# Clipless Pedals In A Crash



## scottdills (Jul 29, 2009)

So I have a quick question regarding clipless pedals. I'm planning to go clipless soon just because it rains a lot here and I'm tired of my feet sliding around on stock pedals. I mentioned something about this to my girlfriend's brother who thinks he is a biking god because he's been a bike tech at Dick's Sporting Goods for a month. He said it was a terrible idea and that if I crashed my feet would stay in the pedals and I would end up breaking a leg or ankle and having the bike come crashing down on me. I thought that if the tension was correct in the pedal release that you would come out if there was enough force ( ie a crash ). What's the story? Thanks, guys.


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## LyNx (Oct 26, 2004)

Tell genius that there's a reason he's working at Dicks and not a real store  


Seriously, it will take a while and for most a few falls, but eventually it becomes a motor reflex and you don't even think about unclipping when you need to "get out" of them. Best advice is when you get them, get ones that you can adjust the tension and loosen it all the way out, then sit in a hall way and just practice clipping in and out - this helps you learn the motion and also starts to wear down the cleats a bit so the action is smoother. When you feel comfortable go ride in a nice big grass field and practice.

Just know that there'll be a load of times when you go to stop and just take your foot off the pedal, but can't sincde you need to rotate out of them and will likely fall, if you can remember and prepare before a stop, you'll be much better off.


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## brake jack (Dec 28, 2006)

tension is only an issue at the beginning. when you have enough experience, you develop a muscle memory. i ride with the tension roughly two thirds up, and i never remained clipped in after a crash.
just remember getting shoes with enough grip for the mud.
i once decided to walk a particularly rocky and muddy section, fearing to crush. obviously, i slipped and fell. in hind sight, my tires would have dealt better with the mud.


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## gumbymark (May 25, 2007)

It's time to sit your sister down and tell her how much of a moron her boyfriend is. Seriously .

The one type of person that is almost universally disliked is the person who passes themselves off as the font of all knowledge and yet in one sentence prove how little they don't know. 

If you want to bring him unstuck ask him how the bike comes crashing down on top of you when it it the rider that is on top of the bike. Crashes where the bikes come down on top of you are extremely rare.


And yes (in 98%) of crashes the rider will separate from the bike before they even stop moving.


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## Squash (Jul 20, 2003)

*I've been riding....*

clipless pedals since 1999. I've never had a crash that was serious that my feet didn't come out of the pedals. Whether I did it myslef or through the force of movement. There is always the possibility that you could stay attached to the bike. But it is usually quite rare. I've only seen one accident where the pedals actually caused a broken ankle. That was a winter ride and a buddy went down fast and hard on a patch of ice. His left pedal didn't release and the force broke his left ankle.

Anyway, I've had endos, slide outs, you name it. The only time I've stayed hooked to the bike is when I was first starting out and would occasionally stop and forget to clip out.  About the only thing you get out one like that is a bruised hand or shoulder and a bruised ego. That and your riding buddies get a pretty good laugh out of it.

As LyNx suggested, go with an adjustable tension type pedal like a shimano SPD to start with. Keep the tension low until you are totally comfortable with them and you should be fine. Once you are so used to them that you feel uncomfortable when you are clipped out, then you can try other pedals if you like. I've been riding mine long enough that I feel out of control and totally uncomfortable when I'm not clipped in, even on fast DH runs or in technical situations. I don't even like riding really good flats anymore. :thumbsup:

The GF's brothers argument isn't totaly without merit. But the chances that you ever sustain an injury due to clipless pedals is very low.

Good Dirt


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## Walt Dizzy (Aug 18, 2003)

scottdills said:


> So I have a quick question regarding clipless pedals. I'm planning to go clipless soon just because it rains a lot here and I'm tired of my feet sliding around on stock pedals. I mentioned something about this to my girlfriend's brother who thinks he is a biking god because he's been a bike tech at Dick's Sporting Goods for a month. He said it was a terrible idea and that if I crashed my feet would stay in the pedals and I would end up breaking a leg or ankle and having the bike come crashing down on me. I thought that if the tension was correct in the pedal release that you would come out if there was enough force ( ie a crash ). What's the story? Thanks, guys.


This is an area where I can claim some expertise: crashing in clipless pedals. I'm going against the common wisdom and saying your source actually has a point. Crashing with clipless pedals makes it more likely that you will get tangled up with the bike. However:

1. After a learning period, you will develop the reflex to unclip when things get out of control.
2. In the event that you fail to unclip, the cleat will tend to come loose as you fall.

For folks who ride the truly gnarly stuff, the ability to kick the bike away as the ground approaches is a good reason to stay with flat pedals. For those of us who keep the wheels on the ground, clipless pedals offer a superior way to keep feet and bike connected.

Walt


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## Dremer03 (Jun 19, 2009)

The natural force of falling will tend to unclip you, even it your going over your handle bars you will more than likely not take your bike with you. I am not saying you will always unclip, I have fallen more than a few times and had both feet stay clipped to the bike.


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## Nubster (May 15, 2009)

I find that in my panic while going down I am able to pull my feet free majority of the time BEFORE impact. Those few times I couldn't the impact itself caused my feet to unclip. Only a few times did I stay clipped and those were really low speed "flops" and there was no harm done. If it was such a bad idea so many people wouldn't go clipless on a mountain bike.


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## nachomc (Apr 26, 2006)

I've crashed a few times with clipless. _Most_ of the time, you get out of them before you go down. There are times, however, when you don't, and yeah, you can get hurt. I'm not trying to scare you here, because I still ride clipless pedals on all of my bikes, but I crashed once and didn't get out of my pedals. The circumstances were just right - the bike washed out and I went down on the right side, going sort of quick. The bike trapped my leg as I hit the ground and rolled, and, broke my tibia and fibula . My point is, it's not that likely, it can happen, but it's no reason to not ride cilpless.


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## Hopping_Rocks (Aug 23, 2008)

Don't worry about it. Crashes happen with or without clipless pedals. Over 90% of the time I get unclipped before falling down. Sometimes you'll only get unclipped with 1 foot, so you'll be lying there with your bike on top of you, your friends laughing at you as you struggle to unclip your other foot.


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## oldassracer (Mar 26, 2009)

ask that mechanic how he likes Dicks and if it is a Hard Job

seriously - don't listen to a word that comes out of that guys mouth

you'll do fine with some practice - just set the pedals low tension and ride around a grassy area clipping in and out until it is second nature


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## mumbles (Jul 22, 2006)

Rains a lot? Does that mean you have lots o mud? Another option to look at it is five ten shoes. They really do stick like glue.


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## mward (Apr 7, 2004)

As most have said, unclipping becomes muscle memory and you can easily clip out when you have to. I even ride slow technical rock gardens and can clip out, dab, and clip back in pretty much while executing a 1 second track stand to negotiate an obstacle, and I'm by no means good at that stuff. 

What I think we oughta do is find out which Dicks this guy works at, all of us call him up, and ask him if he sells Battletoads.


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## traffic002 (Dec 16, 2008)

My spring tension is backed out on my SPDs. If I sneeze hard I'll clip out.

I've since tightened them up a bit. But my cleats on my shoes are worn and spring tension still loose enough (minor accidental clip outs) that my feet come off during hard pedal strikes and also when I'm leaned hard in a corner and I encounter a bump.

So when I do crash (I've had some good ones lately,) my feet never stay with the pedals.


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## jonw9 (Jun 29, 2009)

oldassracer said:


> ask that mechanic how he likes Dicks and if it is a Hard Job
> 
> seriously - don't listen to a word that comes out of that guys mouth
> 
> you'll do fine with some practice - just set the pedals low tension and ride around a grassy area clipping in and out until it is second nature


Ask the guy if Dick's sells skis with-out bindings? That way if somebody were to fall while skiing, the skis wouldn't land on them as well.

Sounds absurd, but it is the same line of logic he is using.


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## OMJustice (Jan 26, 2009)

I have been riding clipless on my road bikes since '85, and for the road, it's the only way to go. But for rough, rocky, muddy, or heavily rooted trails, there is no way I can use clipless. I have tried, and I have busted my ass too many times. 

No matter how quick you can un-clip, it just can't compare to flats. I'd rather lose a bit of pedaling efficiency, than constantly have to unclip everytime I have to stick a foot out in a hairy situation. I have some Shimano M545s, but I can only use them on smooth trails or the street.


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## eatdrinkride (Jun 15, 2005)

> For folks who ride the truly gnarly stuff, the ability to kick the bike away as the ground approaches is a good reason to stay with flat pedals. For those of us who keep the wheels on the ground, clipless pedals offer a superior way to keep feet and bike connected.


On the flip side....

I ride a lot of very technical terrain. Slow, chunky, ledgy at times. I like to drop stuff up to a few feet, maybe 5ft to a good tranny......I only ride clipless. Flats scare me 

If you're talking about 30ft gap jumps or ladders, then yeah, you need to be able to kick the bike away.


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## tduro (Jan 2, 2007)

Clipless pedals can be extremely dangerous if they're not set up properly, or if they're used in the wrong place, at the wrong time, by the wrong rider. 

On the other hand, they can provide excellent foot/pedal contact, which can translate to better control for those who haven't developed that yet. They can also make you feel more efficient. However, I've measured distance/time/heart-rate on hundreds of rides and haven't seen a noticeable difference betwen clipless and cages/straps. 

At the end of the day, it all boils down to a personal preference. Whatever you get used to will work just fine, and will become your favorite. 

I'm currently riding clipless, and will probably continue. But if you're tight on money, save it for something more important.


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## CAPBOY (Sep 8, 2008)

jonw9 said:


> Ask the guy if Dick's sells skis with-out bindings? That way if somebody were to fall while skiing, the skis wouldn't land on them as well.
> 
> Sounds absurd, but it is the same line of logic he is using.


Who buys skis at dicks. Damn herbs,


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## Firecrackerktm (Jul 16, 2009)

I tried my clipless pedals today for the first time and I did not die. I even managed to get out quickly when I started to lose my balance.

I'm sure I will crash soon/often, but probably not from the pedals.


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## f3rg (Aug 29, 2007)

Last Monday, I went around a super tight corner at about 15mph, hit some thick sand that had never been there before (washed up during heavy rains from the creek next to it), and my bike stopped like I'd hit a brick wall. I went over the bars and my cleats disengaged without me even thinking about it. Well, then I went through the creek, getting my tires wet--tires that do a horrible job on wet surfaces, unfortunately--and then hit a climb about 200ft later. Tires were still wet when I rolled over some wet, slimy rocks. I was once again over the bars, landed on my feet, picked the bike up, and kept on riding. Again, my cleats popped out (I ride Shimanos) with zero thought put into it.

Unless you have your pedals set on their tightest setting, the chances of not coming out is extremely low. In 10+ years of riding clipless pedals (SPDs and Bebops), I've never once wrecked without disengaging.


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## jonw9 (Jun 29, 2009)

CAPBOY said:


> Who buys skis at dicks. Damn herbs,


The same people that buy bikes there..


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## barrettgremlin (Mar 13, 2009)

i crashed yesterday. my bike was over there and i was 2 feet away. somehow my feets unclipped without any work from me, just like always. 

it's too bad the big chainring met my ankle twice in the process. now that is the real danger!


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## bacon11 (Jul 3, 2009)

I've endo'd once where I stayed clipped in. Other than the newb crashes getting used to the pedals and forgetting to unclip, I've never had a crash where I stayed attached to the pedals. Go fast enough and the force of the crash will cause you to unclip, intentional or not. I've been in some crashes where I feel as though I ripped the cleats out of the pedals (Eggebeaters) without twisting my foot to the side.


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## scoutcat (Mar 30, 2008)

my lord. we need a clipless pedal sticky.


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