Originally Posted by
sstorkel
Tell me: when was the last time somebody won the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France, or the Vuelta a Espana using platform pedals? Or clips and straps? What about the IronMan World Championship in Hawaii? Heck, when was the last time somebody competed in one of those events using such ancient pedal technology? If your claim is to be believed wouldn't at least a couple of people in those races be using something other than clipless pedals? Perhaps these athletes, who care more about power efficiency than just about anyone, have figured out that clipless pedals actually are more efficient? I'm not sure what studies you're referring to, since you conveniently forgot to provide any references, but I highly doubt that they involve sending hundreds of power-meter equipped riders out to ride for 4-8 hours/day for three weeks at a time...
Racers use the products their sponsers pay them to use. Those sponsers like for racer wannabe's to believe that the latest greatest product they are selling will make them as fast as a 140 pound athlete capable of producing 400+ watts of power for five hours...
So let me repeat for you and anyone else with some curiosity on the subject. There are at least two (all I could find when I looked last year) papers published in peer reviewed journals that reported no significant power differences with riders using different pedal styles (clip, clip less, and platform)... Don't take my word (or your beliefs otherwise) simply put a little effort into it and look up the papers. In another discussion on this subject, another poster claimed that he found one of the papers online, but only the abstract was available for free. A simple visit to you local University library would garner you access for free (at least it did for me)...
If/when you (or anyone else) actually reads those papers and then would like to have an informed discussion just let me know. Till then feel free to believe whatever you want. I understand that placebo's do frequently have a positive effect.
Originally Posted by
sstorkel
Good for you! Now show me some power meter data that proves you know what you're talking about with respect to efficiency, power output, etc.
First, you were the one who claimed that your cadence required clip less pedals. Like your anecdotal evidence, mine indicates otherwise. And while I don't bother with a power meter on any of my bikes, I do have three different pedal styles on those bikes; platform (MKS 3000 rubber block), clip (MKS GR-10 with VO half clips), and clip less (Shimano A520 SPD)... Each bike has a pedal choice that is aesthetically appropriate for its style. And asthetics appears to be the biggest selling point for clip less pedals; since it appears that many folks believe that because 'racers' use the technology it is what helps them go so much faster than they do...
Originally Posted by
sstorkel
Remember: you were the one who claimed it was desirable to travel with only a single pair of shoes. Now, you're claiming that you have a pair of shoes that's appropriate for pedaling, hiking and fine dining. Do tell: what miraculous shoe is this? Have forum-favorite Crocs released a line of rubber dress shoes? Perhaps Brooks Brothers have released a line of hiking wing-tips?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
These are my current pair and they work quite well for all of the above, though admittedly they would not necessarily cut it in a five star restaurant, but then neither would your clip less shoes...