> Concerts? Interesting. I'm a band director.

cool; I was just talking about attending concerts, not playing at them. Generally rock concerts, where I can't really take all my stuff in with me, and where a bunch of drunks are likely to be hanging around outside.

> I had that on my old bike but since I was always using the bike shoes, I didn't like the hassle of trying to get the right side up!

I wear Cannondale "mountain bike" shoes where the cleat is completely recessed, so they work just fine on the platform side.

About speed, you're right, it's hard to quantify what kind of effect you might get from clipping in. Feel free to start a new thread asking for opinions on that matter. There are just so many other variables, not least of which are wind, fitness, and just how energized you feel on a particular day. I would think that over a short distance (20 miles or less), I'd get almost no advantage. I figure that it's only longer distances that the clips help, because then I'm not using any energy to keep my feet connected to the pedals, so I have more energy over the long term to put towards pedaling. Though I value speed, I also ride with heavy tires and rims, fenders, front and rear racks, etc., and figure it's just up to me to overcome that extra weight. A 17-19 mph average moving speed is a pretty decent clip, but I'm sure most of your improvement has to do with your increased fitness, and you'd stay about the same if you went back to platforms.

> Interesting. Is your route pretty smooth?

Well, I'm always on roads, but conditions vary a good bit. Generally if I'm going to be hitting something that will cause bouncing, I can see it in advance and rise slightly off the saddle, so I don't think road conditions really have much of an effect on soreness for me. I've always figured it's just the constant pressure that causes soreness, and that's what you get used to over time. Oh, and my touring bike came with 700x28C tires, but I switched them to 700x38C, because the 28s just made rough roads too jarring; not for my rear specifically, just overall.

I've done several rides of 75-80 miles without padded shorts and no ill effects. My work commute is short (3.5 miles), but I'll do a trip around 20 miles each way about once a week. Irritation and chafing come up way ahead of soreness/bruising as potential problems, so I still do try to slim-fitting shorts with good seam placement. I would definitely be wary of riding a long distance with swimming trunks jammed and bunched inside lycra...I think I'd ride with no shorts before trying that! But that's just me, maybe my rear is just less susceptible to brusing than most peoples'.

> someone can take the helmet and replace the padding and straps if they think it is icky.

heh...I didn't even think of the "ick-factor". I was only thinking about the "dork-factor"!