Did you fall off the first time you tried clipless pedals?

had them for a week all good, then 9.00am middle of the week, Crouch End - 30+ people waiting for a bus, roll up - yeah check me on my bike, bus suckers...go to put foot down clipped in, fall sideways in the road..get up take a bow, think I made busengers day - 30+ all smiling and laughing

Learnt the hard way, but not fallen off since

had them for a week all good, then 9.00am middle of the week, Crouch End - 30+ people waiting for a bus, roll up - yeah check me on my bike, bus suckers...go to put foot down clipped in, fall sideways in the road..get up take a bow, think I made busengers day - 30+ all smiling and laughing

Learnt the hard way, but not fallen off since

that's where you went wrong!

oh and the correct term is bus wankers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auhZ23yGcno

I was really happy about not falling off when i first got them, then fell off trying to turn around in greenwich park :( better than on a road i guess...

As a courier in the early 90s, Cornhill, Kona Cindercone, toppled slowly over to the left. Suits asking if I'm ok, of course, but wanting to cry from the shame. I don't remember couriers being cool back then. Hanging around the hole, living of Benjis, I digress.

Practised in the house on a statinary bike and still managed to fall off, then a couple of times at the lights. Pretty embarassing but well worth it, clipless is so good!

Didn't fall off the first time, around a playground, waited until the second time in the middle of uxbridge road in shepherds bush in rush hour which was fun.....

I only ever do it at like 1mph, almost stationary, and keel over.....like Ron Mael from Sparks used to do a slow deliberate fall off his piano stool

Fell off when I lost balance trackstanding. Only happened once, never again.

Managed the first few rides without a problem when I first went clipless. Ego boosted, my 6 year old daughter and I cycle up to the local park. Stopped at the very busy playground, and in front of everyone, the slow sideways topple. Cue much laughter and my daughter doing a very good job of pretending she doesn't know who I am.

Yep fell off first time as couldn't unclip as the pedals were so tight. Took a couple of times to realise there was a screw adjustment to loosen it so I could clip out more easily!

My first time I tried it in the park. Had it on the lowest setting so found it easy to clip in and out.

I normally unclip left foot first, then lean to the left side - this is the same way I've been riding for 2 years with straps.

Thursday was feeling quite confident after a week with the spds, so I decided to unclip right foot first rather than left foot as I usually do. Unclipped fine, then muscle memory kicked in and my body decided to lean to the left and I fell over...

Tried it again on the way home and exactly the same thing happened - stupid muscle memory...

Yes yes yes, and then it becomes second nature.

I remember my first fall; I was behind a landrover, it stopped on a hill whilst pulling up to a junction, I (about to fall over) grabbed onto it's spare wheel on the back door of the car to keep myself from going down and then it pulled away. Needless to say I ended up binning it.

clipess/spd = normal and get on fine with it, always have. I actually had to TRY to deliberatly fall over, hurt bad.

straps = lethal, dodgy, useless, not comfortable and fell off plenty. though this is mostly down to pedal/ strap/ shoe combination. Big velco/ double strap setup might be the way forward.

NO, never. Even when I get hit by a car from behind, managed to put my left foot on the ground quick enough.

I also have only fallen using straps, and only while drunk, trying to slowly weave through a park entrance gate in the dark.

trying out someone's clipless pedals, pulled a massive skid (first time!) and then went down (in front of a pub full of people) when I realized I'd stopped but didn't know how to get out of the pedals. good times!

As a courier in the early 90s, Cornhill, Kona Cindercone, toppled slowly over to the left. Suits asking if I'm ok, of course, but wanting to cry from the shame. I don't remember couriers being cool back then. Hanging around the hole, living of Benjis, I digress.

I remember when couriers changed to clipless pedals in the nineties,everybody fell off!And yeah,I remember the hole too.How things have changed,couriers are living out of bins these days.

Hey everyone I am fairly new to road riding mostly been riding on cycle paths and recreational but recently bought a single speed road bike to commute and I have been out on it a few times. It came with platform pedals and I have at some dodgy moments when my foot has come off the pedal.
I recently bought some time atac roc pedals and they make powering up the hill a breeze but I've had some major falls forgetting to clip out!
Would you say I should get used to the platform pedals and to control the bike first (Im nervous doing hill starts and approaching junctions and busy traffic at the mo
moment) and then switch to the clipless pedals or jus stick to the clipless pedals?
I've only rode clipless around less busy streets Im too nervous at the moment to ride clipless on the road incase I crash into a car or fall off at traffic lights.
Sorry for the lame post. But in quite a dilemma.

No, stick with clipless.

agreed.

just unclip at least one foot in advance when in situations where you might have to put a foot down unexpectedly - any low speed situation in fact.

+1 when your still green to it, think just like you would with straps you have to prepare and take your foot out.

with clipless you will very quickly (a few days? certainly less than a week, unless your old) learn and become second nature, often not thinking about it even when crashing!

clipless will help you ride smoother as well with less pedal bounce and dodgy foot angles/positions (if set up right, if set up wrong you could bugger your knees/ joints up in no time).

Yes but it wasn't my fault, I blame the moon face who parked his car directly blocking our gate meaning I had to creep between two parked cars and do a sharp, slow speed right turn onto the pavement.

I then did a sharp turn into our gate and had already unclipped my left foot, I intended to rest it back on the pedal until I was through the gate, but I must have pressed too hard and clipped it back in because as I came to a halt I went to put it down and fell over instead.

yeah done that before. Its generally low speed stuff that you'll come a cropper on, especially if you ride multiple bikes, some with, some without ;)

Give it time and you'll dread having to return to a bike without them.

first time had a practice over the fields near me....toppled into some nettles.

I fell off twice when setting off......I didn't realise you had to lean as much!

Would you say I should get used to the platform pedals and to control the bike first (Im nervous doing hill starts and approaching junctions and busy traffic at the mo
moment) and then switch to the clipless pedals or jus stick to the clipless pedals?

No, stick with clipless.

Yes, you'll get the hang of them soon. Everybody falls off when they first try clipless. :)