Burglar

I ride Crank Brothers Candy pedals and Shimano touring shoes (look like road shoes, but have a recessed cleat for easier walking). Clipping in and out became completely intuitive after a month or so. I don't even think about it anymore. It just happens. I fell once when I was stopping. Had to shift my weight at the last second... I was probably going about .5mph. No big deal.

I bought a cheap bike for commuting earlier this year. It had olde timey toe clips/straps. I was planning on just using them so I wouldn't have to leave an extra pair of shoes at work. I rode them for a week and gave up because I absolutely hated it. It was way harder and more awkward to maneuver my feet in and out of the straps than it is to just... step on the SPD pedal, and twist off of it. Sorry I don't have any charts or calculations as to exactly how much harder and more awkward it was... so "way" harder will have to do. the commuter bike how has a set of Crank Bros as well.

Last week I was on vacation. I FORGOT TO PACK MY CYCLING SHOES. So I went to an LBS and bought cheap flat pedals. It was awful. My feet slipped off the pedals a couple of times. Climbing was way way harder. And my feet hurt so bad after 20 miles (from the soft soles) that I had to stop.

I can't imagine not riding clipless anymore. Unless it's a slow, easy less-than-five mile ride or something.

MRT2

I have a set of Shimano pedals that I use on my hybrid, and a set of Wellgo pedals I used on my vintage touring bike. I have a pair of Nike SPD mountain bike shoes I bought on closeout from a LBS 5 years ago. If you do spinning, you can use the shoes for that, even if you decide not to use them for outdoor riding.

Ooompa Loompa

I just got clipless pedals on Monday, and just got back from my first "longish" ride with them (18 miles). The first few short rides I had with them I didn't really feel too much different. But today was completely different....I was attacking hills 2 or 3 gears higher than I normally do and it still felt easier than before. This 18 mile loop is a loop I do regularly, and I smashed every single previous record I had on Strava. My overall speed increased, top speed increased and I hit a PB on every segment. I got back and looked at my stats and couldn't believe it. I regret having waited so long to go clipless.

contango 

Just sniffing around the interwebz looking for information on clipless pedals. It looks like the Shimano M324 that I was looking at has picked up a few good reviews and a lot of comments saying they aren't adjustable without a tool that costs more than the pedals. I also read something else that suggests the 105 SPD-SL can be used as a platform pedal as well as a clipless pedal.

Does anyone know if that's true, and if you can still walk in the shoes that would clip into such a pedal? If walking more than a few steps in the cleated shoes is a hassle it rather blows out the entire product for me.

chasm54

No, it isn't true. The SPD-SL (I use them on my road bikes) is a full road pedal which requires road shoes/cleats that are difficult to walk in, and if you do walk far you start to wear down the cleats.

Look at the Shimano PD A520, or PD A530, or PD M985. They all work with shoes with recessed cleats in which walking is fine.

Mithrandir

First I would like to state for the record that I love clipless.

That being said, there are falling issues. As a clyde we fall harder than most. I've injured my knee falling in clipless before, leading to a month of minimized movement. Wasn't fun.

Mithrandir

So here's my take. Don't go with clipless if you're looking for speed. I've found the mythical claims of 'an extra 1-2 mph' to be completely false in my experience. That being said, clipless has done wonders for my form. I can pedal up to 110 rpm for intervals and have no issues maintaining balance. Before clipless, I felt 'sloppy' past 85rpm or so. Now I routinely average 90 whereas before 75-80 was my norm.

In theory this will make longer distances easier. The idea is that the faster you spin, the more you use your heart and the less you use your leg muscles, and your heart is more attuned to running for long periods of time. I haven't tried any really long rides this year yet, so I cannot verify if this is true however.

You will fall in clipless. Everyone does. It won't be at first either. When I first got them I was a little concerned but as soon as I got on the bike, my foot magically found the pedal and clicked in instantly. I didn't fall for almost a month. For the first month they felt alien to me and it was impossible to not be aware of them.

Then one day I got used to them and forgot I was wearing them. That's when you'll fall, when you first get used to them. You will fall, and there will be people around to see it. It's one of the laws of the universe. It wasn't so bad really.

After 6 months though, I cannot remember what platforms were like, and don't want to go back.

contango 

Thanks for that - looking at the pictures I could see it looked like they'd probably be uncomfortable without cleats, and recessed cleats probably wouldn't engage. The A530 looks good, and also seems to be a better product than the M324 based on the reviews I'm seeing.

Chainreactioncycles lists the A530 as a road pedal but the M324 as an MTB pedal. Are the cleat systems the same between the two pedals? From the pictures I can see they look much the same?

chasm54

I believe the cleat systems are the same but the A530 has a flat side so you can use it as a platform without cleats. I imagine they market it as a road pedal principally because that offers flexibility for just riding around town without changing your shoes.

contango 

The M324 also has a flat side, although a few reviews have rated it quite badly for being almost impossible to service and rusting. That said one of the guys at my LBS uses them and rates them highly. Personally I don't think they look as nice as the A530, and although I'm more into function than form if everything else is equal I'll go with the one that looks nicer.

Drew Eckhardt 

No. It reduces your power in the vast majority of situations because you're aerobically limited and gross metabolic efficiency is significantly lower when pulling.

In practice gravity pulling your front leg down does a fine job counter-balancing the pedal pushing your back leg up.

These guys have a slide summarizing the Korff study on the subject (and others on crank length, etc.):

https://www.plan2peak.com/files/32_ar...gTechnique.pdf

It positively locates the ball of your foot in the most comfortable location, keeps you from slipping off with wet weather and/or high RPMs (you'll get the most power sprinting at 110-120 RPM), and has negligible impact on the time to get out compared to traditional toe clips + straps + cleats.

That's decidedly more pleasant.

10 Wheels

Armstrong once did a test to check out the difference.
He lost 1%.

Here is a good one:

"many years the record at the Australian sports institute for pedaling power was held by Nathan Rennie…on flat pedals. He could produce more power than anyone else who came through their doors, including clipped in track cyclists. Seems that the whole “clipless pedals let you produce significantly more power” argument is more of an urban myth than fact."

https://www.bikejames.com/strength/so...eam-yeti-camp/

Spoonrobot 

Thanks for the link.

TacomaSailor

I am at a total loss when trying to understand the concerns about using clipless pedals. I have been riding street and mountain bikes since the early '80s with clipless pedals. I ride over 4000 miles a year and have never, ever, ever had an accident of any kind that was caused by not being able to unclip as needed.

I ride in heavy urban traffic and very technical mountain terrain and have never once thought that being firmly attached to my bike was a problem. I have been involved in many biking accidents where I have fallen hard and sometimes the pedals have not released yet I have never suffered an injury due to staying clipped in.

My wife started serious road and dirt riding in about 1988 and immediately started using SPD and Time pedals. She loved them and has never fallen because of her pedals.

I sometimes ride my mountain bike with platform pedals and do understand why some people would like that style more than using clipless pedals. But - I am convinced that safety is not an issue in the difference between platforms and clipless.

I rode for 25 years before clipless using either toe straps or no straps so I do know what riding without out cleats is like. But, I am convinced that clipless pedals are safe and make me feel better and more secure while riding fast and efficiently.

mprelaw

Actually, they're not all that bad to walk in, as road cleats go. And they hold up pretty well.

steve2k

I have the A530 pedals and although they look a bit rusty in bits, after 2 years living outside I think they've done well. They need oiling frequently or I end up stuck in them.

They tend to hang cleat side up, so they're easy to clip in to, but you need to kick the pedal over with your toe if you're in normal shoes.

Overall I think they've been good, better than my previous ones and I'd buy they again. Sometimes I commute to work and like being clipped in, sometimes I'm just pottering round the block with my son and just want normal shoes.

teresamichele

I was convinced before reading this thread I needed to go clipless but now I'm totally not sure. I was going to get them for the extra speed I thought I'd be getting but it doesn't sound like that's the case.

goldfinch

I am absolutely no faster with the clipless and have gone back and forth on pedals. I do favor the clipless for other reasons. It is easier for me to spin fast, my feet stay firmly on the pedals. Also, my feet would get tired and develop hot spots when I use regular pedals or pedals with power grips and even my Ergon pedals (want to see my pedal collection?). So, I can go further with the clipless. That may in part be a function of the good stiff shoe that is part of the clipless system. However, I do ride my hybrid with a mountain bike shoe I picked up, which has a nice stiff sole. I still get the tired feet/hot spot issue after about 30 miles.

JakiChan

My SO had a bad fall he blames on clipless pedals. As a still kinda-big guy (I may only weigh 250 but my brain still thinks I'm 460) I'm very afraid of falling. And I know I'll fall once - everyone says so.

Seve

Yes, anytime you are balancing on 2 wheels, bicycle or otherwise you will eventually lay it down. So regardless of what anyone says, your fear of falling [losing balance] is not not irrational.

I don't have any idea whether or not being clipped in contributes to that or not?

My sense is that it does matter when first using the pedal and cleats. For those that have been using them for years, I don't think it's a factor whatsoever.

bigfred 

I've been riding a bicycle when my feet came off the pedals and I subsequently crashed. It would have been a much safer situation if I had had some method of keeping my feet attached to the pedals, but, which would have allowed me to remove my feet if I made even a subconsious attempt.

teresamichele

True. When I did the triathlon last year, there was a reasonable downhill towards the end. I coasted down it and at the end my feet went flying off the platform pedals. Whoops.

I'm still of mixed feelings. On one hand, it sounds like a great idea for people who are ONLY cycling. Using your whole leg? Great idea - you'll wear out slower. However, since my cycling is part of a triathlon, the fact that cycling with platforms uses a different set of muscles than running is sort of the point.

I'm going to ask around and see what other triathletes - clyde and not - say and go from there.

bigfred 

I suspect that in the shorter (sprint) length tri's, cycling shoes and cleatless pedals aren't worth the additional transition time. I've seen tri specific "platforms" that support more of the sole than normal pedals and provide straps for foot retention. I have no idea at what point the additional transition time of moving into and out of cycling specific shoes has any benefit. It's been 25 years since i've done a tri.

teresamichele

Do you have a link or something to back that up? I'm just curious because I mentioned it to the guy at my LBS last night and he said he'd be interested in seeing when Lance did this.

mprelaw

If it were true, why would he have continued to use clipless pedals? At that level, you take any edge you can find, and if clipless pedals cost you even 1% of an edge, why the heck would anyone--let alone the guy at the top of the game--use them?