Originally Posted by
FunkyStickman
This is the truth. I guess I get in a huff about it because so many people insist you have to have clipless, especially the roadies, and it's just not true. Just because they can't live without carbon and clipless doesn't mean it's the only way. It bothers me when people do that in cycling... the truth is, most noobs asking whether they need clipless or not haven't been riding long enough to know either way. I know people who switched and now swear by 'em, and then there's people like me who could care less. I just don't see the need.
The correct answer is: "You don't need them, but they make a big difference in feel. Whether or not you'll like that difference depends on your pedaling technique, cycling style, and so forth. Try them and see."
Originally Posted by
FunkyStickman
Ugh! Just this morning, saw people posting in the Road Bike forum about how clipless will "make you faster and is more efficient." Groan.
If you couldn't care less and you think it's a personal choice...as you first posted...then why are you getting your knickers in a such a knot about whether or not people use clipless?
Clipless pedals
do offer advantages over toe clips just as toe clips offer advantages over nonclipped (would that make them clipless clipless pedals
) platform pedals. Toe clips and clipless offer a better connection to the bike over platform pedals. That means less possibility of slipping off the pedal in all kinds of situations where you don't want to slip off the pedals. They offer more efficiency while pedaling because even though the anti-clipless crowd says that you don't pull up on the pedals, you really do, especially when sprinting up to speed and it situations that call for more power like hill climbing and pedaling out of the saddle.
Clipless pedals, especially double sided mountain bike pedals, offer the advantage over toe clips of not having to flip the pedals and/or tightening the straps to secure the pedal/foot connection. If you don't want to clip into the clipless pedals, you can just misalign your foot a little and pedal. If you don't want to get into clipped pedals you have to deal with scraping the toeclip on the ground.
Then there is the comfort issue. Clipless pedals
are more comfortable then clipped pedals. If, in an attempt to gain some efficiency and security, you tightened your straps with clipped pedals, the strap creates a pressure point across the top of the foot...I rode for 15+ years in toe clips so I know a little about them
Clipless pedals have some other hot spot issues but at least the shoes fit across the top of your foot more comfortably.
Originally Posted by
FunkyStickman
T. Why on Earth would anybody care what kind of pedals you use?
Liability? Someone one on one of their tours probably crashed when their foot slipped off a platform and crashed. Or they may have had someone crash into a vehicle or object while trying to flip up a toe clip.
Or maybe the company wants to ensure that the riders on their ride are at a certain skill level. While saying that everyone on the ride has to use clipless may seem silly, it's the touring company's choice. If you don't want to abide by their conditions, you don't have to pay money to use their services.
I also noticed that you ride clipped pedals on your chopper bike on your signature line. You don't seem to use them normally, so why do it or a 115 mile ride? Efficiency? Comfort? Choice? Advantages?