Originally Posted by
PaulRivers
Lol, I live in Minnesota, and about a month ago hit a really long section of the LRT trail in St Louis parked where they did a crap-tastic job of plowing it. It was all bumpy rutted, nasty...etc. I had to make it through...made my usual 30 minute trip into an hour and a half trip.
Did the whole thing using clipless, clipped in. I think it actually helped - better control of the bike with my feet attached to the pedals. The conditions were so bad I had to deflate my tires to about 15psi and I think I was traveling about 5mph.
It's like someone else said about mountain bikers - of all people, they would have the most need to be able to put their foot down. And they all still use clipless. It's sort of a matter of getting used to it.
Yes the trails were often terrible, but roads near my house were worse and being roads with traffic, - more dangerous.
There's a couple of differences between mountain biking and commuting. Serious mountain bikers are often dealing with huge drops and other situations where being clipped in is a real advantage if not a must. And if they fall over riding in the woods they don't need to worry about a tailgating SUV turning them into speed bump.
Maybe next year I'll try clipless in the winter and become a believer, -or a frozen pancake.