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Clipless Pedals???

Old 04-14-13, 08:47 AM
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Clipless Pedals???

This is my first post here so if I'm doing anything wrong I apologize.
I currently ride a Leader 725, and I like to go fast. At my shop I notice a lot of those hardcore fixed dudes with the clip in shoes and pedals. Are they worth it? What is better about them than Velcro straps? I also ride a pretty big ratio, 52-14 if that makes a difference in the question.
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Old 04-14-13, 10:19 AM
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It's basically personal preferance like bar or saddle choice
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Old 04-14-13, 10:23 AM
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Originally Posted by HotPocketSlayer
This is my first post here so if I'm doing anything wrong I apologize.
I currently ride a Leader 725, and I like to go fast. At my shop I notice a lot of those hardcore fixed dudes with the clip in shoes and pedals. Are they worth it? What is better about them than Velcro straps? I also ride a pretty big ratio, 52-14 if that makes a difference in the question.
Are they worth it? Depends on how much you want to spend and if you want to get a pair of MTB pedals and shoes or Road pedals and shoes. You can walk around in MTB shoes, road shoes tend to be a little harder to walk around in and may require you to carry an extra pair of shoes.
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Old 04-14-13, 11:19 AM
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Yes they're worth it.

What's better with them? Everything.

52-14? Do you care about your knees? You must never climb anything ever.
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Old 04-14-13, 11:30 AM
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Originally Posted by HotPocketSlayer
I also ride a pretty big ratio, 52-14 if that makes a difference in the question.
It makes you an idiot. That's the major difference.
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Old 04-14-13, 11:31 AM
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Originally Posted by seau grateau
It makes you an idiot. That's the major difference.
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Old 04-14-13, 11:33 AM
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Originally Posted by Jaytron
52-14? Do you care about your knees? You must never climb anything ever.
That's big for flat ground.
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Old 04-14-13, 11:52 AM
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Originally Posted by Nagrom_
That's big for flat ground.
I was attempting to be "nice" hahaha
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Old 04-14-13, 11:53 AM
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Clipping into double sided pedals is a lot easier than trying to flip the pedal and catch the strap in one shot.
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Old 04-14-13, 12:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Jaytron
Yes they're worth it.

What's better with them? Everything.

52-14? Do you care about your knees? You must never climb anything ever.
I live in a hilly part of LA, so I do climb some serious hills.
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Old 04-14-13, 12:24 PM
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Originally Posted by HotPocketSlayer
I live in a hilly part of LA, so I do climb some serious hills.
Do you climb at the same speed as a snail?
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Old 04-14-13, 12:25 PM
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He does my kind of climbing. Downhill climbing.
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Old 04-14-13, 12:34 PM
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To run a 54/14 in the LA hills I would need some good walking shoes.
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Old 04-14-13, 12:47 PM
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Originally Posted by HotPocketSlayer
I do climb some serious hills.
Which ones, where?

Did you do a search? This forum has had many many clipless threads.

Last edited by hairnet; 04-14-13 at 12:52 PM.
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Old 04-14-13, 12:49 PM
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Your gearing is not related to the decision to get clipless or not, but what the others are suggesting is that you will be faster with a different ratio - a lot faster. Also, that tall a gear on hills puts a lot of strain on your knees so if you like riding fixed you might want to change it up so you can continue to ride fixed into the future. With a shorter ratio you will accelerate faster too.
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Old 04-14-13, 12:50 PM
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Overpasses.
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Old 04-14-13, 01:08 PM
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Anyone I know pushing over 48/15 can't do more than 10mi without blowing out.

I'd almost be wary of a 52/14 as a flying 200 gear.
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Old 04-14-13, 02:17 PM
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Originally Posted by Nitram612
Clipping into double sided pedals is a lot easier than trying to flip the pedal and catch the strap in one shot.
If you can't flip a peddle over and clip your shoe in, then stop biking. You probably aren't safe.
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Old 04-14-13, 02:29 PM
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Originally Posted by hairnet
Did you do a search? This forum has had many many clipless threads.
This.


Plenty of threads discussing the advantages/disadvantages of various types of clipless pedals vs. straps and so on... To answer your question, a combination of clipless road pedals and proper road shoes provides a significantly better power transfer than MTB pedals and shoes, let alone platforms and straps. Needless to say there might be other issues to consider, but well worth if you're merely looking for speed, particularly if you're mashing a high gear ratio.


NB
Please note that the forum convention advocates spinning over mashing, and divergence from forum conventions simply isn't accepted, hence the notorious attempt to get the old crowd trolling going. That said, running a 52/14 gear ratio in a hilly urban environment does seem rather extreme, but that's an entirely different discussion.
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Old 04-14-13, 03:02 PM
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Personally...

platforms/no straps < clips/straps < clipless pedals/dedicated shoes

I've never done mtb pedals/shoes. The spd pedals/shoes common with mtb seem to be better for city riding where frequent stops are common. Plus you can go with several of the chrome shoes and still look relatively normal.

For me, clips/straps as well as spd-sl pedals/shoes became second nature after a few rides.

There was a guy selling some mtb shoes and spd pedals in the For Sale section, think he only wanted $90 for the pair. Not sure what your foot size is, but that might be an economical way to try things out.
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Old 04-14-13, 07:25 PM
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Originally Posted by stryper
If you can't flip a peddle over and clip your shoe in, then stop biking. You probably aren't safe.
Uh I never said I couldn't do it. I find it a lot easier to clip into my SPD pedals on the first try where as with clips and straps I couldn't always nail it on the first rotation.
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Old 04-14-13, 07:34 PM
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Just started riding clipless recently after many years of using clips and straps or Holdfasts and platforms.

If you're doing urban riding, stop and start alot and want to wear regular shoes go with Holdfasts and platforms. To me these are by far the best solution.

If you are doing more dedicated rides where you're out for 20 miles+ at a time, then go clipless.

Really depends on how you use your bike. I've been doing more dedicated rides lately and clipless is great. But when I think about using my bike to do something else, a quick trip to the store or something, having to put on my clipless shoes is a disincentive.
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Old 04-14-13, 08:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Jaytron
52-14? Do you care about your knees? You must never climb anything ever.
The last time we did this, it eventually came out the kid (the one who 'dusted' someone on a tri bike at 40mph or something) was on 26" wheels.

OP: what size wheels?
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Old 04-15-13, 10:24 AM
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I ride a 44/15 setup, with clipless, on a 26 mile commute everyday. I hit some pretty decent hills, but it's not the size that really matters, it's the grade/steepness the matters to me. I find the clips definitely help on the climbs whether they are fairly steep or slow and steady. Besides my fixed gear bike, I also have an 81 Motobecane Jubilee Sport that still has the original 80's era toe clips on it, I don't think those pedals offer the same efficiency when it comes to climbing the steeper sections.

Mainly though, I wear clipless, because they're comfortable to me when I ride.

Originally Posted by nightfly
Really depends on how you use your bike. I've been doing more dedicated rides lately and clipless is great. But when I think about using my bike to do something else, a quick trip to the store or something, having to put on my clipless shoes is a disincentive.
I feel this way sometimes, there are alternativatives, some of the newer shoes are more comfortable off of the bike, and they do make pedal platforms that snap on the pedal. Never used them, but for short/quick rides on a relatively flat surface, they seem ok.

Last edited by OneGoodLeg; 04-15-13 at 10:29 AM.
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Old 04-15-13, 10:31 AM
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Originally Posted by stryper
If you can't flip a peddle over and clip your shoe in, then stop biking. You probably aren't safe.
If you're an adult who rides a bicycle and can't spell pedal, you may not be very safe either.

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