Originally Posted by
IsleRide
Isn't this a C&V thread?
I had a drawer full of various SPD pedals. Finally threw them all away. I ride various flat touring pedals with half-clips. Liberating.
I also switched away from clipless completely. Five Ten flat bike shoes use a special grippy rubber compound that really grabs on metal pins, DMR Vault Pedals are large slightly curved and the most comfortable pedal I've ever used. It was freeing that my feet no longer got numb on rides, it was freeing that I could walk around off the bike in flat comfortable shoes when I biked to a destination.
If I was stand-up-pull-with-the-hamstrings-all-out-sprinting in races I might prefer clipless, but I'm not, and there's no performance difference for the rest of biking...nice to not have to mentally remember that I'm clipped in, nice to drive to group rides and not have to change shoes, nice to bike to a destination and walk around for an hour comfortably in normal flat shoes.