I have yet to make the transition to anything but normal flat pedals for my 5-mile each way commute. (Is that the same as platform pedals? I not even sure of the terminology.) I wear normal sneakers in the summer and boots in the winter. In both cases, I have casual dress shoes that I wear only at at work and leave them there all the time. (I used to bring them home on weekends, but that got tiresome.)

I suppose I could at least get straps, but never having used anything but flat, I don't know what I'm missing, so I don't miss it.

I had toe clips last fall. When the weather was under 10C I got some frozen feet with my clipless shoes and covers. So I switched my clipless pedals on to my commuter and my feet were warm. Now I wish I had the 100 bucks to get another pedal set for both bikes. Time ATACs by the way.

JohnBrooking: flat pedals = platform pedals

I am also clipless. I just wear regular shoes, I have never had a problem riding clipless.

I never have any problems. Guess you get use to it. Sort of being in a Habit of clipping in.
As far as you "test riding" with the M324, that would be a hard call. Took me a long time to get the "tension" just right on the Pedals for releasing/holding my cleats. So I would not judge too quick on a test ride. But it is all about what YOU like...

I like having the Platform side also, for riding with the kiddos down to the pool in the summer, dayum, it must be summer somewhere?

Sure one gets used to it. The main issue I had was having to flip the pedal half the time to clip in which meant actually having to look down to see which way it was (or fail half the time then flip). I never look at my feet usually. I have my tension set to max, so that wasn't an issue.
I only wear sandals when riding so clipless works for me for both 1/4mi to coffee shop or 100mi weekend rides.
Al

i was going flat for a couple months, but when i switched back to clipless for long ride, my calves hurt. i hadn't been really using 'em.

in short, clipless for upkeep on the muscles.

Clipless. I have two road bikes. On my main commuter I put double-sided SPD mountain bike pedals on my commuter so I could just stomp and go at the intersections. And I wear PI mtb shoes since they're a lot easier to walk in the lobby and up the stairs. I hide several pairs of dress shoes under my desk.

On my go-fast bike, I've got Ultegra pedals, which are actually big and flat enough to ride in street shoes.

?? Why can't you pull with toe clips? I always did. I'm not finding myself pulling any more with SPD than with clips.

When I put them on my bike, I had been using toe clips for a couple of years. It took me zero time and zero falls to get used to them.

Ditto. I think all these stories of falling when learning clipless are from those transitionig from platfrom to clipless, not clipped to clipless. I found clipless to be much easier than clips.

Al

I'm not an every-day commuter, and I've been doing it on and off for about a year now. Being in school, my schedule sometimes requires me to drive to get places in short time windows, but other days I can take my time and go by bike (which I prefer when the weather is not awful)

Distances:
home/office: 4 miles one way
home/campus: 7 miles one way
office/campus: 12 miles one way
home/beer store: 1.5 miles one way

So far I've been on platforms/quills and didn't really mind it, but I was also commuting on a tallbike a lot of the time and had more critical things to be paying attention to.

Now that I'm riding a retro-direct touring-style bike a lot, I decided to try clipless to see how it helps the backwards pedaling. I ordered a pair of cheaper Nashbar SPD pedals over the weekend and picked up a pair of Shimano MO21 shoes the other day. I usually ride in toe clips on New Balance running shoes, which is undesirable because of the width of the sole, which doesn't fit nicely in the clips/straps and results in me scraping my heels against the cranks and chain stays if I don't seat the shoes outwards against the limits of the straps before taking off.

I've been wearing the Shimanos around to work and school since I bought them and they are actually pretty darn reasonable to walk in. My employer doesn't mind me coming in to work dressed in mildly sweaty street clothes and whatever footwear I like as long as I don't look or smell too much like a hobo and we don't have clients in the office. My coworkers know that when there's a bike propped against the cube, I'll probably look and smell a bit rustic.

Steel toe shoes on platform pedals on my 10 mile round trip commute. Work boots in winter, low shoes in summer. Less hassel this way and I don't have to worry about my toes if I have a mishap.

Bent.

Clipless pedals and regular street shoes. I ride like this so much I still have trouble clipping out at stoplights even though it's been 6-7 years.

Clip.less. I've eggbeater candy C pedals.

I ride clipless, and tend to wear my spd shoes while at work.

I'm in the same boat. One of my coworkers asked me why I wear my spd shoes, is it to let everone know that I road my bike. What I think is funny is I'll be standing there wearing my SPD shoes, helmet on top of my desk, gloves on top of the monitor, Timbuk2 bag hanging off the back of the chair... and people will still ask if I rode the bike.

That is part of the problem with having our bikes geared for serious riding. I presently have no utility bike. My wife ran over it with a car. So I have to walk about stores in Look shoes. Might as well completely look the part of a cyclist. Look shoes and jeans would really look weird.

Same here. I also shower at work when I ride in.

Howdy y'all. Have you considered Power Grips? Its a strap that is easily atached to you existing pedal and you get that connected to your machine feeling and control but in your street and/or work shoes. I was skeptical when my LBS suggested them when I switched to full time commuting. I love them and I don't have to carry extra shoes. I also like that off stop signs and lights I can get going quickly with a quick stomp on the strap or the strapless side without the hassle of finding the clip or having it scrape on the asphalt. I like my dress shoes shiny at work and the strap has not messed them up yet.

I have to change shoes when I get to work anyway, so yes I do wear MTB shoes with SPD cleats to commute. I would probably ride clipless and change shoes even if I could wear athletic shoes at work since I have a 30 mile round trip.

Clipless SPD, but I'll prolly switch to ATB Pedals soon.

clipless always.

I consider their safety value to be worth far more than the inconvenience of having to change shoes.

On that note, I am a fan of SPD or eggbeater style cleats, compared to the giant road-cleats out there. For daily duty, I found that mountain "sneaker style" shoes are more comfortable.

I commute 10 miles over hilly terrain on a racing bike. Ain't no way I'm riding with anything but my cycling shoes. I only commute once or twice a week by bike (that's the max I can do because of family obligations-I trade off picking up my son with my wife so she can work out on the days I don't ride) and I take my clothes in the day before so I'm not lugging a 5-6 lb pack on my back.

Sometimes I try to sprint the distance if I'm feeling good to try to lower my time (of course, lights and traffic always seem to conspire against me).

I ride with SPD-SL, Dura-Ace 7800 pedals and Specialized shoes...full spandex kit of course.

To say nothing of nailing dogs with those boots I've tried riding with safety boots and felt they were too heavy and stiff. What kind do you use?

Indeed they are not the same thing. A platform pedal is technically a type of pedal designed specifically for use with toe clips. They are one-sided use only, with a platform on the toe clip side for the rider's shoe. Most high-performance pedals of the toe clip era were platform pedals. Nowadays, lots of people use the term to refer inaccurately to plain pedals, which are your basic pedals without toe clips, to the point that platform and plain pedals are now pretty much synonyms. In other words, they weren't the same thing, but now they are, so I guess you can keep calling them platform pedals if you want.

Um, anyway, I used toe clips while I commuted to my part-time job, and when cruising around campus. Now that I don't have that job and don't need to go more than a mile or so beyond my campus on a regular basis except by bus, my touring bike is at my parents's house, and I'm cruising around campus on my beater, with plain rattrap pedals. I love toe clips, and will soon be making the transition to clipless on my nice bike (thanks, max-a-mill!), but I actually prefer the plain pedals on campus, where I don't need to worry about getting in and out of clips every two minutes or so.

Same here. When I think of it -- and that's not often -- I leave my shoes and clothes at work the day before I ride. I only commute two days a week so far because of client calls that require the car, but I always change at work (Shimano Look-style pedals and cleats).

I don't know. I rode with clips for many many years and switched to clipless a few years ago. It didn't take much to get used to them but I did fall over once due to my own stupidity by not clipping out early enough one time as I pulled to a stop in my own driveway. I think it's inevitable that you will fall over while clipped in.