Originally Posted by
electrik
So basically, the largest advantage, with clipless, is to be able to "go nuts" without worrying where your feet are on the pedal... I won't argue with that.
It has nothing to do with "going nuts." I said
sustained and
threshold.
Originally Posted by
electrik
However, the pulling up phase of the pedal stroke isn't going to and just can't generate much power when compared to the downstroke, simply because of the muscles involved(hip flexors and abdominals). I'm not sure why people think this is particularly so advantageous on a climb? Perhaps people exert themselves more on a hill, something not really specific to the grade of the road itself, thus clipless are an asset to keep their feet on the pedals. As for the "pulling back" part of the stroke that is also done on platform pedals with correct technique.
It is especially helpful for climbing because there is more penalty at the dead spot in the pedalstroke if you don't pull up
with your hamstrings to keep the momentum. Maybe the power isn't generated by the upstroke, but without the contribution it is much more difficult to generate and sustain threshold power. I'm not sure what your qualifications are here, but I've done millions of feet of climbing and have done much experimentation on the sibject.