A second on the clipless/platform pedals.

pedals
 

I have commuted as much as 56 miles RT without the use of clip in pedals and my current commute is only 18 mile RT. I do this on a 1980's "two speed" road bike. I ride with Teva sandals and use 50/50 Crank Brothers pin pedals on one bike and cheap BMX cage pedals on the two speed. I've never had a foot slippage problem or a sore foot and finally, my toes don't get numb. I don't worry about having to walk even for miles if necessary. I never have to buy 'special' cycling shoes and with large surface area pedals I can and have used winter boots and even slippers for shorter trips under 3 miles. Don't fall for the 'high efficiency' concept, its a fallacy in my opinion, especially for a commuter.

Not this again......

Yeah, it's the, "I rode across three states daily, in sleet & hail, uphill and upwind both ways, on a 95-lb wrought iron push bike. Thus, new technology sucks."

:D

Well, I guess I will have to be on the other side. If I didn't have clipless pedals, I wouldn't ride the 1.5 mile trip, I'd take my car. Since I have arthritis in my left knee, if I try to pedal without clipless, my knee will hurt very much. It wouldn't be worth the pain. With clipless, I can pedal all day long.

You can do both, some pedals have clipless pedals for longer rides and the other side is a platform for those short trips. My commute is only 3 miles but I won't ever go platforms again!!

Well if that's what you want, the Road Cycling forum has it in spades!!

Seriously, though, this is the place to come for help and info.

It also depends on your riding style. Unlike other cyclists I don't have tree trunks for thighs so I have a compact crankset and try and keep a cadence of anything between 90-100. When I ride my old chromoly bike I am just not able to spin that fast without my feet slipping off. If I am riding to work or a friends house it's no problem for me to wear a backpack with shoes in it as I usually have stuff I need to bring anyway.

I have Look style cleats and it gets annoying if you just want to go down to the corner store or other trivial odd-jobs, so perhaps the one-side clipless / other side platform could be a good compromise? Alternatively get a SPD setup with some decent shoes and then you can wear them anywhere.

Yup, that's the idea. Either a two-sided pedal or one with a big, BMX-sized platform. Plus the small cleats that don't stick out from the soles too much.

I think folks say that if they had to put on "special" shoes everytime they'd ride less are funny. I gave you a link to Lake cycling, which is one manufacturer among many who offer shoes that only differ from regular street shoes by having a cleat and a touch more stiffness.

They way I see it you have to put some shoes on, might as well be comfy, good looking ones with a cleat, right?

I don't do a car, but run errands all the time on my bike with clipless pedals. I put the special shoes on every time, even to go 3 blocks...because, after all, I have to put some shoes on, right?

Also, I shower at the gym about 1 mi. from work and ride from there to work in my business casual outfit and dress shoes on Shimano 520s. It's not ideal, but it works just fine to pedal the short distance.

Bottom line is they all work, and it's what you enjoy. I like clipless lots, but I have an 18 mi. one way commute and I use my bike every day, including weekends (when I go on longer rides). Platforms are fine, as are Power Grips. Get what you like and what you'll enjoy.

One thing to consider is your commute always going to be 1.5 each way.
Take myself for example: I ride strait to work in the morning, trying to keep from starting to sweat ~ 3 mi ( Saves time, because of not having to shower). On the way home I get to really ride, up and around the lake or over into the country side for extra miles, or explore new routes.
When I am going for extra miles after work I want to use clipless, but on days my round trip was 3 miles, it wouldn't be worth the money or having to worry about a second pair of shoes.

I have the Shimano pedlas that have the platform on one side and the SPD on the other. My ride to school is 4 miles one-way; I normally always use my SHimano mt41's. Having the platforms I guess is a nice option---I can use them if need be...but I use the platform sides very rarely.

Tim C.

I have the pedals which are plain old flat platform on one side, and clipless on the other. I find them perfect.

I have several bicycles, and all but one sport these:

http://www.rivbike.com/images/produc...main_photo.jpg

I am thrilled with them. Get thee to Rivendell (www.rivbike.com) and try a pair (they are MKS Touring/Cyclocross pedals).

Keep in mind that I ride a bicycle everywhere, in any weather, all the time, and do so primarily in non-cycling specific clothing. These pedals (and riding in street shoes and boots, for that matter) are not for everyone, but I do manage a 30-mile round trip daily commute with whatever I have on my feet at the time. It works for me.

I dumped my clip-in's for BMX pedals. This was probably the best decision I have made in my few years of commuting. Clip ins adds hassle, cost, and complexity that was not worth it for me.

This "hardcore" bicyclist finds it equally entertaining to see how much transfer of power is lost by those riding shoes and platform pedals. Even if I have to stop all 10 times on my route and miss my pedal every single time (which I don't) I'd still take the mechanical advantage during the 40 minutes I'm riding over the supposed 5-10 seconds time lost.

I would second that.

Now that I've destroyed a bike over two winters, I figured out its better to walk on some days. I bike because its efficent in time, money (fuel), and gives me a tad bit of excercise. When its decent out, espically in the summer I take a really round about long way home to get a little fresh air, or hit the grocery store.

It sounds like you want to use this bike for running errands as well as commuting... so would you want to put on special shoes every time you just want to go to the store? That's the main downside to clipless. You don't even need them for recreational riding, but they can be nice.

I've been cycling for 25 years and have used platforms, toe-clips, clipless road racing pedals, clipless mountain pedals, etc. Clipless pedals do have some advantages of course: They increase efficiency and power since you can pull up and back on one pedal as you push down and forward on the other. They also keep your feet correctly aligned and positioned on the pedals (with a small degree of float). This can be good for people who have a tendency to position their feet incorrectly (which might lead to some knee problems). When mountain biking clipless pedals help you keep your feet on the pedals... so they are safer for mountain biking in my opinion.

For commuting and recreational riding I can take or leave them. My commuter (which is also my primary bike) has pedals that are platform on one side and SPD clipless on the other. If you want to try clipless I would get a pedal like this that you can still use with regular shoes. I rarely use the SPD side these days. If I'm going for a long ride I will, but most of the time I just pedal in whatever shoes I'm wearing to work that day. It's also nice to go for a Summer ride in sandals.

Sean

I keep hearing this in the bike forums, but through casual research (googled) I haven't been able to find any controlled studies that suggest more than an 1-2% increase in efficency when used by a cyclist of advanced skills (i.e., racers). Anybody know where we could see some controlled studies?

Try speedplay frogs. They're walkable, they have plenty of float, and I have yet to find an easier pedal to get in or out of.

Clipless is the only way to go with bents because if your feet are in front of you, they'll want to fall off the pedals if you don't use clipless.

I know that it's not quantifiable, but when my legs get tired of pushing, I can start pulling instead and recuperate a bit.

Track stand... no seconds lost.

I do the same thing. If my quads are a bit tired, I will pull more for a couple of revolutions then go back to spinning and my legs are refreshed. I can go much longer and faster with clipless. Not because of the 0.5% more efficient transfer of power, but because I have a better pedal stroke.

Hmm... 1% increase is 24 seconds off a 40 minute commute. An additional 2 seconds to clip in (which again... it doesn't take that long) means I can stop 12 times on my route and come out the same. :p

One other thing about being clipped in. One never has to adjust their foot position while riding. Ever. My guess is that most people riding platform pedals slide their feet around enough during a ride to easily lose more time/efficiency/power than I spend at intersections.

BTW... I am in no way advocating people ride clipless to do their commute, especially the short ride mentioned by the OP. My commute bikes I use on days I'm not doing additional riding/training or when I need to make other stops like the grocery, actually have toe clips due to the obvious advantage of wearing street shoes.

Final thought... does anybody find it as strange as I do that we refer to using clipless pedals as "clipping in"?!? Yeah, I know, it's opposed to toe 'clips' and we are more "clicking in" than clipping in... which I always thought was better described as "strapping in". The semantics just crack me up.