2 Concerns coming off my bike
#26
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Middle of da Mitten
Posts: 12,491
Bikes: Trek 7500, RANS V-Rex, Optima Baron, Velokraft NoCom, M-5 Carbon Highracer, Catrike Speed
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1516 Post(s)
Liked 736 Times
in
457 Posts
As you're stopping and have one foot unclipped, steer the bike slightly *away* from that foot. That has the effect of initiating a fall towards your down foot, so you won't fall over toward your clipped-in foot. Getting started again is just a matter of practice.
#27
Full Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: SE Michigan
Posts: 464
Bikes: Serotta CRL, Litespeed Blue Ridge, Bacchetta Ti Aero, Cannondale delta V, 67 Schwinn Sting Ray stick shift.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 26 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 7 Times
in
6 Posts
Of course i fell over on my very first cliped-in ride many years ago. At a busy 4 way stop. Right in front of a convertible. Loaded with girls. Laughing as they sped away.
#28
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Madison, IN
Posts: 1,351
Bikes: 2015 Jamis Quest Comp
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 270 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times
in
2 Posts
Go find a grass hill, and practice riding up, slow down and stall out on purpose... getting off, getting back on and re-starting...and remember that being in the correct gear helps the re-start A LOT...easier the better.
Or better yet, skip all that and kist go enter a cyclocross race...by lap 2 or 3, you'll have it figured out. :-)
Or better yet, skip all that and kist go enter a cyclocross race...by lap 2 or 3, you'll have it figured out. :-)
#29
Expired Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: TN
Posts: 11,924
Mentioned: 41 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3809 Post(s)
Liked 5,824 Times
in
2,944 Posts
#30
Full Member
Thread Starter
I hope I’m explaining myself correctly. Sure it takes time to learn clips. I’ve been doing clips for a while. But there’s 2 situations that I can’t really practice. And that is unclipping when the wheel stops turning and getting out of them while I’m going up a big hill. I got out of it while going up King mountain rode but I couldn’t get my left foot out. This is serious because there could be a car driving up while I fall to the side. Don’t know why I fell when I used to getting out of clips.
#31
In Real Life
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Down under down under
Posts: 52,152
Bikes: Lots
Mentioned: 141 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3203 Post(s)
Liked 599 Times
in
331 Posts
I hope I’m explaining myself correctly. Sure it takes time to learn clips. I’ve been doing clips for a while. But there’s 2 situations that I can’t really practice. And that is unclipping when the wheel stops turning and getting out of them while I’m going up a big hill. I got out of it while going up King mountain rode but I couldn’t get my left foot out. This is serious because there could be a car driving up while I fall to the side. Don’t know why I fell when I used to getting out of clips.
__________________
Rowan
My fave photo threads on BF
Century A Month Facebook Group
Machka's Website
Photo Gallery
Rowan
My fave photo threads on BF
Century A Month Facebook Group
Machka's Website
Photo Gallery
#32
Full Member
Thread Starter
#33
In Real Life
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Down under down under
Posts: 52,152
Bikes: Lots
Mentioned: 141 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3203 Post(s)
Liked 599 Times
in
331 Posts
And it's not that awkward ... it's how I've been riding for the past decade.
__________________
Rowan
My fave photo threads on BF
Century A Month Facebook Group
Machka's Website
Photo Gallery
Rowan
My fave photo threads on BF
Century A Month Facebook Group
Machka's Website
Photo Gallery
#34
Full Member
Thread Starter
Well you know what I’m saying. How is not awkward? First how would you prevent it and secondly how would you generate enough power to go uphill? Seems awkward positioning. Why do you ride like that?
#35
Mad bike riding scientist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,491
Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones
Mentioned: 153 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6293 Post(s)
Liked 4,330 Times
in
2,426 Posts
Before doing anything else, turn down the tension on your pedals. This will make getting out of them much easier. Adjust them so that you can easily click out when you want to but they stay tight enough to keep from clicking out when you don't what to. That will go a long way towards being able to do what I suggest below.
Yes you can practice this. Ride slow and clip in and out. Ride slower and clip in and out. Learn how to stand still with your feet clipped in and how to click out and put a foot down. The latter is called a "track stand" and is highly useful for stoplights and signs. I regularly go for very long rides where I may never unclip and I stop at all stoplights and signs...I just don't put my foot down at each one.
Same as will the track stand. Learn how to deal with the clipless at slow speeds by slowing down and clipping out.
You shouldn't need to get both feet out of the pedals when you stop. Most people are going to use their right foot but the key is to slide off the saddle and put your foot down further away from the bike. If it is too close, yes, you are likely to fall over but if you put your foot out a few inches (up to about a foot) away from the bike, it will be stable.
Same as will the track stand. Learn how to deal with the clipless at slow speeds by slowing down and clipping out.
You shouldn't need to get both feet out of the pedals when you stop. Most people are going to use their right foot but the key is to slide off the saddle and put your foot down further away from the bike. If it is too close, yes, you are likely to fall over but if you put your foot out a few inches (up to about a foot) away from the bike, it will be stable.
__________________
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
#36
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: San Leandro
Posts: 2,900
Bikes: Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra, Basso Loto, Pinarello Stelvio, Redline Cyclocross
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 336 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times
in
1 Post
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.
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.
#37
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Middle of da Mitten
Posts: 12,491
Bikes: Trek 7500, RANS V-Rex, Optima Baron, Velokraft NoCom, M-5 Carbon Highracer, Catrike Speed
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1516 Post(s)
Liked 736 Times
in
457 Posts
Is the final stop so abrupt that you don't know it's coming? Unclip earlier.
#39
Senior Member
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?
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?
For emergencies, reflex will come with time. Coming to a blind corner, I don't rely on reflex though, I unclip and use the arch of my feet to pedal if needed be. As for real emergencies, like when two weeks ago someone also on bike cut in front of me and had to apply my brakes hard. It wasn't the most graceful dismount but managed it. I'm pretty sure I would have fallen if it had happened a few months earlier but the instinct to unclip becomes second nature after a while. I just don't tempt faith though, I unclip, just in case...