Fear of falling

howardmarks

anyone ever get a fear of falling after spd pedals and a bad fall?

ED E

Fallen a few times, never any major damage but painful none the less, cautious for a litte while then you're grand.

Being run over, that has me terrified of traffic.

funnights74

Had 1 fall, new spd pedals and forgot to unclip, no damage done except to my pride and was the best lesson i ever learned.

Indricotherium

howardmarks wrote: »

anyone ever get a fear of falling after spd pedals and a bad fall?

Spd's will become second nature in about two weeks don't worry about them.

Beasty

Fear of falling is what encourages me to stay upright ...;)

As has already been said, they will quickly become second nature, and you'll be clipping in and out without any problems. In the meantime you might want to find a quiet road or carpark to practice a little if you are particularly worried

abcdggs

why would you be worried about falling? it will definitely happen at some point, seems like you're adding a lot of stress worrying about it. HTFU

Cork24

Had 2 falls one coming down a hill hit the corner in the rain and the bike went from me almost went right into a car that was coming up the hill I had the shakes for about 2 mins


The 2nd time was going up a hill in the wrong gear couldn't pick enough speed and couldn't get out of my clips fast enough and fell over and started to roll down the hill for about 10 yards


Do I fear falling no not really once u knw what your doing and learn from your mistakes u be ok

furiousox

Are you recovering from a bad fall or thinking of trying spds for the first time?
If you're using them for the first time try them out on an indoor trainer first to get used to the clipping/unclipping.
If you're using them on the road, try having one foot clipped in and one foot not and again get used to the clipping in/out (you've got your free foot to 'fall back on' if you're stuck)
If you've got a hang up about falling (as strange as this may sound)....go to a beach or grassy area, clip in and allow yourself to fall over.
There...it's happened, you know what to expect, what it feels like, how to fall and it won't hurt too much on a soft surface.
I've had a couple of falls, you will be nervous for a while afterwards but your confidence quickly returns.
Try and anticipate as well, unclip one foot when approaching red lights.
If you have to brake suddenly, get used to automatically unclipping a foot as you brake.
Remember you can set the tension on the pedals so they unclip very easily (You can increase the tension at a later stage if you want)
Multi direction cleats are available too so you can release your foot by twisting left, right or even by pulling straight up.
Good luck, once you get used to them (fall or no fall) you won't go back.

howardmarks

Had a fall the day I tried out spds for the first time. Sprained my wrist.
Don't know if I forgot to unclip or i didn't do it fast enough. Painful experience and also quite weird. Like when u get your hand stuck and the moment of panic before u get it free.
It looks nice out. Maybe it's time to try again

Bunnyhopper

Make sure the spring tension in the pedal is set as light as possible, and make sure the cleat plates are tight on your shoes. That'll make getting your foot out easier. It might slightly increase the risk of an accidental unclipping, but unless you're really throwing the bike around that's still pretty unlikely.

I very nearly had a fall when I was new to SPDs but just as I felt the balance go and without even having time to think about it I somehow managed to unclip and catch myself. I'm still not sure how I did it, but having the tension loose must have helped.

Bigus

Here's my advice posted in another thread

When you do get them , get in the habit of ALWAYS uncliping one preferred foot first, don't switch from side to side

be it left or right , but stick to that one foot consciously , and after a while in an emergency your sub conscious will unclip this preferred foot and save your ass. Me , I always do left foot first , as its closer to it the kerbs in Ireland .

In a panic it's good to go into automatic mode and not waste time thinking about which foot is the better option while you fall to the ground.