I know this subject gets brought up periodically, so if I am rehashing, I apologize. My question is whether clipless pedals would be worthwhile for me. I have a 10 mile commute (one way). The last 2-3 miles of the return trip is mostly uphill (moderate hills). I ride a fairly cheap hybrid right now ($300 bike) with platform pedals. Will I be able to notice an appreciable difference or will I just look like a "Fred" posing as a serious bicyclist? Thanks in advance.

Yes. Once you use them, you'll never switch back. I couldn't live without some form of foot retention. I have a few bikes, and some of them just have toe clips, which I can use with regular street shoes. One bike has PowerGrips(TM). All of my bikes have some form of foot retention.

I find without them - i.e. with platform pedals, my feet sometimes bounce off the pedals when I go over rough road. With the clipless pedals I get more power and my feet never bounce out. However clipless falls do come with them and they can be pretty embarrassing! Overall I wouldn't use a bike without them unless it was an around town bike.

I use a combination clipless pedal/platform made by Performance bike called the "Campus Pedal" on my commuting bike.


I think Shimano and others make similar pedals. I find them perfect- though I mostly use a cleated shoe for my 20 mile RT commute I sometimes ride with a regular shoe.

I didn't notice so much of a performance difference when I switched to clipless, I'm sure I got some, but it definitely was not dramatic. However, I find clipless pedals much more comfortable, more secure, more stable. I don't like riding without them now, not because I can't go as fast or efficient, but because it just doesn't feel right. It didn't take very long using them before I felt that way, the 'stability' effect was pretty quick.

Unless you're mountain biking on rough single track, or racing, clipless isn't worth it, IMO. When I used clipless, I noticed almost no performance advantage at all, and I also found them to be annoying, because you have to wear special shoes to use them, but also because of the constant clipping and unclipping at intersections. On my commute, whether I use clipless or platforms, it takes me exactly the same amount of time to get to my destination, and my speeds are the same. Okay, on big hills, with clipless, my speed is about 0.2-0.3 mph faster; that's it. For me, the ability to get up a hill 4 seconds faster while I'm commuting isn't worth the the disadvantages of clipless.

The only real advantage of clipless is that they keep your feet on the pedals without slipping. Platform pedals with pins accomplish the same thing, but they're not a PITA in heavy stop & go traffic, and you get to wear whatever shoes you want.

That said, if you're committed to clipless, get MTB pedals and shoes. They're far better suited to commuting than roadie pedals & shoes.

Unless you ride quickly, foot retention wont help your performance but it will make riding more comfortable. Your feet won't slip off the pedals and you longer have to use any energy to keep your foot on the pedal.

As a commuter there is no need for road shoes and pedals because you can't walk in them well and they're expensive. As said above, mountain bike shoes and pedals are better for commuting. You can walk in them like normal shoes, you can find a pair for not a whole lot of money, and it is very easy to clip and unclip. There are even cycling shoes that don't look like cycling shoes if that means anything for you.

sometimes road shoes are fine for commutes. I use MTB shoes and MTB pedals but that is because I have to walk a bit on my commute - footpath under the river. If I didn't have to walk then road shoes would be an option, so choose what you want taking into account your own commute.

Don't worry about what you look like or whether people on the internet think clipless is "worth it". If you want to try clipless, go for it. If you like it, great, if you don't, you can sell the stuff on ebay and consider it a lesson learned.

This is the best advice here. Foot retention preference varies significantly from person to person, and nobody can you what you will prefer. Lots of people like toe cages, lots like clipless, and lots of people prefer platforms. Do you know anybody with a clipless setup that would let you try it out first? That would be ideal.

The performance thing is a bit of a red herring. The anti-clipless crowd will say, "You don't get any performance advantage unless you're racing", or "Okay, so you do get a performance advantage, but it isn't that much," or failing that, "Hey, this ain't the Tour de France, Lance!" In fact, "performance" in the physics-lab-ideal sense of the term is only of interest in the abstract: what a typical commuter cares about is what makes their ride better. For us, if some combination of gear means that you get from point A to point B faster, or easier, or have more fun doing it, that's our meaning of "performance improvement". Plenty of us find that we get this kind of "performance improvement" from using clipless, and we don't particularly need the physics-lab "performance improvement" to justify it -- although I believe that that type of "performance improvement is there as well, it's just not all there is.

In summary, take those who are dissing clipless based on arguments out of a physics textbook with a grain of salt. It's whether it makes your ride better that matters.

I recommend reversable pedals. Sometimes you feel like being clipped. Sometimes you don't.

Not to argue but that's what I started on, and while it was very useful for the first two weeks or so as I was getting used to clipless, I quickly got tired of them. I'd recommend one of the two-sided entry pedals or at least something that is weighted to hang in a predictable orientation (Look, Shimano road pedals, etc).

Of course, I don't use my road bike for puttering a mile up the road to the coffee shop. If I did I may still use the platform/clipless combos.

+++1
this topic is all over BF at the moment

I reverted back to platforms (good platforms ) this year . as I mentioned in other posts here on BF Ive used a bunch of pedal types.

I started with toeclips , then bought the ugly butt clown foot LOOKS when they came out in the early 90s cant walk in these to save yourself, not to mention the bike shops saying youll go to cycling hades if your not clipped in!!! they saw a Techie sucker in me when I walked in.

I then bought Time pedals/shoes recessed cleat But forget walking in these too , I felt like HANS BRINKER, I then went to SPD with a newer MTB shoe better but didnt have enough float and still clanked too much on concrete and forget wearing into someones house, I then bought speedplay frogs which were the best clipless pedal I ever used.

The frogs still clanked on concrete, or the cleat clogged up with gunk when I walked About on grass...

I also didnt ride my bikes (3) on errands or for a quick trip to visit people cause I didnt want to fart around with finding /putting on the golden shoes.

NOTE since I dont like spd the Campus pedal is not an option not to mention the paltform side of the campus pedal isnt grippy or large enough compared to a good Platform only pedal.

I (this year) installed a pair of TIOGA sure foot 8 platforms on my Custom Marinoni and its been great!!!

I finally got over the fear of being seen as a FRED when roadies or High tech Hybrid riders see me.my reluctance for the last two commute seasons have been clipless makes you look Lanceish Cool regardless of how inconvinient they were for Me

Platforms ARE FRED that seems to be the Jist of it!!! Im over that now.

My commute times are no different than with any of my $$ clipless pedals, I wear what ever shoe I want (what a relief), my one way commute is 17 miles with tons of climbing on the way home.

its refreshing to just hop on the bike and go.


as I mentioned in another thread I just did a 100K and kept up with everyone just fine while on my new platforms and wearing comfy KEENS. My ride partners were all in clipless .


clipless does have a FEW niches

1) road Racing: Advantage- when riding in sardine can tight groups , keeps feet locked into pedals with no chance of slipping out THAT IN TURN could cause a group faceplant. When a group faceplant does happen Many riders are still clipped in when they kiss the ground and injuries are more severe!!

2) MTB tech riding can be a double edge sword though (ive been there done that OUCH)

3) fixie riding , foot retention is needed. toe clips or power grips work well in this application

to each his own but Im now a re convert back to platforms. the bike industry has done a great job selling a $$ piece of gear that has very little benifits for most of its customers. I probably have $500.00 +worth of pedals/shoes sitting on the shelf collecting Dust.

"John"

Keep in mind that even though clipless obviously isn't your thing, you aren't "most customers"; plenty of people like riding clipless, and that's benefit enough.

GOOD Point. if any piece of gear in any sport gives you enjoyment by all means use it.

Im a scuba instructor, and trimix qualified one of my friends that has More $ than he knows what to do with uses a nitrox re breather even for shallowish dives, no benifit at all for 95% of the dives we do but he likes it and doesnt mind the inconvinience and the extra maintinance!!

Clipless was my thing for year (thought I couldnt live with out them) im not a newb that tried clipless last week and fell down, I just ran out reasons to keep them on the bike for me anyway.


"John"

Cool deal, I wasn't trying to criticize. I dive, although not nearly enough (similar to my cycling actually, hmm).

Ride (and dive) what you like!

Clipless are great, especially if you are a roadie....but not a requirement for most recreational/utility purposes. Use em if you like em, don't if you don't...but you should try them yourself to figure out which camp you fall into...many of us fall into both camps - right tool for the job and all that.

Interesting perspectives from people who don't care for foot retention (the general term) any more. I respect them as opinions, which can never be right or wrong.

I'm 48 years old and have used foot retention continuously since I was 14. I got Look pedals in about 1987 and loved them, except for the problem of walking in them. I developed a problem with numbness in my feet, so I thought I needed a change, so I got spd-type pedals with mountain shoes. It helped, but only a little. It turns out that the cleat type wasn't a problem. But I like spd-type much better. The shoes are acceptable for walking. I once wore them all day at the office and walked for 5 minutes to the cafeteria and 5 minutes back. My cow-orkers didn't seem to notice I was wearing shoes not made for walking.

There seems to be a trend to reverting to old technology. Maybe why there is a gathering movement away from foot retention. The other clues are fixed gear bikes and Brooks saddles. Nothing wrong with those. I have a Brooks saddle on my commuter bike, and I have a fixie for fun. My observation is merely that old technology is more appealing these days than in recent years.

practice before you get on the road.

So, I bought the Schimano 520's last night. Installed them on my bike. I practiced for about five minutes. Getting in and out was pretty intuitive. Having them set at the lowest setting allowed for easy exits. I commuted for the first time this morning, determined not to embarass myself. Then it happened. I could feel a lot of movement in my left foot, which should have been my first indication that something was wrong. Sure enough, I got the the corner and I couldn't release my foot. Down I went, in slow motion, in front of 20 cars. Turns out my cleat had come loose and therefore when I moved my foot to release, nothing happened. It took a screwdriver to get the cleat out of the pedal mechanism. How embarassing.

Otherwise it was a pretty pleasant ride. I can tell the difference in my pedaling motion, but am not sure yet how vthat difference equates into effectiveness. I'll stay with it for a while and see how it goes. It certainly wasn't the drmatic difference I expected, but hey, I'm still learning.

I do have a question for those who are still reading. I did detect some numbness in my right toes after about 5-7 miles. My left foot felt fine. Anyone know what might cause this? Thanks.

Oh, and use the loose setting!

I adjusted my pedals loose when I got them and still haven't tightened them years later. I think I'm just about ready to do it.

My road bike has Look clipless pedals.
My MTB has Shimano SPD clipless pedals.
My commuter wears nice fat platforms with aggressive little pins for grip.

Clipping in and out at every intersection in tight urban traffic is an annoying pain in the backside, and more than a little dangerous. Clunking around in bicycle shoes while stopped for simple errands on the way home is uncomfortable and makes people stare.

The best advice is to give 'em a try for yourself. If they work for you and your particular commute and style, then enjoy. If not, post 'em on Craigslist, recover most of your money, and consider it an inexpensive learning experience. Either way, you win.

It is good to get the first fall out of the way! Perhaps your cleats are slightly out of position which is causing numbness. Not 100% sure though. Next time make sure your cleats are tightly installed! I need to learn how to clip out of my left side - I always unclip the right side and if it ever came loose I'd be in a pickle as I'm not used to the left side!

+1. Pretty much everybody falls once or twice at first. I know I did...

As far as numbness, make sure the cleat is positioned correctly (ie around the ball of the foot). I like mine just a smidge behind the ball of my foot. Also make sure your shoes aren't fastened too tightly... I have to consciously leave them a little loose when I gear up since I guess my feet swell a bit after being on the bike for awhile.

Keep in mind I'm no expert; someone with more experience/knowledge about fitting may chime in and contradict me entirely.