Stucky

HAha! I like that! Thanks!

Loveless4577

It truly is a matter of preference but I prefer to be clipped in. I just feel that I have better control of my pedal stroke which allow me to change (mashing, pulling, etc) at a whim.

ColaJacket

Agree that clipless are better. As a newbie, I just switched from platforms (didn't want toe clips or cages) to clipless.

Shoes: Shimano SH-M089 (MTB)
Pedals: Forté Campus Pedals

I noticed a few things immediately.

1. I could spin more easily, as with just the platform pedals my sneakers would slip on the pedals (and the pedals were metal with small prongs to keep running shoes from slipping).
2. I noticed the stiffer sole kept me from dipping my heel as much.

Now, as far as average speed, it probably only saved me about .1 - .2 mph on my ride. I don't think it helped my top end very much on flats or descents, but it did help me on climbs so I could spin more and mash less.

GH

corrado33

I recently switched from flats to clipless on my mountain bike. I'll tell you this. You'd think that clipless pedals would make starting on the hill HARDER, but you'd be wrong. With clipless, you can essentially pedal with one foot while you get your other foot in/on the other pedal. With flats, you can't do that. I'm not making this up, I had a much easier time starting on the hills in clipless than I did on flats.

That said, I use flats on my commuters and clipless on my actual road bike. So for me, flats = commuting, clipless = serious biking.

Willbird

The stiff soled shoes are a MUST if you are going to ride a lot IMHO, if you beat the hell out of your feet riding 500 miles a month with floppy soled shoes, it will be a %^$#@ sorting out a setup for the proper shoes once you do get them. I did that years ago and developed hot spots in the soles of my feet, got shoes and clipless but the hot spots stayed.

You can ride toe clips with good shoes, then go clipless later if you want to. I did that after about 3 weeks this time around, rode another 3 weeks platforms with the stiff shoes, then went SPD, never ever had any foot pain yet.

If you DO develop hot spots they suck, and take forever to recover from.

bikepro

Absolutely! It's pretty hard to do "one legged drills" without toe clips or clipless. I do it all the time, especially when trying to make it through a light that just turned green -- no time to get fully clipped in.

bareyb

I just switched from Clipless to Flat. Mainly because I didn't want to have to wear special shoes to ride. I often use my bike just go to the Gym and it was always a pain having to haul along an extra pair of shoes. Went to some Shimano Saints at the recommendation of a friend and have never looked back.

Having said that, I did feel like the clipless pedals helped with climbing steep hills. I always liked being able to pull up as well as push down. Still in the end, not worth it because of the special shoes. Glad I switched. Now I have several shoes I can wear when I ride.

mrfreezesdefy3

My new bike came with toe straps , I hated them ,so I bought me some shimano shoes and had some look pedals put on .Had the lbs put my shoe bottoms on them n I wouldn't change back for any thing I love the difference, as some on here say my elevation is nothing I must be riding flats too but I love being clipped in ,enjoy your choice its yours good luck

Frreed

I have been riding with clipless pedals since they came out. I inherited a pair of slightly used Look classics from a friend who upgraded. I started with clips, straps and cleats, because that is all there was at the time. Clipping in and out is like breathing (most of the time). Good cleats, clips and straps work really well, and I can testify that one can fall over at a stop just as easy with them as with clipless.

I have also ridden with flats on a mountain bike.

The main, and I believe key, difference is the connection with the bike. As the cyclist in the video noted: I'll stick with my clipless pedals because I can bunny hop. Climbing, sprinting, and avoiding obstacles seem to be more efficient and intuitive when there is a firm connection between the rider and bike.

Finally, look at the peleton during the TdF. Yeah, there all riding clipless.

corrado33

Technically, it's perfectly possible to bunny hop without clips, as many many people have been doing for a while. However, I don't believe the "european" bunny hop is possible without clips. (Where you bring both wheels off the ground at the same time.) Apparently that's a bad habit to get into as it's not the correct way to bunny hop. I'm attempting to learn to bunny hop the right way (manual, then lift the back end by unweighting it and leaning forward with a slight scoop of the feet), but I haven't quite got it with flats.

I think road biking is different than mountain when it comes to clipless. You're not really in situations where you'd ever need to remove your feet from the pedals while road biking. (Specifically racing/long rides, not commuting.) Even though GCN has done "research" on clipless vs flat and found little difference, I think clipless for road biking gives a slight edge due to absolutely no slipping on the pedals.

Personally, I find spinning (high cadence) much easier with clips.

As for no special shoes for flats, well I'd have to argue there as well. Yes, you CAN ride flats with any shoes, but serious riders have special biking shoes that have stiff soles, like the clipless shoes. I can commute on my clips with tennis shoes just fine, you just can't do anything stupid.

Something I didn't mention before was this. I had ridden a trail last saturday with my new mountain bike that came with plastic flat pedals. Admittedly, those pedals are crap. I went out and bought clipless for the bike. I rode the same trail last sunday. On saturday I had to stop multiple times to get up the hill. Particularly in a few really steep/rooted spots. Now, I don't think I gained THAT much experience in the span of not riding my bike for 18 hours, but on sunday, I had very little problems making up the same spots with my clipless pedals. Where roots were bucking my feet off of the pedals with flats, my feet held firm with clipless. Oftentimes when I came to a particularly big root on a steep section, I could "help" the rear wheel up the root by pulling on my pedals. So instead of the tire catching and sliding down the slippery root (trail was also off camber), it caught very little and rolled over it. I took the same lines on all of the hard sections as I had done the previous day.

I especially noticed it on the downhill. On saturday, my hands/wrists were pumped. They hurt like hell when I got to the bottom. I was gripping HARD. I remember worrying half of the time about my feet slipping off of the pedals. On sunday, my hands/wrists never got pumped, and I felt fine. I also never worried about my feet. So for me, clipless on a mountain bike is a win.

lkngro

The biggest differences I've seen with my riding since using clipless pedals is that I can pull on hills and pull when accelerating from a stop or near-stop. They feel nice if you get a good pair and can help with refining your fit on the bike, since your feet don't slide around on the pedals.

ConGrUenCy

It seems like the OP has already made up his mind and nothing we say is going to persuade him that clipless is incredible.

Leinster

You know you don't have to wear the shoes just to use the pedals, right? There are a million and one solutions to wearing street shoes with clipless pedals. I ride on my Look Keos wearing runners all the time. You don't have to give up the benefits of clipless just because you use your bike for other things.

bareyb

I actually had the Shimano Pedals with a flat pedal on one side and clipless on the other. They were okay on the flat side and certainly useable, but I like the larger size and concave shape of the Saints a little better. I can always throw the clipless back on if I decide to do a long ride.

San Pedro

I'm just more comfortable with my clipless pedals. I like them more than I thought I would. I leave a pair of shoes at work so I can commute with them.

Agent Cooper

I'll post my thoughts, as a rider just trying out clipless for the first time this season myself. I'm coming from using plain platform pedals and also Powergrips. I am now using Shimano touring shoes with SPD cleats, with a touring type SPD pedal.

As far as overall improvement: To be honest, I really can't tell. I don't really notice any difference in effort or efficiency compared to plats or powergrips. I do not feel any significant "pull up" advantage in my pedal stroke. Note that didn't get that with Powergrips either.

I do like the shoes. They feel better to pedal in than regular tennis shoes. Maybe that's the stiffer sole everybody talks about? Keep in mind, I have what are called "touring" or "casual" bike shoes, which are not really all that stiff, but I still notice the difference in how much more of my effort goes into the stroke. Maybe that effect is amplified with solid sole road shoes.

So if there's any improvement I think it comes from the shoes more than anything else.

I'm sorry if that's a bit vague. :-)

MinnMan

True, and he doesn't know what he's missing. IMHO focusing on "will it make me faster/stronger/etc." is besides the point. Clipless riding is a different and, for many of us, a superior experience - feeling connected to the bike.

Why the OP posted in the first place is beyond me unless he is clipless-curious and perhaps a little inhibited.

Leinster

You aren't going to "feel" a pull-up difference. But something I started to find when I first rode with toe-clips way in the way-back, is that on steep, out-of-the-saddle climbs, I was able to lift with my trailing foot as I pushed down with my leading foot and work the 2 sides together.

You are right that the major difference with proper cycling shoes over running shoes is the stiff sole. When I bike in runners, I can feel my foot flopping about the place and the soles bending, whereas my road shoes make the pedal platform effectively the same size as my foot, especially when attached to the pedal itself.

AlmostTrick

No.

This is coming from a rider who regularly rides bikes with clipless, platforms, and toe clips with straps.

MinnMan

You've got to squeeze every drop of performance out of the Orange Krate, I'm sure.

MRT2

I wouldn't say that. Before going to clipless, I used mountain biking shoes (without cleats) and toe clips. Then I made the switch and bought a pair of clipless pedals and installed the SPD cleats on my mountain shoes. Much better.

AlmostTrick

Thank you, and well played!

Stucky

Yeah, you're pulling up slightly- but it's not contributing any power. It's just unloading the pedal which is in the upstroke. You can do the same thing with straps; or with no retention at all- it's just that with retention, you *feel* like you're pulling up.

Leinster

We've been through this before and you're still wrong. The pull-up makes very little difference, if any, in high-rpm spinning situations, and is not more efficient than just pushing down. But it makes a big difference in low-rpm, high-torque situations, such as when climbing a very steep gradient or accelerating from a near stop when in a high gear.

Stucky

Well, we'll have to agree to disagree on that.... I feel myself sometimes "pulling up" as I ride the hills...but believe me, it's doing nothing.