Originally Posted by
jefnvk
Actually, after a second ride, this is the definition I think fits most appropriately!
I'll start with the lady at the parking lot on Friday when I took the bike out with the MKS Quill platform pedals.
From there on back, it seems like many with clipless have just as much need to tell me how I am missing out, even more frequently than people want to let me know my shoes are untied. Friends that went to Iceland on a tour with me, who really didn't cycle before the trip, couple group rides I did this spring, few other cyclists at the bar I ride to after work.
If you ride fast - sprint out of the saddle, 100 RPM seated climbs, fast pace lines or technical singletrack - then you at missing out.
The incessant focus on pedaling efficiency in threads like this is part of the same blindness which causes those who discuss tires to focus almost exclusively on rolling resistance. Control is a better reason to use clipless, especially in the type of riding mentioned above, than is speed.
Mountain biking and riding fixed gear are perfect examples. Riding fixed on the road with no foot retention is suicidal. At high rpm the pedals can become egg heaters ant the Single speed/Fixed gear forum is full of stories.
It's fine if people who don't ride agressively want to use platform pedals but there are reasons why so many who ride hard like them and efficiency is low on the list. Those who ride hard and refuse to go cliess are missing out on the safety of extra control.
-Tim-