When scrolling through videos of road cyclists crashing, I often see comments like “You wouldn’t crash if you weren’t wearing clipless shoes.”
After seeing this again and again, some cyclists who were originally planning to switch to clipless pedals have started to hesitate: Are clipless cycling shoes really that dangerous?
Clipless shoes can indeed cause a type of crash that you rarely encounter with flat pedals—a zero-speed fall. But during cycling, the vast majority of crashes cannot simply be attributed to “wearing clipless shoes.”
1. Is a Zero-Speed Fall Really Because You’re Wearing “Clipless Shoes”?
Stopping before a red light, someone suddenly crossing the road, failing to complete a pedal stroke on an uphill section—the bike has already stopped, but you forget to unclip your foot, and then you slowly fall over together with the bike. This is the most typical type of zero-speed fall.
If you were riding with ordinary flat pedals, when the bike was about to fall, you could simply extend your foot toward the ground and, in most cases, support yourself. But if you are wearing clipless shoes and haven’t unclipped in advance, your foot is still fixed to the pedal, and it really can be difficult to recover in time.
So there’s no need to defend clipless shoes when it comes to this type of crash. It is indeed an additional risk that comes with being clipped in. However, it is also one of the easier risks to prevent. When you first start using clipless pedals, it’s better to unclip a little earlier: unclip when you see a red light, unclip when entering a congested section, unclip when preparing to make a U-turn, and if you feel you might need to stop, unclip first. After riding for a while, “unclip before stopping” will gradually become a subconscious habit. In fact, I think the most important thing for beginners to practice when switching to clipless pedals is not how to pedal, but how to stop.
2. When You Crash While Riding, You Can’t Just Blame the Clipless Shoes When You See Them
Another situation is completely different. For example, when going over a speed bump, hitting a pothole, or suddenly encountering a rough section of road, your foot can bounce off a flat pedal. Once your foot comes off the pedal, your body instantly loses support. Especially at high speed or when pedaling hard, it can be very easy to lose your balance directly.
In this situation, it is actually a problem that is more likely to occur with ordinary flat pedals. One purpose of clipless shoes is to maintain a relatively stable connection between the shoe and the pedal. When encountering continuous bumps, as long as the cleat and pedal are functioning normally, your foot is less likely to slip off the pedal.
So when you see someone crash on a bumpy road, you cannot directly conclude that “clipless shoes caused the crash” simply because they were wearing them. The actual reason may be exactly the opposite.
3. Of Course, Clipless Shoes Can Also Accidentally Unclip
We also can’t describe clipless shoes as absolutely safe. Severely worn cleats, loose cleat-fixing screws, or pedal tension adjusted too low can all cause a foot that should be locked in place to accidentally release.
This is especially true when standing up to sprint or suddenly applying a lot of force while climbing. If your foot comes out of the pedal at that moment, the consequences can be much more serious than simply slipping off under normal circumstances.
In fact, manufacturers repeatedly remind users of this in their instructions: cleats are consumable components and should be regularly checked for wear, while pedal tension should be adjusted to an appropriate range.
But it is important to distinguish between the two. This does not mean that “wearing clipless shoes makes your foot more likely to come out.” Rather, the cleats and pedals themselves also need to be inspected and maintained. It is actually the same principle as tires becoming slippery when they are worn smooth, or brakes failing to stop the bike when the brake pads are completely worn out.
4. If You Really Crash at High Speed, Whether You Can Unclip Is Not the Main Issue
Many people also worry, “Isn’t it more dangerous if your feet are clipped in when you crash at high speed?”
In reality, when a sudden crash occurs because the front wheel loses control, you ride over loose gravel, or you are hit by another vehicle, you often simply don’t have enough time to follow the sequence of “unclip first, extend your foot, then land.”
At that point, what you really need to look at is the cause of the crash itself: losing traction while cornering, hitting a pothole with the front wheel, losing tire grip, rear-ending another rider, collisions, operating errors…
If these factors are what actually caused the loss of control at the moment of the crash, then whether or not you were wearing clipless shoes is not the core cause. You cannot simply conclude that “the clipless shoes caused the crash” just because the rider and bike were still connected after falling.
5. Why Do People Still Like to Blame Clipless Shoes?
Because clipless shoes are simply too noticeable.
When someone riding with flat pedals crashes, people tend to discuss the road conditions, speed, or cornering position.
When someone wearing clipless shoes crashes, especially when their feet are still attached to the bike after the fall, it is easy at first glance to think, “See? It’s because they couldn’t get their feet out.”
On top of that, zero-speed falls are indeed highly representative. Many cyclists have heard about them or even experienced them when first switching to clipless pedals. As a result, the impression of “clipless shoes = easier to crash” gradually takes shape.
But if you actually break down the causes of crashes one by one, you’ll find that it is far more complicated than that.
- With zero-speed falls, clipless shoes do indeed increase the risk.
- With your foot coming off the pedal over bumps, properly functioning clipless pedals can actually keep your foot more securely attached.
- For crashes caused by high-speed cornering, hitting potholes, or collisions, in most cases, what really deserves discussion is riding technique and road conditions.
- As for accidental unclipping caused by worn cleats or incorrect pedal tension, that is an equipment-condition and usage issue.
So there’s no need to demonize clipless shoes simply because you are afraid of crashing.
What cyclists preparing to switch to clipless pedals should really do is first practice unclipping until it becomes familiar, avoid setting the pedal tension particularly tight at the beginning, develop the habit of unclipping before stopping, and regularly check cleat wear and the fixing screws.
Clipless shoes are not equipment that means “you won’t crash once you put them on.”
But they are equally not the culprit that means “you are more likely to crash once you put them on.”
