So I got my first set of SPDs today, practiced clipping in and out a number of times, thought hmm, seems fairly straightforward. Cycled off up the road, got to the traffic lights and bumphhhh straight down like del boy leaning on that bar. Right outside our local with everyone enjoying a beer in the evening sun. Arghgh! Tell me I ain’t the only one..

That’s the first time I’ve ever heard of anyone doing that. Didn’t you slacken them before riding?
I hope you’re OK.

Nope. I got head to toe nettle stings my first time.

All fine bar the embarrassment!! Oh well, figured others might have a similar story, even with them slackened off 😳

Happens to most people at some point. Strangley it seems chances are higher the more people there are to see you flop.
Only time it happened to me was leaning on a gate not shut properly made the walkers laugh.

I lost a cleat bolt once so the thing pivoted on my shoe. Briain didn’t engage fast enough to try and unclog the other foot.

Worst bit was I still couldn’t get my foot out once I was on the floor! Had to take the shoe off and lever the cleat out, nice bloke at the fairholmes bike hire found me a spare bolt in the spares box.

But yeh, fell off a couple of time before that too, once right in front of my girlfriend. I styled it of course.

I’ve done that with flats on! So I wouldn’t worry to much.

Did it again with spd’s on the other day by a gate!

Happened to me next to a bus stop with a million people there to see my foolish attempt at a track stand . 😳
and this was after 5 years of using them 🙄

Yeah done that too…

think of it as a sort of “right of passage” into the wonderfl world of SPD’s lucky you didn’t give yourself a chain ring “tattoo” on your calf like I did LOL

Never got stuck in my pedals on a ride, not ever. In the car park while everyone else was faffing, when I first got them, yes.

Never with SPD’s but did it with a pair of Time road pedals at a road junction that workmates were queuing up at in their cars. Wasn’t so bad they stopped going on about it after 3 months or so 🙄

I am old enough to have done the old toe straps locked in with no possibility of quick release. Practicing a track stand at the lights in front of a fully loaded bus was not my proudest moment, as I keeled over and could not reach the straps that quickly whilst the bus driver just shook his head at me.

Thinking about it it was not as good as the overcooked wheelie in a car park forgetting that I was clipped in to my shiny new spds and not the flats that I had just changed out. Straight over the back. Nobody just saw that did they? Possibly thirty or so people. Mmm, slinking off on to a track hoping they would all just forget about it.

Best one was a set of new spds set very light (unlike the vice like grip I normally put on them) Hopped over a speed bump and my foot came out straight in to the front forks. The front wheel stops and the back wheel flips right over the top dumping me on to my helmet and shoulder. Trouble was that a postie was watching and all he said was “I wish I had my camera for that one” as he carried on sitting in his van. I had blood leaking out from various bits of arm and leg and was pretty concussed. Still very little damage to the bike, which was nice. Probably loads more if I think about it. 😀

I was heading back to the car park at the end of a long SDW ride, several trips up and down onto the ridge on a hot day, and the last bit is a fast fire road blast, which then becomes a singletrack road and finally back to the car park by the pub, with the big beer garden and all the walkers enjoying the late afternoon sunshine.

I gave it beans all the way down this road, only to arrive at the pub and then get searing cramp in both thighs. I trackstanded for what seemed like an eternity (all the old giffers thinking ‘showoff’) until resigned to my fate, over I went, very gently. So gently in fact that I’m now lying on the ground, still clipped in, still cramped up, with the giffers all thinking ‘why doesn’t he get up’? Eventually the cramp eases, I get up, and without making any eye contact load the bike into the car and drive off.

In all this time, I swear not a single word was uttered by either me or the watchers.

Just leaving a packed beer garden one lunch time, rolling down path to car park stood on one pedal when front tyre catches in gap in pathway and with me unbalanced pitches me onto front wheel and then the floor, cue loads of laughter from seated audience. Getting up I decide to face the crowd and bow and wave goodbye, I then mount my bike and ride away with a really badly pretzeled front wheel, I felt like a clown at the circus and the roaring laughter behind me only made it worse 😳

normally happens to me if I ‘stall’ on an obstacle.

You’re already leaning one way with all your weight on that pedal and there doesn’t seem to be any way to twist your foot and lift your leg at the same time before it’s too late.

back in early 90’s,bought some dx spd’s/shimano grey lace shoes.followed instructions as to fitting cleats e.t.c.
righto ready to roll 😆
didn’t try them in safety of lounge first OH NO! 😳
went straight out onto main road. everything fine (yeah i am saying to myself)…
until i had to stop 😯 😮 😕
I CANNOT GET MY FEET OUT OF THE PEDALS!! as i topple over into the pavement.
i had only set the tension murder tight DOH! 😆
i now use flats 😉

At a pedestrian crossing being used by what seemed like hundreds of school girls (with hundreds more gathered on either side) for me. I try to think of it as a rite of passage.

First time with toeclips (back in the day) – comedy topple in front of much amused mates

First time with SPDs – comedy topple after deciding I’d ‘try them out’ in the back yard. The narrow, deeply gravelled, back yard. Unsurprisingly there was a stall, a topple, and an extended period of me writhing around in the gravel in attempt to separate myself from my bicycle.

Never used clips but I’ve had the same result on flats – leather soles shoes and cheap flats don’t mix well! Trackstanding at the lights on my commuter bike my shoe slipped off the pedal and I went straight over. Fortunately I got back up before the lights turned green. Bloody hurt though!

Buy some gloves, didnt feel the need until spd’s
ouch!

3 times on my first ride with spd’s. I persisted for 20 years before deciding to try flats last year and wishing I’d tried them years ago. I’d ridden for 5 years before spd’s with clips and straps.

Did mine in front of a large crowd of people at Centre parcs. 😳

Did that once at some traffic lights. Thankfully a friend was there to help untangle me and lift the bike off me – unfortunately he forgot I was still clipped in and just started dragging me along attached to the bike. As if it wasn’t embarrassing enough!

I popped to a BMX track thinking I might do a jump or 2 on my brand new Stumpjumper, I rolled nicely to a stop to watch the kids jumping, and toppled over into the nettles.

few years back when I started to commute into work, got to some traffic lights and couldn’t unclip. toppled slowly to my left and landed square on my knee cap on the coarse road surface.
picked myself up and rode off cursing, blood pouring from my knee.
.
hasn’t happened again since, but I have had the panic a couple of times where your foot won’t come out.

First ride out with Time pedals – gentle pootle round Ladybower to get used to them. All fine until the first gate – drop down a dip round a nice left hand bend, pedal up to the gate and crunch. Twist the foot, must remember to twist the foot!!!

Only seen by rabbits and ducks.

Still happens on occasions – think Nbt was the only one to see the “wheelie” incident at the top of Chapel Gate on the Pootle.

bumphhhh straight down like del boy leaning on that bar

bindairdundat

tbf it was PD-M545’s (spd + cage), and I’d got a stone wedged in there too, at temporary road works with gravel every where. Hadn’t engaged properly, but couldn’t twist foot out.

Just after getting SPDs I was riding on the Isle of Ulva when a group of Dutch tourists stopped me to ask directions… I started to answer before I thought about my feet still being attached to the bike…

After picking myself up from a spectacular tumble into the heather – and they’d stopped convulsing with laughter – I pointed them in the right direction and sheepishly rode off to the sound of stifled giggling.

Also made a right hash of a trackstand at a very busy pedestrian crossing on a busy street in front of lots of people once 😳

It only takes a couple of those incidents (perhaps just one if it’s embarrasing/painful enough 🙂 ) before it becomes automatic. I sometimes catch myself unconsciously twisting my feet to ‘unclip’ from flats.

Never on the road but off road on my first SPD ride I wobbled, panicked and thought ‘I need to bale’. Chose the soft look undergrowth instead of the puddle, which wasn’t so wise when on closer inpection it was full of nettles. After that the only issue I’ve ever had with SPD has been loose bolts stopping me from unclipping and once an overshoe hooked on the pedal.

I wouldn’t trust myself with SPD’s managed to fall off infront of a packed car park at Woodbury common last week hadn’t done the rear quick release up tight enough tried a fancy sprint and flick manouver and ended up over the handle bars as the rear wheel locked solid with a dent in ego and a bruised knee and elbow.

Broke a rib falling onto a coffee table when testing the tension before my first ride on SPDs. We were on the 4th floor. First ride was delayed a couple of months for mental and physical healing. Flatmate came through to see what the crash was and found me writhing around on the floor stuck to the bike. Tension was definitely too high!

Worse was the OTB I did on Clapham High Street at about 9pm on a Saturday night after “a few” beers, whilst trying to show off doing an endo at the pedestrian crossing. What a ****!!

First ride with a new set of shoes..

While filtering through traffic, came to a stop at traffic lights, next to a taxi, could not unclip and slowly fell onto the side of the taxi, wedging myself just off the ground!

Unable to release the cleet, the driver got out of the taxi in fits of giggles, pushed me back up and I thanked him and cycled off 😯

Still see the taxi driver now, years on and he still waves when he passes me, must be a cyclist himself.

Traffic lights outside Hatton Cross tube station. Unclipped left foot but looked over my right shoulder to check where the bus coming up next to me was. That pulled my weight right and down I went.

There are stories of practiced users getting stuck in SPDs after putting their foot down in mud.

Get some Times or Egg beaters – more float so better for your knees, and you won’t get stuck in them.

I was very careful when I first rode with SPDs and had no mistakes. Imagine how smug I felt. And then…

After a few confident weeks on SPDs set out on a nice weekend ride on a lovely morning. Coming to a T junction there was a family with a toddler and another in a pram waiting to cross the road. Full of the joys of spring I waved at them to cross the road and came to a graceful halt. And of course, I was thinking about letting them cross and not about my clips, so on stopping performed a graceful flop sideways. The one in the pram laughed loudest…

Once did a very cool repair on a set of gore mtb overshoes using tie wraps, chance in a million both got stuck under the clip on the pedals straight down( not cool) , it then took me mate 5 minutes to release me, fortunately no audience!!!

Breaking my elbow helped me to learn.

I nearly died the first day I used them.

Cycling into Newcastle I had managed to stop and start safely until I got 100m from my office where there was a set of traffic lights. I stopped immediately next to a bus, started to fall over, put my hand out to catch stop the fall and managed to prop myself off the bus. As soon as I put my hand on the bus it started to pull off. I then slid down the side of the bus and fell under it. I am only writing this today as I resting just behind the rear wheel of the bus. I sweat a little more than usual when I think about it.

I usualy do it at low speeds when pedaling through mud/long grass, the pace just drops, you try and unclip, for some reason the bike starts to lean the other way, you cant get the other foot out either or lean the bike the other way and crunch, you’re on the floor 🙁

I had a few when I rode cleats. Failed trackstand catching myself on a car bonnet, then having to wait for the lights to change. Felt like an eternity 😳

Numerous times stalling on obstacles as said.

Wasn’t so bad with eggbeaters, but I’m riding far better with flats and can now trackstand like a beast. They were timid short lived fidgets before. Being able to clip in from front to back is lovely too.

Now road pedals … the lowest setting feels like almost full whack on a Shimano MTB SPD! Scary stuff on a track bike 😯