Originally Posted by
coasting
it does make a huge difference on climbs. i ride a bike with clipless and one with platform and the same hill will be easy on one and damn hard with extra effort required on the other.
Agreed. Unless you are racing uphill and out of the saddle, there is no reason why you can't pedal 360. I use small hills or low grades as training ops, and pedal only by "trying to pull my feet out of my shoes" rather than pushing down. Works well to build muscles that don't often get a real good, hard workout.