Servo888

This week I purchased some Sette Element shoes with Time Atac Alium pedals; they got really good reviews as being good entry level parts. I went out on Friday to give them a test run... It's awkward to 'clip' yourself in! I spent about 20 minutes clipping an unclipping trying to get some sort of rythm going. Eventually I was off onto a paved road and then hit a basic trail, and man what a difference.

Here's what I've noticed:
1) Obviously you gain power with the up stroke.
2) You don't lose your footing when you have a hard shift.
3) You can corner like crazy, even at high speeds! I guess it has to do with being able to shift your body weight hard to one side.
4) You can climb like crazy! I would rarely ever get out of my seat to climb a hill simply because it was 'difficult' to keep your footing. But now you can just hammer like crazy and your feet stay put!

Just awesome!

BarracksSi

Cool, isn't it?

I'd say that clipless takes the advantages that toeclips already have over plain pedals and makes a couple good improvements.

Flying Merkel

I just made the same move a few weeks ago! Got a set of Crank Bros Candy C petals for my road & mountan bikes. What a revelation. Much more comfortable than toe clips, besides all the other reasons listed above.

I'm still adjusting to riding in the dirt with the new set up. Practice, practice.

jubal117

I just got a set of Shimano pedals last week, and I keep falling. I have fallen 7 times so far. I just can't seem to remember to unclip. I will get the hang of it sometime. I do like them even with the falling. I am just glad I didn't wait to get new pedals with my new bike. I would be pissed if my new bike was getting messed up because I am an idiot.

BarracksSi

At least you know what to work on.

I unclip well before I need to stop.

roadfix

In mountain biking, you don't know when you'll have to unclip and with which foot when navigating technical terrain. There is really no anticipating. The ability to clip out at moment's notice with absolutely no preference to which foot will generally make you a better bike handler on and off the road.
I personally unclip whichever foot is convinient only at the moment the bike comes to a near complete stop.

chephy

+1.


All of this can be accomplished with simple toe-clips and/or powergrips.

I have clipless pedals on just one of my bikes (coincidentally, they're also ATAC Aliums), but I can't imagine riding bare platforms any more. All of my other bikes are toe-clip equipped.

chephy

The trouble with that is just before you have to stop you ride over a little bump and realize that you just clipped back in accidentally, and there is no time to unclip now.

That's my biggest beef with clipless pedals. In urban riding environment, I have many longish stretches when I'm going slowly and might have to stop or accelerate on a dime (e.g., careful lane-splitting, crawling up to a left turn). Unclip too early - and you have to place you foot in a cumbersome position or risk accidental clippilng in. Unclip too late - and we all know what the consequences are.

roadfix

...but it only takes a fraction of a second to unclip regardless of the riding environment......which is one big advantage over clips and straps....

chephy

It might be exactly a fraction of second that separates you from a fall.

Plus ATAC Aliums have a helluva lot of float and you need to twist your foot quite a bit to get it out.

chephy

You can free your foot much faster with clips and straps. Cause no one says you have to tighten them the way racers used to before clipless pedals were invented.

roadfix

Perhaps you can, if set up correctly. The old style cleated shoe will grab the platform much better even with loose straps than sneakers will.
Powergrips work well with sneakers.

BarracksSi

That's when shoes with lugged soles help a lot, since I can still put some weight on them with the pedal under the arch of my foot.

The toeclips I still have on my MTB (which I hardly ride anymore, actually) are so loose that they might as well be Powergrips -- partly to make them easier to use, and partly because my feet are big enough that I can hardly tighten the strap anyway. Their big disadvantage is that, while leaving from a stop, the clip hangs down far enough to scrape if I'm pedaling through a turn (which is typical as I go through an intersection). Plus, it takes me longer to stick my foot into the clip than clipping into a clipless pedal.

("clipping into a clipless pedal"... man, we need a better term for cleat-and-clip systems!)

Powerarranger

I've had clipless for a little over a month now, and I love 'em! Today I was riding a bike that I'm rehabbing from a dumpster and used it to make a quick trip to Home Despot. I found myself 'unclipping' out of the platform pedals! Got a good chuckle out of that one. I can't imagine riding any real distance without them now. They're the best!

Velo Dog

Not to start an argument--which I'd lose, because I realize I'm in a small minority--but I just took the Looks off my Rambouillet and put on a pair of Grip Kings (https://www.rivbike.com/products/list...product=14-053) for my commute over the summer. I've ridden the same commute for more than 20 years on many different bikes with almost every imaginable pedal system, and here are some things I've noticed.
1. I don't go any faster with clipless, nor slower with toe clips or, as with the Grip Kings, no attachment at all. The commute is 12.7 miles each way, I've recorded my times off and on since the '80s, and there's just no difference.
2. You gain nothing on the upstroke. Tests with strain gauges on pro cyclists show that NOBODY pulls up on the pedal for more than a stroke or two at a time. At most, they partially unweight the upward-moving pedal.
3. I dunno about the cornering, because I've slid out enough that I don't corner hard any more. But I don't see a logical reason you could weight a clipless pedal any more than you can a toe clipped or BMX pedal.
4. I can't detect any difference in climbing. I have clipless on my Atlantis, Power Grips on my singlespeed, toe clips on my mountain bike and the GKs on the Rambo. I rarely stand on anything except the SS, because it's generally a waste of energy, but I've swapped pedals among all those bikes many times and I can stand easily on any of them. Grant Petersen at Rivendell, one of the three smartest people in bicycling, has had similar results.
No flame intended. It's great if you like the pedals. But a lot of the advantages people report in pedal systems are imaginary.

BarracksSi

I still don't buy that, and I don't care who tested it. I can feel the ball of my foot pulling away from the sole of the shoe when I pull up.

I don't think that I'm some super-coordinated freak, but I can regularly pedal just by pulling up and letting my legs fall on the downstroke. When my "pushing muscles" get tired, I can give them a break by pulling instead and using the other set of muscles.

roadfix

FWIW, I keep a fixed gear errand bike at work with standard platforms, no cage, no staps. Every time when I take that bike out, on the few initial strokes I lose my footing on the upstroke as I unconsciously pull my feet up. But, it only takes a few seconds for me to 'readjust' to the non-retension platforms.

ShadowGray

did you upgrade from regular platforms or with toe-clips.

Are clipless a worthy upgrade from toe-clips?

aMull

I've been climbing like crazy for years on my platform commute. It is not difficulty to keep your footing, at all. I've climbed standing in the rain on platforms without loosing footing. With that said my next pedals will be clips, i dont like the idea of clipless and special shoes and pedals, especially for a city commute.

BarracksSi

I went from metal-and-rubber platforms to plastic BMX lookalikes to rat traps to toe clips to clipless.

If you like how you can pull through the whole circle in toe clips, clipless are worth a look.

They're only as difficult to walk in as the shoes you choose. There are a number of models that don't look any different from regular casual shoes.

And, regarding climbing, it's easy enough to drop a couple gears and spin up if you're attached to the pedals one way or another.

roadfix

If you ask 10 people, 9 will say yes, including me.