Originally Posted by
RobotGuy
For years I was a platform-only guy on my road bike mostly due to knee surgeries and fear of being clipped in and retearing something. For the past 7-8 years my knees have been great so I tried clipless ... and would never go back. Platforms are comfy when out cruising (I still wear them when out with the kids) but between foot fatigue from soft soles (when grinding up hills or going hard) and the lack of really being able pull down through and back up the back side of the pedal stroke, I really felt a big difference in efficiency.
If it were me, I’d look into modern platform / clipless combo pedals. Some of them have rally big wide platforms.
I won't argue that I 'feel' more efficient with SPD's....but it's a common myth that clipless helps people "pull up" resulting in better performance/efficiency/etc.
It can help at the top to kick over and bottom to scrape and to hold your foot in a proper position through the pedal stroke...thats about it. In reality, flat pedals offer 98% of the performance of clips once you are used to them.