Did no cleats save me & seriousness of injury....!!!???

[Anil Kadsur]

Bikers,

Since last december 24th i was wondering, what would have happened to me if i were biking with cleats ( just a brief about it, if the reader is not aware what has happened....when the car hit me from the back of my bicycle wheel at 70 kmph, bike laying in front of the car and me flew in the air and saved myself with minimum injuries....)?

If someone is wondering why this question now, 3 days before someone had a fall (riding road bike with cleats) while going over on a road hump that is seen very late. Fell backward along with the bike, helmet broke, struck to the bicycle, ended up with few bruises (thank God) nothing serious injuries. 

Here i am not talking about cleated fall (when one is new to cleats and learning the skill....). Falling from the bike where you have very minimum or no control of the situation. In the above example with cleats, where free fall cannot be exercised, sudden stopping of the bike, obstruction to the movement of the bike and falling in different direction (resistance to the flow...) i feel to a great extent cleats influences that, when one could not be uncleated and struck to the bike (all that happens in microseconds....)  

How much it affects the seriousness of the injury, what was your experience so far.... 

very truly,

anil s kadsur,

http://kadsur.blogspot.in/

[Prashanth Chengi]

Hi Anil,

If you are talking about those new to cleats, it is indeed something that needs practice and during that time,  accidents can indeed be caused by the cleats itself, because of delay in unclipping.  I've seen dozens of people simply coming to a rest and falling off, because they forget to unclip! It needs a bit of internalization.  Riding/racing on open roads with cleats in definitely not something I'd recommend to beginners, but with some practice, it becomes quite safe.

I recently switched to SPDs on my fixie, after getting familiar with the fixie mode itself, but the first ride with the SPDs, I saw something on the road that I wanted to stop and take a picture, and yup, I forgot to clip out because I wasn't yet used to the SPDs on the fixie! I almost fell as a result, but now, after some more riding, it's no longer an issue.

/Prashanth

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[Opendro]

Anil, I'm also a non-cleated rider. But Prashant is probably right. I have seen many professional race videos wherein people crash in the tight packs. Unclipping comes as second nature for them I guess. I also think that it is designed such that it will unclip by itself in any unusual force that would throw them out of balance. Having used the SPD cleat for a while, I assume that the unclipping and clipping could be fine tuned to make it smoother and easier.

Anyway, for myself, I will never be clipped ;)

[Ashok Kumar S]

My experience is the otherway. I find cleats much safer. I found myself struggling to find balance hitting unexpected pot holes and humps during rides when my leg slipped out from the pedal throwing me out of balance, and the bike took me to the middle of the road. Multiple times. With cleats, I feel much safer. And if you were hit with the cleats, the bike would have fallen at the same place you fell, I guess. Considering that the weight of the bike is much less than yours. In fact, the main reason i use cleats is for safety. 

Thanks and regards,

Ashok. 

Sent from my iPhone

[Opendro]

While I agree about the better stability when feet are securely fastened to pedals, the fear is of the inability to use our feet to reposition ourselves in an event of fall. It is like, a cat whose legs are tied together. It would crash badly. But as I mentioned, I had seen people unclipping in a flash in crashes in road races. So, it cannot be so bad.

[Ashok Kumar S]

Depends on the speeds probably. If you are falling down at good speeds, not sure what can be done with free legs either. And at slow speeds, you can uncleat and be ready to stop always. A better strategy to avoid falls will be to add a support wheel. Anil, wanna try that? ;-)

Thanks and regards,

Ashok. 

Sent from my iPhone

[Anil Kadsur]

 the fear is of the inability to use our feet to reposition ourselves in an event of fall. It is like, a cat whose legs are tied together

That is exactly what am not clear......

A better strategy to avoid falls will be to add a support wheel. Anil, wanna try that? ;-)

@Ashok, i was thinking you are suggesting me to go for cleats, this is more safer version.....hehehe

very truly,

anil s kadsur,

http://kadsur.blogspot.in/

[Opendro]

Even if you couldn't use your legs to do anything good, you wouldn't want it to cause any hindrance at least. First thing I would do if speed is too high would be to roll over, which is not possible if legs are still locked to the bike (assuming a failure to unclip).

[Jayaprakash E]

Don't you think handlebar and pedals protect you better if you are still locked than the free fall? Just wondering.

[Prashanth Chengi]

It all depends on the nature of the fall.  If you ride off a road, into a ditch or steep slope, the ability to be able to simply jump and break your fall might save you from severe injuries, while being stuck to the pedals might prove very costly.  In other cases, it could be the reverse.  

A year and a half ago, I was riding my new mountain bike when the gear misshifted. I continued to ride, but I was looking down at the crank, to see if there was any issue. With my eyes off the road, I'd drifted a bit too far to the side and I hit a light pole!! It's the stupidest way to meet with an accident, but it was so sudden that I had no time to unclip.  I must have been doing about 20kmph at that point. The bike went vertical on the front wheel and then went up to an obtuse angle, so much that the top portion of the brake levers actually scraped the ground.  I was still clipped in, all the way to this point.  When the bike was coming down, I suppose the twisting movement unclipped me automatically, and I quite gently fell on the ground.  I was dazed but completely unhurt.  Had it not been for the cleats, I would have been ejected over the top of the handlebar and the most typical injury resulting from such an ejection from a bike is a broken collarbone, which is what the cleats saved me from, I think, on that day.

/Prashanth.

On Tue, Mar 24, 2015 at 1:00 PM, Jayaprakash E <jaya...@gmail.com> wrote:

Don't you think handlebar and pedals protect you better if you are still locked than the free fall? Just wondering.

[Arvind P]

Cycling Training Program-Crashing on a bike.How to avoid accident and injury of a road bike  ~~ Technical check 3:45 onward if you're getting bored

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHGfzeH6Qg4

The Five Stages of Falling Off Your Bike  ~~ Just for FUN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRsK38spoQk 

[Arokia Raj Antony]

I have been contemplating on the cleats and have decided to opt out. My reason for opting out is not because of the fear of accidents or because of the budget approval process from home department - Which might be yet another reason for home department to slam the door on my face or induce the kids to ask for pocket money when I am fast asleep or give that innocent know all smile (which means you just called up a JCB to dig your own grave).

Most of the replies revolves around not forgetting the fact that for some God forsaken reason you have decided to tie yourself to the bike, like how boy friends decided to tie a knot and become husbands.

Guess the forgetting part is the most scary thing. My mind is so pre occupied that I forget to do even the normal things. Some classics from the resent past

- Not switching off the stove after making dosa, 

- Going upto Central (Jayanagar) and then realize that my destination is M G Road, which means I should have taken a right from Dalmia signal and not left.

- Opening the washbasin tap (because you wanted to wash your face) and then washing your feet with toilet flush (because that is why you entered the bathroom for) and then wondering why you opened the washbasin tap (which is still open). All this when you just took off from your seat and your wife has followed you to understand why you took off in the middle of a conversation.

- Bumping into an innova driver door - when that guy has clearly put on the indicator, is in the middle of the road, is waiting for the on coming traffic to stop and I was supposed to be going straight. I loved his comment - He said "if this is my Karma then who could help it".

So Mister truck driver .. being aware of yourself is more important than wondering if at all cleats is going to help you or not. For the person I am, I guess cleats is another way testing my insurance companies claims process.

[Sandeep]

Some interesting stats from the US related to bicycle accidents:

http://tylervigen.com/view_correlation?id=3347

--

[Ashok Kumar S]

That was a real hilarious one. And I still remember the other cab fight. ;-)

--

[Ashok Kumar S]

Anil, and to avoid your kind of accident where a car rear ended you, you can train more and start riding faster than cars. They won't be able to rear end you, even if they want to. Just another solution. ;-)

[Karthick Gururaj]

Must start a petition to cap the age of all Miss America participants to 17. Before someone in the fray realizes that they can influence the result by arranging an "accident" and killing cyclists.

I think the key word is "miss". Somehow, the vehicles "miss" hitting the cyclists.

Sent from my Windows Phone

---

From: Sandeep
Sent: 25-03-2015 01:36
Cc: Sharath Chandar
Subject: Re: [BBC] Did no cleats save me & seriousness of injury....!!!???

Some interesting stats from the US related to bicycle accidents:

http://tylervigen.com/view_correlation?id=3347

On Tue, Mar 24, 2015 at 2:17 AM, Anil Kadsur <anilk...@gmail.com> wrote:

Bikers,

Since last december 24th i was wondering, what would have happened to me if i were biking with cleats ( just a brief about it, if the reader is not aware what has happened....when the car hit me from the back of my bicycle wheel at 70 kmph, bike laying in front of the car and me flew in the air and saved myself with minimum injuries....)?

If someone is wondering why this question now, 3 days before someone had a fall (riding road bike with cleats) while going over on a road hump that is seen very late. Fell backward along with the bike, helmet broke, struck to the bicycle, ended up with few bruises (thank God) nothing serious injuries. 

Here i am not talking about cleated fall (when one is new to cleats and learning the skill....). Falling from the bike where you have very minimum or no control of the situation. In the above example with cleats, where free fall cannot be exercised, sudden stopping of the bike, obstruction to the movement of the bike and falling in different direction (resistance to the flow...) i feel to a great extent cleats influences that, when one could not be uncleated and struck to the bike (all that happens in microseconds....)  

How much it affects the seriousness of the injury, what was your experience so far.... 

very truly,

anil s kadsur,

http://kadsur.blogspot.in/

--

biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)
 
are you a part of the bicycle racing scene?
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[Anil Kadsur]

Raj,

that is hilarious.....hehehe......

very truly,

anil s kadsur,

http://kadsur.blogspot.in/

On Wed, Mar 25, 2015 at 12:54 AM, Arokia Raj Antony <arokiara...@gmail.com> wrote:

This message is eligible for Automatic Cleanup! (arokiara...@gmail.com) Add cleanup rule | More info

I have been contemplating on the cleats and have decided to opt out. My reason for opting out is not because of the fear of accidents or because of the budget approval process from home department - Which might be yet another reason for home department to slam the door on my face or induce the kids to ask for pocket money when I am fast asleep or give that innocent know all smile (which means you just called up a JCB to dig your own grave).

Most of the replies revolves around not forgetting the fact that for some God forsaken reason you have decided to tie yourself to the bike, like how boy friends decided to tie a knot and become husbands.

Guess the forgetting part is the most scary thing. My mind is so pre occupied that I forget to do even the normal things. Some classics from the resent past

- Not switching off the stove after making dosa, 

- Going upto Central (Jayanagar) and then realize that my destination is M G Road, which means I should have taken a right from Dalmia signal and not left.

- Opening the washbasin tap (because you wanted to wash your face) and then washing your feet with toilet flush (because that is why you entered the bathroom for) and then wondering why you opened the washbasin tap (which is still open). All this when you just took off from your seat and your wife has followed you to understand why you took off in the middle of a conversation.

- Bumping into an innova driver door - when that guy has clearly put on the indicator, is in the middle of the road, is waiting for the on coming traffic to stop and I was supposed to be going straight. I loved his comment - He said "if this is my Karma then who could help it".

So Mister truck driver .. being aware of yourself is more important than wondering if at all cleats is going to help you or not. For the person I am, I guess cleats is another way testing my insurance companies claims process.

--

[deepakvrao]

I hit an asshole motorcyclist at 30kmph. I flew off the bike and actually landed about 10-15 feet beyond where the bike lay in multiple pieces.

I didn't unclip. It just happened due to the inertia.

[Anil Kadsur]

Deepak rao,

Oh that is what i wanted to know, good for that info, thank you.

As i went through the same situation, just curious for my own understanding and learning.

very truly,

anil s kadsur,

http://kadsur.blogspot.in/

On Wed, Mar 25, 2015 at 4:02 PM, deepakvrao <deepa...@gmail.com> wrote:

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I hit an asshole motorcyclist at 30kmph. I flew off the bike and actually landed about 10-15 feet beyond where the bike lay in multiple pieces.

I didn't unclip. It just happened due to the inertia.

On Tuesday, 24 March 2015 14:47:18 UTC+5:30, Truck driver wrote:

--

[Prashanth Chengi]

The SPD too has an adjustor, on how easy you want the unclipping to be.  If you keep it loose enough, you can unclip even when you don't intend and the reverse is possible too. Pros prefer it to be quite firm. I stick to the easier unclip setting.  I tightened it however on my MTB because just the bump and grind of a trail was enough to clip me out.

/Prashanth

[mkonchady]

Cleats or no cleats, if you bump into another vehicle and fall, you are bound to get injured. 

Anil, you seem to be accident prone. One a year is my average!

A related question is whether cleats are really worth it in terms of performance. Yes, the pros use it, but do you need cleats to ride at 25-30 kmph and at a reasonable cadence.

I have heard of estimates of gains from 5% to 20% in performance going from flats to cleats. Somehow, I have doubts about these gains.

Besides, I don't want to accumulate more specialized bicycling gear.

--Manu

[Opendro]

Topic was thrashed to death. Cleats are not really for performance, even if it could give at all. It has more to do with feeling connected, safety in bumpy surface (specially off road and downhill), and sometimes in momentary performance gain by using the force in upward motion of the pedal (not natural, but will help in a short burst) and what some people claim - better transfer of force (which I don't really agree).

For me, the cost of cleat shoes are good enough to keep me away from cleats. I wear shoes way cheaper than cleats - mostly Rs. 1000 to 2000 at today's rate.

[Opendro]

Oh! Why did I even have to write when there are so many summarized points : http://www.livestrong.com/article/347867-advantages-clipless-cycling-pedals/

[Opendro]

Sorry for repetitive posts. I was reading a few more links. This http://www.bikejames.com/wp-content/uploads/Top-3-Clipless-Pedal-Myths-Building-a-Better-Pedal-Stroke.pdf is what I have always believed.

But once Bikey Venky mentioned his reasons why one should go clipless. The most important one as it turned out for him was that if you don't have the habit of your feet finding the right place on the pedal, you might as well go to a bike fit and fix it there permanently. This will reduce injuries.

So, there are various points to be considered for different riders.