Scary Clipless Braking

Had a bit of a scary insident last night. I was going at full pelt along the King's Rd when the lights turned to red ahead of me. I thought about carrying on, but decided to pull a long skid instead. However, my right foot unclipped and I hurtled toward the junction grappling with the bike. I was almost certain I was going to come off, but I managed to keep upright, skating along on my feet whilst holding the handlebars cursing all the way- like a water skier with tourettes. I know have a massive gash on my leg where the pedal hit it.

Stupidest thing is that I have a front brake, but not having touched it for a couple of months, actually using it was the last thing I thought of doing...

let's hope no-one saw you then

Plenty of people saw me. I caught one pedestrian smirking.

....you thought about stopping at a red light?! crazyman.

you'll be getting new cleats then??

kipsy ....you thought about stopping at a red light?! crazyman.

I know. Last time I try that.

I went through a phaze of sort of twisting to the side when braking for some reason, had a few accidental unclippings until I decided it was probably best to change to clips and straps

i wonder if i was caught on camera doing pretty much this going down the ramp to an underground carpark yesterday? added funny cos i was carrying a fresh coffee in one hand at the time. desperately windmilling, yelping and spraying creamy froth all around. smooth.

desperately windmilling, yelping and spraying creamy froth all around. smooth.

This is a family website dammit.

:)

This is a family website dammit.

:)

hahaha.

i found that a little side shimmy actually help, straight up and down skidding pops your cleats.

I did a stupid thing on Thurs - cycling back from Paddington to Holborn with my work satchel on my back, messenger style and it swung round to the front, completely putting me off balance just as I was crossing Edgware rd. Poor bucking bronco impression followed and alarmingly the weight of the satchel on my arms was veering me INTO traffic not towards curb. Much cursing, clog skidding and raising of eyebrows from peds ensued. What a cunt.

Yeah that happened to me with SPDs regularly, it's why I switched to clips and straps.

However on thursday evening, going down the slope on the south side of blackfriars bridge, my foot slipped out of my toeclips doing exactly the same as bracestower, brakeless. WTF? Luckily It wasn't the next set of lights, which is a scary junction, but the pedestrian lights. It properly shook me up!

I noticed my straps are pretty fucked... probably time to upgrade to (home-made) doubles I think.

Yeah that happened to me with SPDs regularly, it's why I switched to clips and straps.

However on thursday evening, going down the slope on the south side of blackfriars bridge, my foot slipped out of my toeclips doing exactly the same as bracestower, brakeless. WTF? Luckily It wasn't the next set of lights, which is a scary junction, but the pedestrian lights. It properly shook me up!

I noticed my straps are pretty fucked... probably time to upgrade to (home-made) doubles I think.

You sound like a danger to humanity!

You sound like a danger to humanity!

No, just to myself :(.

It scared me shitless though, still getting the 'fear' now just thinking about it. It's only ever happened then, i'm guessing my foot may have been in a weird position when i pulled the skid, or i hit a really sticky bit of road or somethign just as I skidded... erhg i hate even thinking about it!

ive done that once or twice, get it into your head to jam your foot into the back wheel if you have to.

I've found (on other bikes never run clips on my fixed wheel) that my pedal choice and shoe make a bike diffrence to feet slipping out. I am sure you know this but work tring out some diffrent pedals, maybe a bit more agressive. Not trying ot preach as like I said never run clips and straps on a fixed wheel only on my mbt years ago but agressive pedals can be good.

Or buy a god damn brake! Haha. I'm a fool.

I need to practice my 1 legged skids, my left leg is foolishly weak. I think i'm relying mostly on my pull-up leg in skids which potentially what caused the trouble.

I've found (on other bikes never run clips on my fixed wheel) that my pedal choice and shoe make a bike diffrence to feet slipping out. I am sure you know this but work tring out some diffrent pedals, maybe a bit more agressive. Not trying ot preach as like I said never run clips and straps on a fixed wheel only on my mbt years ago but agressive pedals can be good.

You mean buy the pedals that are all like "oi you, twat - think you can afford me?! Yeah? Go on, I fucking dare you to stand on me! Just try it!!"

Yep real agressive like that! ;)

Cool I've seen them in condor

this is quite common, but I still prefer to stick with SPDs. The cause is worn cleats. Another problem is that the allen key bolts tend to round really easily, making it difficult to remove the old cleats.

once I was railing from the Strand onto Waterloo Bridge which can be a really fast fun corner. It was rush hour so hordes of pedestrians were crossing. As I started to stop, my foot came out, and I began actually accelerating toward them. I stopped with about 6 inches to spare doing the "waterskiing with one foot" thing you refer to. If I'd not been able to stop, it would've looked something like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATahHZ-r26I&feature=related

Water skiing with one foot? One footed skid?