Black Ice, Clipless vs Flats?

[Threevok]

Speaking from experience, don't use clipless pedals in icy conditions.

I've had a couple of nasty offs that could have been prevented by getting my foot down quicker

I don't even use my SPDs in muddy conditions these days, although that's usually softer to land on

 

[screenman]

I used to fall of before we started using clipped in pedals, I have fallen off less since using them. Never seen a cross race or MTB race in the last twenty years where most riders were not using clipped in systems.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Get a sit up and beg bike then you are less likely to hurt yourself if the front wheel goes.

 

[mjr]

Get a sit up and beg bike then you are less likely to hurt yourself if the front wheel goes.

Often claimed but is it true? I'd love it if it was as I most often ride a Dutch bike, but I'm not convinced it is.

 

[screenman]

Get a sit up and beg bike then you are less likely to hurt yourself if the front wheel goes.

Why? I would have thought you have further to fall.

 

[mjr]

Why? I would have thought you have further to fall.

Well, I'd expect you're more likely to be within the width of the wider sweeping handlebars and so protected by them when you hit the deck if the wheels slide out from under you and probably less likely to be thrown forwards over the bars than if you were already leaning further forwards, but I suspect it's approximately negated by the typically greater ride height that you mention, so I doubt there's a measurable difference... and I'm not sure how you'd measure it anyway.

 

[Threevok]

All the injuries I have suffered have been elbow or hip related. This was using MTB riser bars though

 

[Bodhbh]

All the injuries I have suffered have been elbow or hip related. This was using MTB riser bars though

It's nearly always been the upper body that's taken it here - I have a couple of jackets held together with tenatious tape that testify to that.

I've never used clip in, and like other say, the 3-4 offs I recall having on ice I don't think I had chance to do much. Even when I knew it was there and wasn't going much past 5mph. I've not go the nerve for it either - studded tyres or do something else here.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Your head does mot hurtle to the road if the front wheel goes and it is easier to get your feet down. The bike tends not to move violently and quickly beneath you due to your positioning and the weight distribution.

 

[Tin Pot]

I've been riding clipless pedals, almost since they were invented and before that clips & toe straps, almost 57 years, so the usual "Clipless Moment" has no worries for me. However, last January, took a spill on black ice that has shaken me up a bit. I was clipped in and went down with all the impact taken on my thigh/hip, in fact my pelvis was fractured and is still fragile. On this last spill, my right shoe remained clipped in.

My question is aimed at anybody who has lost their front wheel on black ice and has gone down and whether clipped in or on flats. If on the latter, did it enable you to react quicker and were you able to stick your leg out to prevent the fall or to minimise the fall.

As the cold & frosty months are approaching, I am considering putting some MTB/flat pedals on my road bike until mid February.

Thanks

Don’t go out when it’s icy.

Pedals won’t make an ounce of difference.

 

[HLaB]

Clipless may help you stay more balanced and smooth over it where as with flats you may instinctively throw out a leg and that wobble will be enough to start a slide. If you are already sliding though I don't think it'll matter what pedals you have

 

[Threevok]

It's no so much slides that are the problem, it's the low speed front wheel wipeouts that get you.

I had one once on a flattened plastic bottle, that ended up with a broken elbow

 

[NickNick]

It's no so much slides that are the problem, it's the low speed front wheel wipeouts that get you.

I had one once on a flattened plastic bottle, that ended up with a broken elbow

I had a hairy one last, turning right onto road when it was really windy and a gust blew a small branch under front wheel, just about stayed up, but it was in the lap of the gods!

 

[GuyBoden]

The other option I have been thinking about is to get an outdoor thermometer and just not go out when the temp falls below 8 degrees. We have mild winters down in Kent, so won't be too many non cycling days.

My "Thermometer", the ice has melted on the roof, so I'm out for a ride on my bike.

 

[Sharky]

My "Thermometer", the ice has melted on the roof, so I'm out for a ride on my bike.

That was my mistake last January. There was still ice on the car windscreen when I pushed my bike past the car.