who needs to unclip? tuck and roll baby!
Velcro is exactly the wrong solution; the thing you can’t do with velcro is pull it directly up, which is what you want to do in a UPD. Even twisting your foot probably wouldn’t help.
I’ve thought of trying some kind of magnetic solution.
I rode SPDs on the Mount Diablo hill climb once. I definitely felt like they could give me a significant advantage, but I didn’t train with them enough to really feel comfortable, so I think I was overly tense while riding and didn’t post a good time. (That’s despite many years of clipless riding on bikes).
Clipping in is actually a significant problem on the SPDs I was using, which didn’t have any platform; if I didn’t get my foot in exactly the right position on the mount, it was difficult to ride, adjust my foot, and try to make the clip-in motion all at the same time. If I were to do it again, I would probably go for a pedal like the Eggbeater Candy SL, which is easier to clip in and out of, and also has a bit of a platform to make riding easier until you clip in.
I think the idea that clipless lets you pull up on the backstroke is mostly mythical. Whether you’re clipless or not, all the important force is provided by your downward stroke; clipless just makes that stroke more efficient because you’re not fighting to keep your feet in optimal position.
152 vs 127
I have been trying to move to smaller cranks on my 36 inch. I have a very hard time free mounting the uni with the 127s vs the 152s. Other than practice any suggestions?
try a rolling jump mount, and practice. 
Size matters
Try to be at least six feet tal. Six foot two is even better.
Failing that you’ll have to learn a running or rolling mount. I never did, which was my loss.
Pull up on the wheel
The following is good advise that works for us that are shorter than 6 feet …
Works great on the 43 wheel also.
JM
I still prefer the idea of a quick release activated by a high pitched scream.
Sweet idea, but consider the shoes
Scream activated quick-release sounds perfect, but we still need to consider the shoes. It seems to me that one huge problem with being attached to the pedals on a unicycle is that the shoes that this involves are usually poorly padded. Sometimes they have a metal piece sticking out of them, other times they just have none of the foam padding that a typical pair of trainers/runners might have.
This lack of padding can be a huge problem. Landing on slippery unpadded shoes from a 36" unicycle is tricky at the best of times, and downright dangerous during a UPD or on particularly slippery surfaces. I know some people who’ve had bruised heels from unicycle dismounts due to the lack of padding in their shoes.
I agree. I rode for decades wearing Converse Chuck Taylors. No padding at all. When I moved to a 36" they didn’t work out. The high-speed UPDs from that height were painful. Too much shock to the feet. My Keen Hybrids are much better. I still think a little patch of velcro could add just a touch of stickum that could be useful.
One drawback of the clips or clipless pedals is that you can’t adjust the position of your foot on the pedal. I know that when I’m spinning on the flats the ball of my foot is centered on the pedal axle. When I’m going up or down steep hills the arch of my foot is centered on the axle. You just can’t do that with clipless pedals. A patch of velcro on a flat pedal base with a shoe that has a long skinny strip of velcro glued to the bottom might work just fine. It could give a little more grip to the pedal without fixing it in place.
Any Guinea pigs out there?
Geoff
Sorry but I disagree there. I too have been riding mtb and road clipless for many years. the push over the top, followed by the downstroke, followed by “scraping the dog poop” through the bottom (metaphor courtesy Greg LeMond I believe), then a strong pull up are ALL important and any weak link in that chain will slow you down. But that is bicycling. How clipless relates to unicyling is not anything I can speak with any experience on. I like the idea of something magnetic. And the scream-activated idea is pretty funny. How about heartrate-spike activated? 
Clipless Pedals
So, I know that this was a long time ago, but I came back to search if there was anything new on riding clipless, and this was the best thread that I found.
“That guy” that Skilewis was talking about is me. I feel pretty flattered that not only did someone actually read what I wrote, but remembered it, and felt it worthy of recounting. So, thanks for that.
As I said, I came back here to check out if any more people are riding clipless yet. I don’t see much, so I thought I’d add a little more to what I said before to help any that may be on the fence.
For monetary reasons, I ended up getting rid of my clipless pedals and shoes that I had before, and I pretty much stopped riding for almost a year due to various reasons.
I got back out on the trail not too long ago, with pinned pedals, and it felt as if I had to relearn how to ride. I kept falling off, and couldn’t do any of the harder parts of the trail that I used to easily be able to do.
This was killing me, I felt the urge to get back into riding, but I was getting quite frustrated falling all the time. I had a few extra bucks, so I figured I’d try out clipless again and see if I had a fluke the first time around.
I bought both different pedals and different shoes. And I can proudly report that the first setup wasn’t a fluke. I did fall twice, I think, where I actually fell to the ground because my foot stayed in. But I think it was because I was falling so much before, that I was getting lazy, and just getting too used to falling. So I would try to just step off, and that obviously doesn’t work. But when I truly fall, and not just lazily step off, there is never a problem. I believe it is the natural flail of my feet, as I’m falling, that clicks right out without having to think about it.
Let me elaborate on that, I have never ridden clipless on a bike and had absolutely no experience with them when I first tried them. And that time, and now that I’ve gotten less lazy again, I never fall to the ground. I don’t think about it, and I actually think that may be the key thing. I don’t think, I just do. As I fall, my feet naturally twist around while they’re coming to the front to catch myself, and I click out of the pedals. I think that concentrating on making sure that you click out might actually be most of the problem that others face when they take bad falls clipped in.
So, to the updated report with my new setup. On the average stretch of trail where I was falling about 10 times with pinned pedals, I don’t fall once. I actually got back into the realm of staying in the saddle so long that I started to get numb. I am now climbing the toughest hills on my trail again, and the great thing is that it’s just so much easier. I don’t have to be so conservative, and spend so much energy keeping balance. Being clipped in, I can just huck every stroke whichever direction I happen to be leaning. So, if the most efficient pedal stroke happens to be slightly sideways to a diagonal or whatever, I can do that, and I can push it as hard as I can. Whereas with pinned pedals, you more or less have to stay in the vertical plane, and waste energy keeping an upright motion. I know I’m not conveying my meaning exactly, but hopefully most of you can understand what I’m trying to get across.
And the downhills are really something superb. I don’t remember realizing this the first time around. But not only do I no longer have to worry about keeping my feet on the pedals as I bounce down the hill, but I can actually go much faster and moreover REST while going downhill. I used to think downhills were just as hard as uphills, because of how hard you have to push on the pedals (without a brake) and how much energy you waste making sure your feet stay firmly planted. But being clipped in, I found that I just almost totally relax. I let the wheel spin my feet almost as fast as it can, and I don’t really need to do anything but go along for the ride, and just let me legs go. That is really something, now on the downhills, I can finally rest like the bikers can, and get my energy back up for the next climb.
All in all, being clipped in, I feel MUCH safer than not. That really needs to sink in as you read it. It’s not a pro/con list as was posted before. As far as I’m concerned, not only is it much more efficient and beneficial to be clipped in, but it’s also safer and easier. I really think that anybody that has the money to try out clipless should. As I said before, I actually think that it’s better to have little to no knowledge of clipless prior, and then get out there and ride. And most importantly DON’T THINK ABOUT IT. Just ride, of course make sure that when you fall, you really fall, and you don’t just step down. But other than that, there’s nothing much to worry about. Maybe wear some knee pads and wrist guards if you’re really afraid.
I really am surprised that in this exponentially growing sport, hardly anybody is riding clipless. I truly believe that it is going to open up a huge future, but first everyone needs to stop being so scared of them, and realize that they are actually safer in the long run.
Ascenxion,
Thank you for your experience with clipless pedals.
How long had you been riding when you first tried clipless? I am sure I would not recommend them for beginners. Had you been riding a year or two? More? What level were you?
I can appreciate that I spend a lot of effort keeping my feet resting on the pedals. On the other hand, when I UPD, nothing has broken (so far). I am curious about the clipless experience, but I am also very concerned about my safety.
Do you do road rides with clipless pedals? Is it better or worse on a road ride than on muni rides? I do not loose my footing on the road, so there may be little point to it.
AscenXion,
What pedals are you currently using? Single sided spd? Downhill platform?
What type of trails have you riden them on?
I have been tempted to try my well broken in downhill clipless. Unlike you I have used mtb clipless for going on 20 years and think that my auto reflex to clip out is well developed and may help me to “not think” about it. But it stll seems a bit questionable.
I had been riding for less than a year, but I did progress fairly quickly. I would say I was a solid intermediate rider. But, to me, skill has almost nothing to do with it. Actually, the more skilled you are, the worse you may do when starting out. The less skilled person, in my minds eye at least, is going to flail more when they fall, and therefore is going to be more prone to safely unclipping. Really, all I’d say is this, don’t think about it, don’t worry about it, but make sure that you don’t just gracefully attempt a fall. When you fall, you have to really fall, but that’s really all there is to it.
I haven’t ridden on the road yet with this set, but last time I had clipless pedals, I remember that road riding was a tad bit scary. You are going generally quicker, with a much harder landing spot, and if you fall it’s usually going to be a very quick and abrupt down and forward dismount. I find that on the trail, I have never once worried about falling flat on my face, but I do when riding on the road with clipless. I think it has to do with not only the softer ground, but also that most of the falls off road are caused by bumps, and the slight upward thrust that the fall takes gives a sense of having more time to land on your feet. Clipless pedals on the road have there uses, but to me, I’d probably stick to normal pedals.
I realize that that probably sounds like a hypocritical thing for me to say after touting the great benefits of clipless pedals. But I think that road riding and muni are just too different things.
That’s why the first time around, I got the single sided spds with a platform on the other side. This time around, I opted for double sided spds, as I rarely ride on the road at all anymore. But on a related note, I did find that riding was fairly serviceable with normal shoes on clipless pedals. Not much different at all from fairly grip less pedals.
But, I just have to say one more time, the almost instantaneous boost of power, perceived-endurance, balance, control, and overall fun is, in my opinion, worth much more than a fear of a fall. And, I believe that in the long run, once people are used to clipless on muni, there will be fewer injuries than there are now.
Its funny … ‘Fear of Falling’
It is kind of funny to me that people who started to learn to ride unicycles and at first fell all the time start to have ‘fear of falling’ once they start to get better at riding.
Start to mention clipless pedals and the real ‘fear of falling’ comes out. Once you get use to clipless, if you can overcome the ‘fear of falling’, you may start to ‘fear falling’ when you ride on standard pedals. I do.
On hills clipless lets you max out pedal pressure with out fear of your foot sliding off the pedal. Also you will get use to recovering from events that would be falls on standard pedals.
Top of a 2 mile long Cougar Mountain aka Zoo Hill, Issaquah, WA, 7.2% average gradient, and single sided clipless.
Well, I’m glad to see that I’m not alone in the clipless movement. And I like how you put it, that’s how I see it. And I’d add that (as I kind of said before) not only do you max pedal “pressure” but also pedal “angle” so you can pump in whichever direction is most efficient without worrying about anything other than getting up.
Clipless has also been a savior many, many times when going over log piles or climbing over big roots, instead of losing a hand to pull up, you can use both hands for balance and power.
I also went for a really short (just about a mile) ride on pavement to and from a trailhead the other day. To the trail, I didn’t even remember that I had said that I was afraid to ride clipped in on the road. On the way back, I was totally drained, and I was going as fast as I could because we were late. I remembered at that point, but not because I felt unsafe in any way, more because it just occurred to me that if I ever I was going to fall on the road, this was going to be the time for it. But, whatever residual fear I had last time, this time was totally gone. I didn’t worry about falling in the least.
Which is kind of funny, because with this orientation of pedals and shoes, I’ve noticed that whether through something I’m doing differently, or equipment differences, I do fall to the ground more than I did before (which was never). But it’s still never bad. I just roll out of it. So, those run ins with the ground would almost never occur in normal pedals, that’s true. But the normal upds would occur much MUCH more frequently (in my case at least).
So, I have learned that perhaps the first go around I was a bit lucky that I never once bit the dust in a fall, but at least I know now that even if I do fall, it’s still not going to be worth the hassle of not riding clipped in.
For me, being clipped in = Yikes!
But I haven’t visited actually trying it in quite a while. Instead, I’ve spent many years getting good at spinning and feeling like I don’t need to be clipped in. But there’s the nagging feeling that it one might be able to get more power into the pedals, or a little more confidence/stability by being attached.
I still think what the bicyclists use is good for bikes, but lacks a certain something for us unicyclists; namely the ability for instant release. Velcro has been tried in the mid 1980s by Sem Abrahams and a few others from his group at the time. It seemed to work for them, but I don’t remember the details of how much velcro was being used and how grippy it was. This was for track racing where the RPMs are very high.
I envision a system whereby the rider holds a dead-man’s switch, keeping the clips engaged. When you release this switch, which could be built into your handlebar setup, the things unlock instantly. This might work for unicycles, though if you forgot to let go, you’d eat whatever you were riding on just like a bad SPD release.
Success stories likeAscenXion’s are compelling (and great to know about!) but for now I’ll still stick with my 5-10 shoes and pinned pedals. They (non-clipped pedals) seem to work pretty well for most of the top riders… I’ll let you brave experimenters keep gathering data.
When I first tried them again this go round, I was slightly scared too. It had been a while since I had ridden, and quite a while since I last used clipless pedals. I was almost thinking what you think, that I’m not sure where the confidence came from before, but I don’t know if I can do this again.
Then about five minutes later, I totally forgot about being scared.
I think that most people that try them, never get past that first couple minutes of being scared, and never realize that they ARE exactly what you envision. They DO release instantly, as soon as you fall, you flail your feet, and they are off as if there were never on. And really, think about it. What is likely to make for a harsher fall, a wheel that you sit completely on top of, or a set of wheels, with all sorts of dangly bits that you sit in the middle of? Yes, we unicyclists “upd” more often than a biker, but when a biker falls there is a lot more potential for injury than when we fall. If the current system works for someone that not only has to unclip, but then also worry about being mangled by any number of sharp objects, then it should work for someone whose 99% worry is just getting their feet on the ground before their head.
I did say that I’ve had a few falls, but it’s always only the left pedal, and the thing is that when I unclip the right shoe, it’s silent. But when I unclip the left, there is an audible click. I think that I just have the tension set a little too high. I’m going to lower it, and go for a ride today or tomorrow, and report back.
But really, for all intents and purposes, and until someone like Kris backs this idea with tons of research and development, today’s clipless systems work very very well for unicyclists. There are also multi-release cleats, which may be more to the liking of many, but it may also allow for too many unplanned unclips.
Again, I propose that anyone with the money to (or an REI close by with no guilt on using their return policy), buys a set, sets the tension to the lowest it will go and then just puts around their backyard until they feel good. Then take a few planned falls, making sure to sufficiently flare their feet (That’s the key that I think I did inherently, but that some might not), and see what happens.
I almost guarantee, that once you stop worrying about it, and just do it, you’ll be a convert.
That is completely the opposite of my experience as both a mountainbiker/roadbiker/MUnicyclist/Road Unicyclist
All my worst injuries are unicycling injuries by a long way.
At the same speed equivalent, a unicycle leaves you more exposed to injury. If you hit something on a bike, the front wheel tends to take some of the impact. Or you fall to the side on a bike…which results in a bit of skin loss.
On a unicycle, you plant your articulating joints (ankles mainly, but also knees and wrists) very fast against an often irregular surface. If you do a search on RSU for ‘unicycling injuries’, you’ll find that Unicyclists are prone to very serious ankle or knee injuries.
“At the same speed equivalent” is a rather large caveat, don’t you think? Considering that entire bike races are done above the highest speed that anyone has ever obtained on a unicycle, and typical downhill bike speeds are twice as fast as typical geared 36" downhill speeds. Kinetic energy increases with the square of the velocity; moving twice as fast gives four times the kinetic energy.
Per exposure-hour, I’m sure bicycling has as many serious injuries as unicycling.