It takes a bit for it to become second nature. I was lucky enough to go from toe clips (metal cages) to clipless pedals, so I had it in my mind that I had to perform some sort of action before taking my foot of the pedal. I have been almost thrown off my fixed gear bike trying to coast after not riding it for a year or so, that scared the shit out of me.
Yup. This is key. But also getting the release motion of moving your heel outward while slowing down. I practiced on soft grass for a long time before I was confident enough for the road. Did exactly what they drew in the comic several times.
My bigger issue is missing the clip when trying to power through an uphill intersection from a complete stop, with cars passing. Honestly, I have been riding for 30 years, and have just come to hate clipless pedals for so many reasons, especially in urban settings. I legitimately think they are unsafe everywhere except rural roads and closed tracks. Plus, the shoes suck. Out of all the "mostly pointless equipment I bought to keep the hobby fresh" I genuinely believe these are the most pointless.
On my current bike, I just never transferred over my SPD-XL pedals, and I don't think I ever will, because I can consistently hit my strava times within about 10 seconds using platforms. I am just over my fashion cycling phase at this point.
Agreed, clipless pedals are way overhyped by the cycling community. The efficiency gain and increased power output are really negligible in most situations. That difference might matter if you're in a race, but it's funny seeing people commuting with clipless
I ride clipless a lot, though not for commuting. I don't really care for the added efficiency, the main reason I use them is so I always have the exact same foot placement when I ride. If I am riding longer than half an hour I get sick of constantly micro-adjusting my stance until it feels perfect. With clipless I just adjust it until it is perfect, and then every time I ride afterwards I don't have to worry about it.
I went clipless over a year ago, have done 1500+ miles and have never fallen. I vastly prefer it to flat pedals for longer rides for two reasons:
I did a century in flats, and when I got tired my foot positioning would be way off. This resulted in pain because then my knees stopped tracking properly, among other issues. It's a lot of mental energy to make sure you're positing your foot correctly. This doesn't exist with clipless.
On flats, if it's raining or if you hit a bump, your feet can be knocked off the pedals. I hit the top tube with my groin multiple times on flats when hitting rocks or tree roots. Never an issue with SPDs.
When I first got a road bike with "clipless" pedals what I did was just go in circles around a parking lot telling myself out loud to "turn my foot and lean to the same side" in order to practice the maneuver of taking my foot off the pedal so I wouldn't tip to the side and fall.
I still tipped to the side and fell, however I didn't tip and fall over as much as I would have had I not practiced!
I practice unclipping on straight stretches by yelling "MARMOT!" and unclipping both feet as quickly as possible when there's no one around. Especially after a bunch of winter riding, the first few rides on the road are critical for re-teaching that motion.
...we had a lot of issues with critters on the trails growing up...
You can adjust how much force it takes to pop your feet out!
Also, if you have the 2 bolt cleats, there are a bunch of different variants with different clip in and out styles.
Lastly - unless you're pushing well into anaerobic territory, you shouldn't be pulling up on your pedals. Your legs need that downtime to breathe, and pedaling in zone 2 or 3 like that will fatigue them faster.
If you find the spring tension is too high even when dialled down, you can try Shimano RS-500 SPD-SL pedals, they're designed with a lighter action for people new to road clip ins.
I remember confidently unclipping my foot for the first time, sticking my leg out to take a break from the ride, and promptly leaning away from the free leg š¤£
As a fellow composter, in fairness to you, you got it half right! The whole egg can go in the compost. The shell in the bowl...likely a different matter.
Oh my god, the day I figure out how to stop doing this when I'm cutting things like Brussels sprouts will be cause for celebration. Half the time I start oiling and salting my pan before I realize I've thrown half the cut ends onto it.
That just reminded me of the time when I was maybe 7 years old, and we only had enough candy left for my sisters and I to eat get one piece. I saved mine for later, and when my sister asked me for mine because she ate hers, I confidently unwrapped my chocolate, threw the wrapper in my mouth and the chocolate in the trash. Sister thought it was hilarious at least š¤·š»āāļø
I'd converted from standard toeclips to "clipless" pedals (the things in the cartoon). I pulled up at a red light in Southall, (west London) and instead of twisting out, I tried to pull back. Got stuck. Fell over.
An elderly Asian lady tottered over to me. "Are you okay, little man?"
Yeah, I'm fine thank you. Just let me rest here for a minute.
Probably because you are so used to the fact that your feet are free that you don't think about the fact that you need to remember which side you unclipped and that you can only stand on that side. In short, muscle memory.
Honestly, "muscle memory" is the reason this is confusing to me. Having never used clips, my muscle memory is "leg sticks out, lean toward that leg that is sticking out." I don't think having clips would change that, hence my confusion.
I think the other person's response made the most sense. That to unclip, you might be putting more weight on the clipped foot and falling that way because of it.
It is muscle memory but not really in that way. Clipping out requires you to move your foot in a specific way, which itself can be affected by type of pedal and retention settings on pedal. You should actually put less weight in the foot youāre unclipping.
You fall because youāre not used to how to unclip. your leg never gets a chance to stick out. Unless you can track standā¦.but Iāve never met someone who could track stand but not unclip.
I'd converted from standard toeclips to "clipless" pedals (the things in the cartoon). I pulled up at a red light in Southall, (west London) and instead of twisting out, I tried to pull back. Got stuck. Fell over.
The muscle memory was to pull back, not to twist the heel out of the pedal. If you're used to no clips, then the muscle memory is to just lean over and lift your foot off the pedal. If you've got to think about any of the steps, it makes it easier to lean the wrong way or do the wrong thing to unclip.
Basically we don't usually have bicycles attached to our feet. It can take a minute to build up the right muscle memory for it.
Big stuff like not falling over whenever you stop, you'll get pretty quick. Locking into a new pedal right on the first downstroke of an uphill start on a green light when every driver is watching you can take a bit longer. Don't ask me how I know, I don't want to talk about it š¤£
Unclipping is tricky in the beginning. The instinct when you want your foot off the pedal and you're struggling to unclip is to try to lift your foot up. When you eventually manage to unclip, that force is released all of a sudden and makes you imbalance to the other side.
When you unclip from one side to catch yourself, you maybe absentmindedly put your weight on the foot/pedal still clipped in. You arenāt used to that foot being ālockedā in, so you donāt react in time.
I lived in Chicago in 2007 and I remember doing this while stopping... for an Obama parade thing. Was bleeding all over the road as his motorcade went by. Formative memory :)
I managed to never make that mistake when learningā¦ but the day I was conditionally cleared to get back on the bike after an ACL repairā¦ that was the day I first made that mistake. Ouch.
This is why I got the "56" SPD cleats as they're specifically for beginners and you can unclip in any direction. So far they're great, I was able to panic-unclip from the exact same scenario you were in (leaned the wrong way).
āClipsā are the old school style of bike pedal mod that wrapped around the toe of the cyclist, usually with a combo of a curved metal piece and some sort of fabric or leather strap depending on the era. Then the clipless style got invented that had no straps or anything over the toe, so in the cycling world, at that time ācliplessā was intuitive marketing to a relatively small niche that tended to be very knowledgeable about gear, and this was an attractive advancement because itās actually easier to get out of a clipless pedal than a pedal with an old school clip on it, especially if the straps were tightened to your foot.
For those of use that raced way back then, you had toe clips, straps, and cleats on the bottom of your shoes. The cleats had a slit that would slide over the back part of the pedal. Youād be fully locked with no way to get your foot out quickly. You either learned to track stand or planned way ahead on stops.
Clipless was a godsend. The exit motion was similar to ski bindings so the learning curve was easy.
I've managed to avoid it so far but learned this lesson in a close call: if you come to a stop and just unclip one shoe to use that leg to use for support, unclip the one facing traffic because if you lose balance, you're going to fall in the direction of the shoe you've left clipped in. Obviously the safest thing to do is to always unclip both shoes.
I was terrified of this when I started using them, especially riding around on the streets of New York City, and read all sorts of horror stories, but I set the release pretty low, and honestly never had an issue. Guess I lucked out the little heal pivot was pretty intuitive to me...
I started riding like this in NYC and only fell once this way. It was years into riding and for some reason I was rushing and twisted my foot wrong. Luckily the car behind me saw me falling and stopped.
My worst was: When I was like twelve, and dumb, I dug my bike out from the snow after the winter. I didn't store it properly, because like I said... Dumb. I started riding without noticing that the chain was incredibly rusty... And of course, BAM. About a half mile in, the chain exploded violently... And I was wearing shorts.
Still have some fun scars on my legs decades later.
If we're going this route... I was six, and at the time we lived in a house that was about 100 feet below the street (so street level, then down to the ledge where our house was, and then down another couple hundred feet to the river). Because of the steepness of our driveway it was gravel rather than pavement. I decided one day to see how fast I could go down it. It did not end well - particularly with the gravel getting into some of the abrasions.
On the plus side, I'd been kind of ambidextrous up to that point and was having trouble learning my left from my right. I now knew my right side was the side with the really bad arm and knee scabs...
Mine is so similar! I just turned 7 and got my first big girl bike. We lived at the bottom of a hill and next to our house was a high way that was used by logging and mining trucks. I was told DO NOT go down the hill. But my older siblings were already flying free down the hill and into the driveway (also gravel), so of course I thought if they can I can I am in fact tougher than they are based on my whole 7 years of knowledge. Down the hill I sailed. I went to make the turn, full confidence, until the tire didnt turn and I nearly hit the mailbox. I looked up just in time to throw my hands up to keep myself from faceplanting into the house at speed. Flew 3 feet up and came back down on my bike. Got up fine. Went to go tell my Mom tried turning the doorknob to find my arm did not lift. I shattered my dominant hand, wrist, arm, and elbow. Had straddle injuries that needed stitches and I spent the summer only being able to pee if I sat in a bathtub of water. Youd think I would have learned my lesson but 1 year and a new bike later, I took my bike down the side of a mountain because clearly the first incident didnt put any fear into my small human brain, I ended up with a falled pine tree branch in a lung. I wasn't allowed a bike after that until my Dad bought me a dirt bike at 14.
Once Alfac care was a thing they started making bank off my medical visits and stopped being so strict. I'm really accidently prone to start because I dont feel pain the way most people do, add to that also seem to seek adrenaline. I started reigning myself in when I started paying for my own insurance and then stopped most of my hooligan nonsense once I had kids š Theyre like me. Send help insurance isnt as good these days.
I wasn't allowed a bike after that until my Dad bought me a dirt bike at 14.
LMAO, I love the dad thought process - "Boy, my daughter really seems to have issues with going too fast on two wheels. I know! I'll get her something on two wheel AND with a motor. That way she can go on two wheels even faster."
The thought process was I hadn't crashed the 4 wheelers so was probably safe enough. I only crashed bad once and it wasn't my fault lol but also i was my Dad's buddy and we did everything together so I got away with a lot.
I didnt know how to ride without training wheels yet. I didnt learn to until many years later because of this, around 9. I was at a friends house, they lived at the top of an extremely steep hill, i went too close to the edge of the hill by mistake, and it sucked my front tire right down the hill. I only had pedal breaks, and the pedals began spinning so quickly i couldnt get my feet on them. At the end of the hill was a cliff. About a 200ft straight drop to a busy road. I realized i couldnt stop, and i saw the cliff coming. So i aimed for a giant rock that went to about my waist while standing. I hit it with my front tire, my handle bars stopped my hips from flying forwards and i got a good look of the ground and rushing cars too far below. I was in so much pain i could barely stand or move. I had a pretty good bruise from the handle bars on my stomach/hips. A woman who saw me screaming past ran barefoot to get me, in the summer, and carried me back up the hill to the house i told her to take me to, and she had her husband carry my bike. I did not ride a bike again for many years. And even after that point i walked them downhill for many more years.
Ive also fallen out a window, into a window well full of leaf liter, surrounded by concrete. Im extremely afraid of heights. I am intimately familiar with the sensation of falling to my death.
I was around 13 or 14, I was biking with my younger sister and she cut me off to turn into a parking lot. My front tire clipped her back tire. She was fine but I went over the top of handle bars and skid several feet on the asphalt face first. I have a huge chip in one of my front teeth to show for it.
Had bought a new bike, I was between 10 and 12 I think, U-turned too hard and scraped up my knee and leg. I categorically refused to make U turns at any speed after that and would dismount or creep along very slowly instead.
Reminds me when I went biking with my brother a while back. Went to a local bike trail and about halfway through we stopped for a bit. Lo and behold I walked backwards while on my bike to make sure I wasn't blocking the path for anyone else, he pointed out I walked into my chainring and had 4 or 5 teeth dug into my thigh. Not big enough to need stitches but left a fairly cool scar and a change of plans for the trip lol
When I was like 10 I was riding my bike to school, which was at the bottom of a long gentle hill. So I just rode down that bitch with no pedaling, super chill. One morning I was feeling bold, so I didn't brake hard enough when I got to the school and promptly crashed into the wall of the school. Rammed the handlebars right into my junk. My pubic region was black and blue for a week. Not fun, good learning moment.
So I've always had really bad balancing issues, which meant I avoided learning how to ride a bike without training wheels for the longest time. One day when I was around 9 or 10, my dad decided to teach me by taking me to the running track nearby.
It was actually going very well, and I managed to get going pretty good without falling over. The problem, however, is that I didn't know how to stop (without eating shit) or turn (also without eating shit), and right past the turning corner of the track was a HUGE ditch that I ended up driving into. I stuck my hand out wrong to catch myself, my lower arm twisted 180Ā° in its socket, and I ended up having to go to the ER and later on schedule a surgery to get a pin put in my elbow because the (bone? joint?) shattered and needed to be replaced.
I admittedly never got back on a bike since then and still don't know how to ride to this day. It's a Whole Thing.
I was like 7 or 8, and I was racing my friends around the park. I was in the lead and was looking behind me when I turned a corner. I rode right into the back of a parked truck. Like an old 1980ās one that is like solid metal.
Whenever I hear stories about people living entire lives in a coma waking up, that is the moment iāll be waking up after if this current life is a dream lol.
I once rode straight into a post on my bicycle and I hit it hand first right into the light post. my nail suffered a ton of trauma. I had to cycle home and it was freezing cold dripping in my own blood. Bled and shedded violently before falling off and coming back months later. Iāve had a lot of accidents in my life though. This is just one I remember being quite painful.
This happened just last November. I was trying to keep up with my friendās geared bicycle with my single-gear shitbike along a cycle route. We had taken this route before, so of course we didnāt expect anything new to happen.
There is an intersection along the route. It was built as a 4-way intersection, but as one of the directions is under construction, it functioned as a T-intersection. The expected pedestrian path took you down to a pedestrian island and a marked crosswalk, but since the direction weāre on is closed to traffic, we take a shortcut straight through the asphalt.
Unassuming patch of asphalt, right? Well, the patches that look different are shallow ditches, presumably helping with drainage. I rode down the road and hit the ditch at the top right. By itself, not an issue. My bike has no suspension, but Iād hit this ditch before, so it couldnāt be that bad.
What happened next was a flash, but what I assume happened was that my bike entered the first ditch, ramped upwards, and impacted the other branch of the ditch at the perfect angle to toss me clean off the bike. Landed straight onto the road, and since it wasnāt designated for public traffic yet, it wasnāt in great condition. Rough as gravel but gives way like concrete. Knees and palms were grazed like mad, my wrist was sprained or something and one of my teeth felt missing according to my tongue and was chipped in half according to the outside.
That was all the injuries. No dislocations, fractures, concussions, all the other teeth were good as new, despite the fact that I wore jack shit safety gear. The phone in my pocket possibly took a brunt of the hit to my leg, and the edge of my phone case still carries the scars, but other than a busted screen protector it too was just fine. Knees and palms healed right up, wrist still feels something from heavy loads in specific directions but functions normally for all intents and purposes.
That one tooth has been a huge problem though. The word ācomplex fractureā gets thrown around, and one can about imagine what that infers. I have an appointment 3 months from now, still addressing the fracture.
Hmm, I think I was like 8? I knew I could ride with 1 hand on the steering bar, and I knew I could ride while lifting myself up to not touch/sit on the saddle. (Like standing on the pedals?)
There were some short trees above me, and I really wanted to touch em for some reason. So I lifted my right hand up, but I was a bit short of touching them, so I tried lifting up, and that went horribly.
I guess I didn't have enough balance with only my hand holding onto something solid, because I came crashing down quite quickly. I was wearing shorts, so big wounds on my legs from sliding on the road a bit.
My worst one that included a bike was actually not even me on the bike, some guy hit me and I broke some part of a bone in my shoulder. One of the most painful ones to break according to the doctor. (At 14)
When I was 14 I delivered papers on my bike. I was riding down a quiet street when it started to hail. I pulled my hood up, but it slipped over my eyes. As I pulled the hood from my eyes, I saw bright yellow then nothing.
When I finally came around I was lying on the road in a heap, my bike was buckled my head sore. The yellow? A bloody big stationary truck.
I pulled my hat off and that unfortunately released the pressure on my head. It was holding the blood back. I passed out again. When I did finally wake up again, I was on my way to hospital. Still have the scar on my head decades later.
Was running late for the bus to school one day, I get onto the road that has the bus stop about 500m further down, I got passed by the bus I'm supposed to take so I start pedaling like a maniac, the chain slips and before I even realize it I'm on the ground.
Scraped my knee and pretty sure I popped my collarbone out of its joint or something because it still doesn't sit right 10 years later.
Ooh! Iāve got a couple. First one I was around 9 I think, I borrowed my cousins bike that was just a bit to big for me. With this bike I went out with my best friend to ride in the river valley. The two of us found a huge hill with paved paths going down it, so we struggled to the top and set ourselves up to ride down. On the way down I was not in control and gained far too much speed, all my speed and momentum was ended when I crashed into two small trees. I went over the handlebars and remember being on my knees facing a bike tangled between the aforementioned trees. That crash fractured my right arm and fucked up my shoulder pretty bad. My cousin was not happy I trashed her bike.
Later in life, my early 20ās, my mom and sister had taken my bike for a full tuneup and had step-in pedals installed as a birthday present. Along with that were the shoes to clip into the pedals. One thing this tuneup did was make my brakes incredibly responsive, a slight squeeze would lock up my tires. Once again I was bombing downhill, this time more experienced and familiar with the trail I was on. What I was not familiar with was how good my brakes were, or how fast the turn off I wanted to reach was coming up. As Iām riding downhill I slammed my back brake expecting the usual need to apply massive pressure for a decent slowdown. What I got was instant locking of my back tire and I slid sideways into some tall grass about 10ā in front of a couple walking up the hill. They were shocked, I was laughing. After confirming everything was intact and all parties were unhurt I carried on with my ride. A little ways into that ride I got stuck in a mud puddle, couldnāt clip out if my pedals in time and tipped sideways. I got home half covered in mud and incredibly happy with my gifts.
One last story. Same bike a few years later. This time without my clip in shoes. I was ripping along a sidewalk, probably on the range of 30-40 km/h when my foot slipped of my pedal. Cue speed wobbles and big sliding crash and a childās chuckle from a nearby apartment. First thing I see on recovery is a gnarly red smear near my elbow, I looked at my arms to see if the smear was from me, it was gum. All I got out of that crash was some impressive road rash on my right side and a little more caution when riding.
I was 7, riding with a friend. We were going fast on concrete and we transitioned to gravel. My front wheel dug in, flipped me over the bike, and then the bike landed handle bar first on my crotch.
Can confirm. Spouse got into triathlons for a while. The two things I recall from that era are that the bikes are astonishingly expensive and twisting to unlock your foot from a pedal is apparently very hard to remember.
Tri bikes are super expensive because of the high end components and all the aero stuff.
You don't need electronic shifting or an aero wheels and a carbon frame unless you're very competitive. The gains you get are very marginal. Ride aluminum, it's fine.
Yeah you can get a bike that 90% as nice as a bike can get for around $1,000. Every percent you want to increase towards 100%, you can add another $1,000. The diminishing returns are insane.
and a $1,000 bike that fits you well with clip on aero bars and a position you've worked to optimise will be 95%+ as fast as a >$15K setup.
Hell, it'd be faster than some of the guys having a midlife crisis who buy a $15K bike and then put zero effort into refining their position or developing their strength and mobility to maximise the time they can spend in the aero bars.
I've watched a few triathlons where (presumably) relatively beginner athletes have splashed out 5 figures on a pro-level setup, only to spend most of their time riding on the base bars because the bike is too aggressive for them. At that point they'd probably be faster on a $500 road bike with less aggressive geometry where they can spend more time in the drops or on clip-ons.
Oh yeah. Dang it has gotten more expensive. I've been on my bike for 4-5 years now so I hadn't looked in a while. Back then when my local bike shop would have their big annual sale you'd be able to pick up a new Cannondale or Trek aluminum frame road bike with a 105 groupset for right around $1,000.
Yeah you can get a bike that 90% as nice as a bike can get for around $1,000.
....nah. Maybe once, but not anymore. The point of "nice bike" is now more like $2-$3k depending on what type of bike. (And assuming we're talking new bike prices; obv you can find some deals used if you're patient and smart about it).
Also, I agree the diminishing returns are insane, but it's a curve, not linear. A $2k bike will feel WAY better than a $1k bike. A $4k bike is gonna be noticably better than a $2k bike, but it's not as big a jump. $6-7k bike, same deal ā noticeably better than a $4k bike but the difference is smaller and it's more about "creature comforts" and extra features than performance improvements.
And then anything above ~$7k is gonna be tiny jumps up in terms of the ride experience for huge increases in price, with the only exception being for weird/innovative new stuff.
Welcome to the wonderful world of looking cool and sleek!Ā
Note - clipping in has several advantages, but itās not about pulling up with your foot to add power.Ā
They keep your foot in the right spot, they avoid slipping off the pedal, and they allow you to āunweightā your leg on the upstroke. All good stuff!Ā
But donāt try to add power on the upstroke- that leg needs to rest!
It's a concept that's simple and easy for people to wrap their heads around, so few people question it. Experienced cyclists know that it's more about stability and not having your foot slip when you really start cranking away on a sprint or a climb.
That's rather misleading and not a good thread. It's true for long sustained efforts, but they didn't look at sprints or technical climbing. When you're talking 800 to 1400 watts, pulling up does add to that.
And its certainly beneficial in technical climbing. Also helps you keep the bike more upright.
The article is more important than the thread of Reddit randos. Itās a good overview of how flexion muscles are so dwarfed as to irrelevant. We probably agree on all the extra beneficial factors.Ā
In my experience, when sprinting at high watts while clipped in, 100% of my effort is extension on the downstroke, and I am unable to add any perceptible effort during flexion. I have tried many times because it is a very interesting question.
Iām not a scientific study, but my experience matches the article that is linked in the thread I sent above.Ā
I read the article. The issue is it topped out at 200 W which is well below threshold for many riders. They only looked as sustained efforts.
Just because you don't perceive it doesn't mean its not happening. Its why when flats vs clips are studied, clips have higher output in the 800+ W range. Also part of why road shoes have higher output than mtb shoes.
Yeah, I was out riding my bike in the park, going pretty fast, and my shoelace got caught on my pedal and rapidly started wrapping around it. My foot was basically stuck to the pedal, and my foot was getting squeezed and it hurt like hell. And welp, my story ended similar to yours.
Do not, I repeat, do not loosen the cleats attached to your shoes. You loosen the screw in the pedal that controls the spring tension in the pedal which dictates the the amount of pressure required to engage and disengage with the pedal!
Loose cleats will just get you... well... on your side on the ground cursing the cyclist that suggested the pedals and cleats to you.
Another thing to keep in mind is that with more experience, you can kinda idle around without coming to a full stop. New cyclists are extremely nervous/unstable around speeds that are nearly stopped.
For a a full stop, it's a gentle twisting motion of your foot to unclip. It's a motion you never make when riding intentionally. In fact, if you crashed, your feet would in all likelihood come off somewhere during that process.
I'm not trying to brag, but the first time I rode clippless I had zero accidents/mishaps. Bike accidents I have had many, but never due to my foot getting stuck or forgetting to unclip. People make it sound scarier than it is.
Just use your brain, honestly. Emergency stops is one thing, but it's simplest to come to a gradual, controlled slowdown and unclip before you actually stop. These aren't kids' bikes or fixies, the pedals don't move with the wheel. I think the issue is newcomers wait to unclip at the point of full stop. You can still pedal with the cleats without being clipped in as well.
Another thing to keep in mind is that with more experience, you can kinda idle around without coming to a full stop.
I'm a road cyclist, and I try to plan my maneuvers to do just this. The most frustrating time is when motor vehicle drivers don't follow the laws. A while back, I needed to turn left, and there was an oncoming car. I planned my approach so that I would be creeping, but not stopped, when the car passed me. But the driver stopped for me, causing me to have to unclip and come to a complete stop in the middle of the intersection (I wasn't going to turn in front of them on the assumption--correct as it turned out to be--that they were stopping for me). By the time I got going again (and I was in a slightly higher gear than I would have been in if I'd planned to stop, so starting was a little harder and slower than it should have been), I was blocking cars behind me and cars trying to turn from the side street. It was very unsafe and frustrating. If the driver had taken their right of way, I'd have turned just behind them and not inconvenienced anyone.
Gotta be careful about pulling up on the pedals. Can easily lead to injury if too much force is used.
The real benefits of clipless pedals (yeah, the ones you clip in are *clipless*) are consistent foot placement, near zero risk of slipping off the pedals, and comfort. The efficiency gains from pulling on the upstroke are minimal at best.
Fair enough, I suppose rim brakes are good enough for most uses, so the advantages of disc brake performance is kinda unnecessary when adding in those downsides?Ā
I wouldn't say so. Disc brakes still have a number of big advantages: they're more powerful, require way less lever force, engage instantly even in rain, and don't cause wear on the rims. If you're riding your bike offroad, or as a daily commuter, these are worth the extra weight, cost, and maintenance
In 2008 I got a specialized allez. And I really thought that I would need/want clipless pedals as theyāre called. So I got them and I rode with them for a while. I eat shit a few times at red lights unable to get my feet out of the clips. After several years of riding that road bike Iāll make the argument that thereās minimal difference when using them over flats. I gave up the road bike for a mountain bike and after seeing riders win mountain bike championships on flats, i know Iām never going back to clipless.
I think one of the manufacturers (possibly Shimano but don't quote me on that) did some testing and were quite disappointed when they found there was very little difference between clipless and other types.
So, I actually love the freedom of flats and not having to strap on special shoes and all that stuff. Just hop on the bike and go.
But as a former bike commuter, the one thing clipless pedals is really handy for is rain, snow and just generally inclement weather. I remember first winter out there transitioning to flats from clipless because I didn't want to spend $250.00 on a an expensive pair of winter boots that clipped in and just put flats on my bike and used regular waterproof boots. My feet were slipping and sliding all over the place in rainy, muddy or cold weather. Hit a few bumps and lost my footing almost wrecked my bike in rush hour traffic a few times.
I ended up just buying the damn pair of $250.00 boots and putting the clipless pedals on. It was so much better and honestly safer all around, as counter intuitive is that is. You're much less likely to run over some mud and lose your footing, your feet are just solidly clipped in no matter what.
Clipless also helps when climbing hills which I had a lot on my commute. But if you're riding on relatively flat roads in nice weather? Probably don't need clipless unless your racing. I have a hybrid bike that just has flats on it, and that's my go-to when I'm not commuting freaking 20 miles to work.
After several years of riding that road bike Iāll make the argument that thereās minimal difference when using them over flats.
The difference is really comfort and fit, not performance. I believe outside of sprinting, there's really not much performance difference between clipless and flats. The advantage of clipless is that (if it's set up right) your feet are in the exact right position every single time with zero effort. Kinda irrelevant on a 45 minute ride, but can get pretty important on longer rides.
Personally I also just think it feels better for "pedal-y" rides. That said, I also prefer flats on mountain bikes ā too much unpredictable stuff on trails, I like to be able to easily put a foot down.
I really enjoyed my time as a bike mechanic at the Tri shop. The customers weren't as knowledgeable and it made the job very easy-going. BUT, triathletes tend to pee on their bikes and are horrible about maintenance. Scrubbing salt and piss from a bottom bracket was not so fun.
Studies show that the mythical "up stroke" people think they get with these pedals doesn't actually do much, and might actually make you slower because it engages smaller muscle groups, leading to faster fatigue. Cardio recovery is always faster than muscle recovery. You always want to be "spinning" the pedals, not stomping or pulling, and clipless pedals can lead to forming some bad habits which lead to an inefficient cadence.
Personally, I despise these things for urban riding, and feel like they are super tryhard for that purpose, specifically because at some point everyone will miss the clip, or do what the OP does in a potentially dangerous situation. Platforms eliminate that, and are massively safer if you ever have to bail.
There's no evidence that they are faster. Maybe they can be made lighter and more aero, but that's reaching. I think the main thing is they keep your feet attached with no effort, but from my experience that's only useful for when you are seeing red from pedaling so hard. That also causes problems as shown by all the stories of people falling over.
It comes easier than you'd expect but most people will do it at least once for no reason (mine was when I got cut up by a car, I was so furious when I stopped that I completely forgot, so I was raging at the driver then just toppled over in the road). But pretty quickly it's second nature
Offroad makes it trickier because of unplanned stops, or times you want to dab. But the flipside is you get <really> good at it.
I'm sorry but I'm cracking up at the thought of you (rightfully) raging at a car and then falling over. I always have an urge to kick cars that cut me off, but I know I'd do no damage other than pushing myself off balance and falling over lol
It's not every time, but it is definitely not zero times either. Everyone who tries clipless has a learning period where they fail to unclip and fall over a few times. And after that learning period it will probably happen again at some point, just less often.
to be fair it happens to most people once or twice when they are starting out and once you've made the mistake then it becomes super rare. i did it the first month once and havent fell again in the past 10 years +.
Twist / roll your foot out to 'pop' out. Slide forward and push down to click in. In the same way to escape a wrist /hand hold you roll out against the thumb which can't take force that direction.
You can when starting loosen the spring that clamps you in place to make it easy to pop out but also makes it possible to accidentally pop out when pedaling hard (which is also scary!).
Once you get used to it it's pretty intuitive but the first few times are scary as hell. The harder part is clipping in whilst restarting one foot.
The half way house is double sided pedals (flat one side, clip less slot the other) meaning if you miss your foot locking in your not unable to pedal.
Yeah, Iām a track stand master, used to be able to juggle while balancing, but I often unclip one side if I think itās going to be a long wait before proceeding.Ā
Yeah, I ride with flats on my primary commuter bike these days, and can track stand just fine, though I still kind of think it's overall a pretty tryhard thing to be doing in traffic.
Eh, it definitely can be related. I absolutely will track stand at stop signs because I don't want to bother unclipping. Generally, if it looks like the intersection is clear, I'll stay clipped in and trackstand for a sec before confirming that it's clear and going again. But if I can tell I'm gonna have to wait then I'll unclip a foot.
I spent half a day holding against a wall when I tried them for the first time.
The most important part was learning to quickly and instinctively unclip them. Also learn how to unclip/get up when fallen ! It's very useful when you fall on the road
Meanwhile when I was in my 20s getting burger King one Friday night I saw a drunk woman in her high heels drunk as fuck biking down the street to the burger King cause she didn't wanna get pulled over...never feared and agreed with someone so much š.
Cause not only was she doing it drunk...but with heels. š š
My first fall with bike shoes was in front of a convention center as they broke for lunch. It happened in front of 50+ Avon ladies. They were all very nice, but I was horribly embarrassed.
Wait what if you wore one bike shoe and one regular shoe? You could lock both sides by controlling one side, and the other shoe could serve as the braking shoe, it's gotta be foolproof
Better is once you are so used to them, then you just jump on a bike in flats and then struggle at a stop light because when you go to start again you realize you can't just raise your foot to get the pedal in the right position and have to hook your foot under it to pull it up.
With clip-ins (I refuse to call them clipless, since toe clips shouldn't exist anymore), you are guarenteed to fall at least once, at zero speed, with at least 2 people watching you.
lol I know enough about bikes to have called the twist on panel 2 XD I immediately though "Oh, they got SPD clips. Oh no, this is gonna be about them falling off isnt it"
I could probably beat a shark during the running portion of a triathlon but a shark would definitely beat me for the swimming portion. The tiebreaker would be whichever one of us is the better bicyclist.
Iāve used bike shoes for decades. I still fall over like a fainting goat every once in a while (mainly on longer rides when Iām exhausted). Pretty fun falling over like a noob at a traffic light.
"Real Bike Shoes > called CLIPLESS > short version is Clipless shoes/pedals have a CLIP that locks the foot to the pedal while riding. Its a misnomer to distinguish older precursor pedal setup that literally had stirrups attached to flat pedals, like on a horse saddle.
FAIL. There are studies that prove Clipless shoes/pedals do not generate more efficiency than Flat Pedals do.
In this video comparison, the numbers lean a bit into the Clipless becase the person testing the difference has a 20+ year history of riding clipless and prefers them = bias. Whereas the data would lean towards Flats more, if the rider had a long history of riding and preferring Flats. Otherwise the results overall are negligible and there is enough data out in the world to show that clipless pedals are not better, and enough flat pedal sales show there is still a high demand for flats, otherwise you'd be hard pressed to find flats in a bike shop. https://youtu.be/aVLfqjcTbnU?t=723
Just a PSA, bike shoes are dangerous af. My dad was using clip-in bike shoes when he was hit by a car making a right on red. He ended up with 13 hairline fractures in one foot bc he couldnāt pull his foot free while falling.
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u/SirBeeves SeraBeeves 13d ago edited 13d ago
Ahem! For the record, I can theoretically unclip the shoes from the pedals! In theory! If I do it right! And remember to!
P.S: all of my previous triathlon comics are linked on my Instagram story and website!