Originally Posted by
chucky
Despite what less demanding riders might think, being clipped in IS NOT always best. Rain, cold, and lack of maintenance gum up the spring mechanism which transforms "confidence" in being able to unclip into "false confidence". It not a lack of unclipping being second nature that's the problem, but the nature of the beast itself.
I don't think you're right about weather gumming up clipless pedals. These guys (cyclocross racers) ride clipless despite being literally coated with mud, not to mention running through mud in their shoes.
If clipless pedals hold up to that stuff (and I've heard that they do, though Time and Crank Brothers seem to be better at it than Shimano spd's), I think the stuff you run into in a commute isn't going to be a problem.
I personally ran clipless all last winter, living in Minnesota where there's plenty of snow and road gunk. They never seemed to change their ability to clip in and out (not my mountain pedals at least).
With good pedals, as they wear they become easier to clip out of (which is a problem for people sprinting all-out on their bike, but not usually commuters).
Originally Posted by
chucky
It's also a fact that no matter how great one's skills are unclipping will never be as fast or easy as simply removing feet from pedals and these micro delays and fatigues start to add up in situations which require more foot removals than actual pedal revolutions (such as filtering/crawling through heavy traffic), especially when compounded by imperfect mechanical operation of the clipless mechanism.
Clipless is certainly never going to be faster than platform pedals, whether it's "as fast" is another issue. I've never ridden through traffic where I was taking my feet on and off the pedals more often than I actually completed a single revolution of the pedals though.
Originally Posted by
chucky
Full platform pedals with platform shoes aren't an option because platforms aren't always best either. For example after averaging 15 mph over 30 miles of potholes and heavy urban traffic even the effort of keeping one's feet on the pedals becomes significant from which foot retention provides relief. This is really the only benefit to being clipped in as studies show that foot retention doesn't actually produce more power.
There aren't any "studies" that say that foot retention doesn't actually produce more power, that's just absurd. There's a debate about whether it produces "significantly" more power and whether it's worth it, yes.
I understand what you're saying about being attached to the pedals. But if you believe that clipless doesn't help with power consider that the pedals with pins come from bmx riders, and they're doing so crazy crazy stuff where they're in the air and need to come down with their feet on the pedals (they also use extra grippy shoes - "5-10" makes a lot of them). To do that, pins must provide a pretty solid grip on the pedal.
Originally Posted by
chucky
I considered powergrips, but my concern is that they won't work well with sandals, which I find indespensible in winter due to their ability to accommodate layers of socks. Do you guys think powergrips will hurt the tops of my feet?
You use sandals in the winter? Maybe I'm confused...do you live in a nice warm place like Florida or something where "winter" means lots of rain? Makes sense then...