Originally Posted by
GuyForget
It's been proven that the differences are incredibly small, and if you just learn how to pedal you don't need any expensive pedals and shoes that people try to make you feel like you need.
Whatever a person is currently using is what they will say is the best, otherwise they will feel like they've wasted their money. *Of course* when a person goes out and spends $100 on something they will "feel" a huge difference. Clipless might make some inexperienced cyclists feel like they are so much faster, but it's all in their head unless they have very poor technique.
100 bucks for perceived change is a great deal though, especially if it'll make or break whether someone sticks with it or not. Continuing to believe it makes a difference and throwing more money at it later for more space-aged shoes would be a true waste (which does seem to happen often), but I'm all for people trying out low-end clipless systems.