Clipless or not?
 

Hi, I'm a pretty new bike commuter unsure of whether or not to use clipless pedals. I like the freedom of not have clipless, but if they will make my ride easier, I want to consider. Any suggestions?

Clipless won't make your ride easier. You will simply be more efficient, but at a slower pace or shorter ride this won't make any difference. Stick with what you have for now and if you find you want to try clipless in three months or six months, get them then. For now, don't worry about it.

How happy are you with being essentially strapped to your bike? Going from platforms to clipless would be a big jump. I use toe clips/straps, because they give you a little move efficient pedal stroke, and i don't feel like my foot is going to fall off the pedal all the time.

For "freedom" look in some clipless/platform combo pedals. that way, you can go clipless if you feel like it, but just as easily throw on another pair of shoes and head out.

There's a freedom in riding clipless too. With clipless you are free to power your cranks for quick acceleration, and to pedal with a higher cadence without worrying about your feet slipping off the platform. I feel like clipless give you more options in that regard.

I like being physically connected to my bike. It makes me feel more in tune with it, and it makes the bike feel more like and extension of me, rather than just a machine I'm operating.

If you do try clipless, you will quickly get used to disengaging when you need to stop. It's a little intimidating at first, but not really bad at all once you get used to it.

Powergrips are my favorite solution. I prefer them head and shoulders above clips. I like the freedom of shoe choice over clipless. Although I am going to give clipless a shot now that I've got some shoes I think I'll like for commuting. I'll find out how it pans out tomorrow.

The only thing they *may* make easier is climbing hills because you can pull up with one leg as the other leg pushes down.
I used to use them, but not for commuting anymore. Also used powergrips for a while. Now I pedal free. I still get to work in the same exact amount of time.

If your commute involves a ton of stop signs and stop lights I think platform would be more viable.

I just went from clips/straps to clipless on my road bike... not a huge difference. To be honest, feels kinda the same. A little bit of gain, but not enough to warrant the $50 shoes. On the other hand, the bling factor + looking like a tap dancer to the average joe makes it worth it! :D

I'd just get toe clips and straps for about $10, you get to keep your own shoes!

On the other hand, at least I don't have those spikey platforms digging into my leg by accident when I walk my bike. But you shouldn't be walking your bike, right?

I've got ~30 minutes of solid pedaling one-way with only a couple stops (mostly country highways) so I do clipless. I also like to be connected to my bike...helps to be able to power up Central TX hills and I can keep pedaling over rough stuff without worrying about my feet coming off the pedals. Just my $.02

You really don't get that much pull on uphills, and your cadence on hills isn't usually so high (like over 120RPM) that your feet would fly off. Previous responder nailed it - clipless allows you to spin like nuts when accelerating from a stop without worrying that your feet will fly off the pedals.

For that reason, they actually make a fair amount of sense for stop/go traffic once you get pretty good at clipping in and/or keeping the bike upright while creeping along at < 1mph as you wait for a light to change.

I should also note that I wear MTB clipless shoes. They're dual-purpose for me since I used them on my MTB before I started road biking and commuting. They're MUCH better to walk in than roadie shoes.

Try them both and decide for yourself. This topic always turns into an endless debate. Especially when charles vail joins the fun.

That's my commute. 20 stop signs and 20 lights in an 11 mile commute. I'd rather pedal free in that type of riding. Instead of my right foot looking for the right spot on the pedal I just take off running. I can go from a dead stop to 20 something mph pretty quickly without changing gears.

That's just me though. It's a been there done that sort of thing and this is what I settled on.

Yup. And that's why there is no reason to drop the money on the pedals and shoes when what you have already works. You don't have to sport clipless to ride a bike. :)

I hit a lot of lights on my commute (don't actually know how many... I'll try counting some day), but I find that clipless poses no problems. My right foot never actually leaves the pedal. If I must put a foot down, I clip out of my left pedal at the top of the stroke, put the left foot down, then bring the right foot back up ready to start pedaling again. That way I'm ready to get going again less than a second after I stop.

Once I start pedaling again, I coast for a sec with my right foot down, and clip back into the left pedal and start pedaling again in the same motion. It gets to a point where you can do it by feel, so there's no need to look down or anything.

For me personally, clipless offers no disadvantage in stop and go traffic. But to each his own.

Another advantage:

Occasionally I need to start moving again pretty much as soon as I put the left foot down (light turns green as soon as I stop for the red, for instance). I find it much easier to do this with clipless pedals. With my right foot at the bottom of the stroke, I can just pull it back up (back pedal) into a starting position, instead of kicking it back up and catching it again with my right foot as I would with platforms.

Had I been strapped in ten years ago when I was riding, I might not be here today.

Here's what happened:

I was riding my bike out to a baseball field to watch a student play baseball. After a little while of watching, shaking some hands, etc., I wanted to take a little ride.

All of a sudden I looked up and saw several skydivers falling toward me from thousands of feet above. When their chutes opened I watched as they, one-by-one, decended to the ground behind a grove of trees a couple hundred yards away.

I rode in their direction, but soon came to a dead end. Through the trees I could see a small airstrip with an airplane and the falling skydivers gathering up their gear. I was watching, mesmerized.


Then, out of the corner of my eye I saw, on the front porch of a nearby house, a pitbull sleeping. As soon as I looked at him I had a feeling he was going to come charging, even though he was asleep. No sooner did I put one foot on my pedal than he woke up, gave a quick bark and growl, and came racing toward me.

Unfortunately, my bike and I were facing him, so I had to quickly pick my bike up, turn it around, and start riding me arse off.

Dogs accelerate better than someone who is on a bike and in the wrong gear.

So, as I picked up speed the dog came up along side of me. Luckily, my foot swung at him as he lunged. Perfect timing on my part, and I connected with his chops and sent him rolling across the ground as my foot neatly recovered, got back on the peddle, and continued gaining speed until he gave up and went home.

That wasn't fun.

I haven't tried toe clips/straps or clipless yet. I wanna try them sometime, if anything just to see for myself what it's like and how it works for me. But for now I'm happy with plain old double sided pedals.

I kinda agree with Grant Peterson's arguements on this subject, especially given the scientific studies done on the subject. I'm more interesting in touring than racing. But I'm still gonna try the clipless and whatnot. I wanna see what they're like for myself.

Yup, it's pretty much an endless debate. It's a matter of personal preference. I like them; I prefer them. But that's just me.

Wow, dude. Never thought of that. +1 for plain pedals, there.

I think most will say once you go clipless, you never go back.

Man this forum has been hijacked. Some of the conclusions and advice dispensed so far is just plain ridiculous.

Go clipless. Do it and really commit to it. You will end up realizing that they improve your riding in every way. Every day.

Fairly narrow-minded comment that completely ignores the arguements and preferences against clipless.

Commuter pedals
 

OK....I joined in. :rolleyes: You can spin at amazing cadences without being attached. I do it regularly and I am an old, fat cyclist. I ride a single speed with a relatively low 65 inch gear to work weekly and I have spun it up to (someone figured it for me) 129 rpm. This was using sandals and inexpensive Redline, double sided, cage style, BMX pedals with the gnarly teeth many seem to be so afraid of. I've never whacked my shins on them and they are easy to start out in from a stop light. It never matters which side I put my foot on since they are identical and I don't have to fiddle with getting a cleat to pop in, in order to, 'put the hammer down.' Performance or 'pedaling efficiency' is the same as when I used my SPD pedals, my power grips or my old school, slotted cleats and toe clips. I did some testing over about a year or so and compared my times on a regular route and never noticed any substantial difference. In fact there were other variables that affected me more than being connected to the pedals.
I believe Grant Peterson's point of view because I have tried both and in fact, I was using SPD pedals and shoes when I first read his statements. At first, I thought his point of view was hogwash until I gave it a try and started my own little test. Regardless, I now enjoy greater comfort, flexibility of shoe choice, ease of use in traffic, freedom from having to use special (and expensive) shoes and I don't have to think about cleat maintenance etc. To me it seems like a worthwhile trade off from riding attached. Even if that real or imagined tiny % improvement exists. To each his own.:ride:

I believe I echo the thoughts of the rest of this forum when I say:

WTF?