tsl

^^^ This.

The steepest I've ever climbed was 18 or 19%. I remember thinking, "I hope I don't come unclipped" as I pulled up on the back side of the stroke.

It never occurred to me that I'd want to unclip and stop, because I knew I wouldn't be able to start again. So I just continued up the hill.

alcanoe

Track stand. A big safety skill in that situation to gain time. One of the significant causes of broken bones on slick rock is stalling out on a too-steep climb and falling off the bike then tumbling down to the bottom. Slick rock has pheneminal traction when dry. There's a particular area in Moab that is hell on bones because of that. I stayed away from it.

It's recommended by the pros like Ned Overend to learn a good track stand to protect your self. One of my things to do, but never got too.

On Brasstown bald, going up on a motorcycle was scary. The wife and I leaned forward as we had the feeling we were going to flip over backwards. A few of my much younger friends have stalled out there. I saw some triples for the second Tour of Georgia for the stage that finished there.

Al

globecanvas

That is a hoot. I love how everyone attacks the bottom of the hill, as if momentum will somehow propel them up a 38% grade.

bigbadwullf

Will be this weekend . I've had to unclip on the downhill side before. Not fun but it beats the alternative.

CACycling

+1

jdon

Yes, working my way from Pie Corner to Boscobelle in Barbados. Climbing up a very steep gradient (unknown) on a narrow road and had resorted to traversing when an oncoming car forced me straight up the hill. Couldn't keep the front wheel on the ground and ended up on my back. Must have been funny to see.

woodway

I think this is the same hill. Gives you a better feel for how steep it is.

Steep Climb

Steepest road climb I have ever done was 24% - I made it up fine, but even if I would have had to unclip it would have been easy to put my foot down and stay upright.

stapfam

Can relate to both these replys.To get full efficiency out of the legs I have to be clipped in. Unclipped and I will have a very good chance of not making a hill. But Offroad you have the added problem of Terrain. I find it easy enough to unclip at any time and at any degree of Kna**ered so on road will not be a problem. Offroad however and the bike can go sideways through 90 degrees (Or more) at any time. On the flat- uphill or downhill. Those are the ones that you do not expect and are over in a split second. No time to think and providing you can move all 4 limbs without too much pain- you are OK. It was probably a soft landing onto 6" of mud in any case.

globecanvas

I think a lot of people are missing the point. It's not about geometry -- it's not that your foot won't hit the ground, or stay on the ground, because the hill is so steep. It is about physiology. If you are at total physical failure, you may not have the energy to get your foot out of the pedal, or do anything at all except fall over. It's never happened to me, though I've been close, but I've seen it happen.

Like I said above, it is more likely to happen to strong riders, because they are more likely to push themselves to the redline until they are completely spent.

Cone Wrench

Mountain biking. Five times in about two hours.

jdon

That is expected on an mtb.

lhbernhardt

I do most of my ridng in a fixed gear. I figure my limit in a 70-inch gear is an 18% grade. Unless you are racing in an actual hillclimb (where you are not allowed to get off the bike), I see no point in staying on the bike when you get to the point where you can walk up the hill faster. There is no shame in walking the bike up the hill; the pro's do it all the time in the Belgian classics when they lose momentum up the cobbled climbs.

I often wonder at the extra-low gears some riders use. Really, if you can walk faster (and easier), what's the point?

L.

khutch

I am quite certain I could not walk up a 23% grade faster than I can ride a bike up one. It would be easier to walk up the grade, precisely because on a bike I am going faster and have to develop more power. If I had a gear low enough to make a grade like that as easy as walking I would be going at my walking speed on that grade. The trail near me has some short (this is in Illinois after all) 23% grades and the walkers seem more afraid of them than the bikers. I've done those grades at the end of an 80 mile training ride and they certainly were not welcome at that point but they did not prevent me from riding through. There are five of them in quick succession and I would suppose that the total altitude gain is in the 300 - 500 foot range which is pretty modest indeed by mountain country standards but huge for these parts. I don't have a gear low enough to sit on the way up so I stand and from a standing position my low gear is too low, I ride the third or fourth cog up from the low end in the rear and on the granny ring in the front.

Typing this reminds me of one more fun fact about the "hell hill" conclusion to that 80 miler. As I went into the climb on the last hill I had a brain fart and forgot to shift into the gear I needed to be in. I had the correct rear cog but forgot to shift out of the middle ring on the front. I did not realize my mistake until the grade was too steep to shift. Maybe I could have but I've never shifted while pedaling that hard before so I did not try since this was not the time to experiment with that. I just muscled my way up because I was confident I could unclip if I stalled.

Ken

oldbobcat

Regarding the original question, yes I have. So I kept pedaling.

twobadfish

I think he's talking about coming unclipped and walking the rest of the hill... of course you can't keep pedaling once you come unclipped