JS41989

So I finally made the transition from platform to clipless pedals today, and I beefed it! I was attempting to clip back in after being stopped at a light. I missed the pedal with my right foot while I was locked in with my left, not enough momentum and I toppled over.

On a positive note, I didn't fall the rest of the ride and I really enjoyed the experience. I ended up with Shimano Ultegra PD-R8000 Pedals with Specialized Torch 2.0 Road Shoes. Very comfortable set up.

GlennR

Glad you weren't hurt.

dr_max

Been there done that

Beach Bob

EVERYONE has messed up when they went to clipless... no big deal... welcome to the club

znomit

Won't be the last unfortunately.

thenewjs

Yep, I fell in an intersection my first time. New clips are always tricky, normally clip in and out a bunch of times when I use new clips. It rounds them off and makes it easier to get out.

oldwinger14

Welcome to a very large club! Glad you didn’t get injured, other than your ego.

mattscq

I've been clipless for a few months now and it's second nature but just about a couple weeks ago (maybe it was last week), I tried unclipping my left foot instead of my right at a stop (I wanted to tighten my right show) and I toppled over towards the right. I had to explain to the driver next to me I was fine a few times before she drove away.

Such things happen…

Sy Reene

Welcome to the club.. it'll be become 2nd nature eventually.. and you'll also realize that in your circumstance, your left foot would likely have been capable to pull up enough to keep your momentum while you futzed with your right (one legged pedaling). Unless maybe you were somewhere stopped and heading up a steepish hill.

JS41989

It was a flat, and I definitely thought about that later... "I'm clipped in I can just keep moving my left foot and keep the bike up." but hindsight is 20/20 ha! I practiced in the hallway for about 30 minutes last night.

genejockey 

When I went clipless, was living on a very quiet street. I clipped my left foot in at the top of my driveway and as I rolled down I was trying to clip my right foot in, but missed it a couple times, and suddenly the curb on the other side of the street loomed into view, just before I hit it at 2 mph.

That was the last time I fell doing that, but lordy! There have been so many NEAR falls! Like later that day, on the way home from work, when I rolled up to a stop light and tried to lift my foot off the pedal and couldn't. Luckily in my panic I apparently twisted my foot enough to unclip, or I'd have topped in front of a bunch of drivers! How embarrassing! Or like hitting a red light on a climb, and trying to start up only to have my back wheel hit the rain-slick paint stripe before I managed to get clipped in!

oldwinger14

Your last sentence made me snicker. Talk about an “oh s***!” moment...!

Germanrazor

Honestly its a rite of passage regardless of what others state. Some say they have never fallen over when they went to this method but I have a hard time believing it.

So kudos......you now know what it is like and will not be so surprised if it occurs again.

ccrrar

I have been riding clipless for 20 years and still toppled over last week. First time in more than 5 years. It just happens sometimes. My skinned elbow is all better now.

wipekitty

Welcome to the club!

I had my first fall about a month after going clipless. I also fell about two weeks ago, after putting in something like 25,000 miles using clipless. It happens.

OUGrad05

Welcome to the club! I've fallen over twice, both within my first week.

First time was uber embarrassing, in my own damn drive way. Started going, tried to clip in, thought I was about there and like you, not enough momentum and I fell over. Second time pulling up to a stop light that turned red last minute, this was maybe my second ride with clipless pedals and I forgot to unclip, by the time I remembered I unclipped the wrong foot lmao...now that you've gotten it out of the way, here's to happy riding for years to come

genejockey 

The street I live on now is 1) busy and 2) crowned. So now I push off in the driveway when it's clear and try I clip in before the crown of the road steals all my momentum. And because I generally fail, I almost always end up pulling up with the clipped-in foot to get to the other side, because even if there's not much traffic I don't want to be caught in the middle of the street.

Iride01 

I've done it several times long ago thankfully. It's the sort of thing that usually happens when the maximum number of others are around to witness it.

dr_max

haha yes

happened to me at the transition in my first triathlon

my

BkSaGo

I’ve only had one fall (so far) in about 8 years of clipless riding, and unlike most stories here, nobody saw it. I managed to fall in my driveway at the end of a ride. I came rolling down the driveway to the garage, lost focus for a few seconds stopping at the garage door and tumbled over at about 0 mph. Scraped up the bar end plug a tape a little bit, but I was undamaged.

frogman

When I first started using clipless I thought it would be a good idea after the ride to coast to a stop in my front yard to unclip so if I fell over it would be on the grass. Sure enough I fell over in the grass several times and I finally realized that it was dumb to coast to a stop in the grass, kinda like coasting to a stop in the sand. My neighbors across the street were out on there front porch and thoroughly enjoyed it. Got a bunch of cheers and clapping.

Dean V

Not everyone.
I learn't with toe straps and cleats which did catch me out a couple of times.
Clipless are comparatively easy and I have always found it natural and easy to unclip.

noodle soup

+1
.
Toe clips, straps and cleats were sketchy in traffic, but once you got the procedure down, converting to clip-less was a no-brainer.

eduskator

I never actually fell after taking off because I wasn't able to clip on my 2nd pedal, but I did fall a few times when coming to a stop because I had forgotten to un-clip. It's unavoidable, it happens to all of us.

SSRI

also coming from toe clips with cleats - clipless was an easy transition.

put yours shoes cleat bolt on your maintenance check list.

loose cleats almost took me down when I tried to unclip.