Originally Posted by
bragi
You've opened the floodgates on this one, my friend.....
Let me add to the flooding then...
Originally Posted by
grindr82
Ill be riding 17 miles round trip about 6 days a week just to work. I can approximate that I will ride at least an additional 50 miles a week more in between work. Also I am new to this style of riding. I have ridden bikes all my life, but always mountain bikes or bmx bikes. So the thought of clipless pedals is intimidating
The benefit of clipless for such relatively short commute will be negligible. Heck, the benefits of clipless pedals over flat ones are generally negligible unless you're a racer or religiously believe that clipless make you a better cyclist (they don't, BTW). You may even find them annoying if you have to stop often. However, if you insist on being cool and commute with clipless then get SPDs pedals. As already said: they're easier to clip in an out and the shoes are actually walkable.
Originally Posted by
ZCow
To me, I commuted one week (30 miles rt) with platforms and it was horrible.
Obviously, you've been doing something terribly wrong. People toured the world with flat pedals and made it out just fine. It's not in the pedals, it's in your head. Or you had really crappy pedals
Originally Posted by
ZCow
I know people who have lost control of the bike on platforms due to rain and even oil from the roads.
An anecdote at best. I commuted with flat pedals in rain, snow, sludge, been splashed by cars and never ever, even once slipped. You just need the right platform pedals.
Originally Posted by
ZCow
You will not be sorry if you get clipless and it'll make the experience so much better.
Unless you fail to unclip in traffic then you may be really sorry.