Originally Posted by
ShannonM
Well, I'm not going to question your choice of pedals, but I am going to question your buckling down of your toe straps. Why you do dis?
IMNVHO, the only time this should be done is when the toe strap is being used to secure non-foot things to non-pedal parts of the bicycle. For toe straps being used to secure feet to pedals, leave them free. Better yet, use toe strap buttons, which makes tightening them down, when you want to do that, much easier.
As far as efficiency goes, no study of which I am aware has ever shown a difference between any cycling shoe / cleat / clipless pedal configuration and any cycling shoe / cleat / toe clip / strap / pedal configuration, which is the only fair comparison. The reasons clipless pedals took over so quickly were: (1) Full retention without having to tighten your straps and occasionally getting tingly toes and (2) hands-free release at stop lights. Emergency releases didn't really enter into it... if you were gonna crash, you were gonna crash, and your feet were gonna do what they were gonna do, and it didn't really matter which setup you used.
--Shannon
I'm not sure if any studies are actually necessary but if there's any question about which is more efficient and provides greater power transfer, could you name a single pro road rider in the last 30 years who uses toe clips? Here is a quote from a 2009 interview with Eddy Merckx in nyvelocity.com:
What products have recently been introduced that excite you and what do you see on the horizon that will change the way people ride?
"Over the years the shift from toeclips to clipless pedals and the integrated shifting solutions of different brands are the 2 major ideas that changed the way people ride in a very spectacular way. For now I don’t see another product or concept having such a great impact."
I own 9 bikes, 6 have Shimano SPD, 2 have cages, 1 has neither. I can tell you without a doubt that it's a lot easier to get your foot off a clipless pedal than it is trying to extricate it from inside a cage. Also, since your comparison includes cycling shoes, I do not recommend using cages with nice, expensive cycling shoes: the metal cages will quickly chew up the leather.