big john

I think there is more to it than numbers or actual power output. Clipless pedals give me the ability to spin for hours without thinking about it, whether standing or pulling up or trying to spin out a cramp. I'd hate to try and do a long, hard ride with platform pedals and I used clips and straps years ago and they SUCK, especially when it's cold out.

George

Holy cow, I remember I could buy a car for $200 and a suit for $80, the car was used of course, but the suit was LIKE new.

Tom Bombadil

A tour rider has to use every advantage. Even if the advantage is 0.3%, that would add up to a lot of minutes over a multi-stage event. So I don't think the fact that tour riders ride clipless really proves much to the typical cyclist.

It is difficult for a person to conduct a completely unbiased test. If someone has even a small, hidden desire for one result to be better, they could very easily work just a little bit harder, even if they don't consciously notice it. I've seen this effect many times in other product comparisons. This is why carefully controlled conditions must be established before any valid conclusions can be reached.

For example, I had a friend who fiercely believed in there being sonic differences between audio cables. He ran his own tests and scored nearly 100% in picking out which cable was which. But when I assisted him on the tests, and conducted a much better double-blind comparison, he scored 50% - which is the same as flipping a coin.

BluesDawg

Absolutely. I was not suggesting otherwise. The equipment today is much faster. Just look at the bikes he sells now. Nothing like what he raced on. But he was still the best there has ever been.

George

Guess what Tom, I took a Roubaix Elite for a ride this past weekend and man, is that a sweet bike. He said I could have it for $1750. I said call me when you get down to $1500 out the door. Now that I can get lower, I took the handlebar riser off the bike and I started to get a little neck pain. so I'll have to wait a little bit yet, but I'm working on it. After all is said and done, I would like a steel road bike though. Too get a light steel one though, cost big bucks.

lpress

That is true -- my intuition says clipless pedals help more than the stiff shoes, but the shoes may have contributed part of the gain.

Velo Dog

For me, over hundreds of rides on the same courses, it's zero. I've done the same 24-mile commute and some other regular loops since 1979, on several bikes. In recent years I've alternated among old-school pedals with toe clips, platforms without clips, Power Grips and two different clipless systems, and there's NO difference I can measure.
The ride to work takes within a minute of 44 minutes, assuming I don't hit lights or traffic, and the ride home (uphill and often into a stiff wind) takes about 55 minutes. I don't keep detailed logs anymore, but I did for years, and pedals/clips/shoes made no consistent difference at all. My fastest ride from work to home was on an old Trek tourer I'd made into a singlespeed and rode with Power Grips and athletic shoes, probably because I had to work harder than usual on the hills to keep from losing momentum.

gear

+1 I'm not into quantifying the gain either, I won't ride without them.

WillisB

I don't care about the power. I just find clipless a lot more comfortable!

dbg

I discovered on last year's summer tour that I was faster with clipless. It's anecdotal, but I wasn't intentionally doing an experiment (which I believe makes the results more believable). I was on a recumbent and a little unfamiliar with the new riding style so, for two straight days I rode the morning unclipped (platform side of campus pedals) and the afternoon snapped in. On the second day I realized that on both days I was with the leaders when snapped in, and lagging behind somewhat when on the platforms. (It's SO scientific, how can you argue?)

But the other effect it had -- I found I had to adjust the clips well back on the shoe to feel comfortable on the "bent". And now that I'm back on a regular bike, ..I kinda like the rear position of the clips.

alicestrong

Well your feet slip around alot less and that's a nice feeling especially as you begin to get tired...

I'd like to try just the strap and see what that's like.

I've only used the Shimano spd's but recently someone donated some Time Atac pedals and cleats I've yet to try them...just put them on some shoes...

stonecrd

For me it is a lot easier getting in an out of clipless pedals than it ever was using toe clips

boston blackie

I have the cage and I wear street shoes. I don't like the feeling that I can't get my feet far enough into the cage as I would like to get the pressure farther back than the ball of my foot. I would like to switch, but that would mean buying new shoes as well as pedals. When I look at the large number of bicycle shoes on the market and the wide price range, i am completely baffled. If you were going to buy clipless pedals and shoes now what would your choice based on a compomise between price and performance.

HopedaleHills

I like the products from Crank Bros. Both my wife and I use their Candy pedals. They are two sided with a small platform and very easy to clip in/out of. I have a pair of Specialized semi-mountain bike shoes (no lugged sole but the cleats are resessed), comfortable and easy to walk in. You can get the Crank Bros Smarty pedals for less than $50 and I think my shoes were around $60. My wife wears an inexpensive Lake shoe that she likes very much.

lpress

My test was on a couple of different short runs -- maybe the results would be different on a long ride like this.

Larry

Tom Bombadil

I've never seen any test results comparing platform to clipless on a recumbent. That could be different than an upright. So what dbg is reporting from his experience on a 'bent can't be transferred to what one might realize on an upright bike.

Markk

I done have any percents but I do feel the extra power when I actually think about using an upstroke. I'm new to clipless so I don't fully utilize the benefits and only do so when I'm getting bogged down in sand or mud or something. That extra little pull-up really drive me forward.

But (and maybe it's only me) I have to concentrate a little to use them effectively. Maybe it's just a matter of time and practice.

JanMM

I find clipless/spd to be easier to use and more comfortable than toe clips. Can't quantify qualitative data.

Terrierman

I am a total rookie and only have experience with platform pedals and SPD's. SPD's sure seem to be a lot better to me.

tlc20010

big john makes the most important points here. It isn't a bunch of extra power, but it is that secure feeling of NOT having to do any work to keep your feet on the pedals and NOT having to use energy to stabilize your foot. This becomes more important as rides get longer and the rider starts getting a bit more fatigued. Race car drivers find that their seat belt harnesses hold them in place so that they can do things with their hands and feet and don't have to brace themselves against g forces. Same principal applies to being clipped onto your bike.

swan652

Here's a statistic: I have had a total of 0 pedal tatoos on my shins since I started riding clipless.

Tom Bombadil

In the FWIW category, here's a link to an Arnie Baker article that takes on a lot of claims on cycling & performance. Baker is a famous cycling coach, M.D., and the author of many books on cycling.
https://www.arniebakercycling.com/resume.htm

https://www.arniebakercycling.com/pub...nce%201999.pdf

It contains this comment about pedals:

"Almost all racers now use clipless pedals for
comfort. A study this year found them not to
offer any physiologic performance advantage
over toeclips and straps."

lpress

Until you get off your bike

Tom Bombadil

Yes it is a 1999 article. But I understand the test included Shimano SPDs, as those came out in 1993 and they had the Dura Ace 7700 SPDs out by 1998. The Look road pedals first came out in the mid-80s and there were many variations around by '99.

I'm not pretending to be an expert on this subject, merely passing along what I find. Perhaps there have been some significant improvements since the Dura Ace 7700s that I know nothing about. But they sure look like high quality clipless pedals to me.

As stated previously, clipless may offer somewhat more of an advantage to top flight racers, who have trained to use every advantage, than what they do for someone who is commuting or on a group ride of 50 miles, even if those riders are riding at a good pace.

What I find of interest is that most on-line bike shops promote clipless as offering 20% efficiency gains and we are debating whether they offer as much as a 2% gain.

waffenschmidt

I went from averaging about 14 mph to averaging about 15 mph (7% increase) after changing from sneakers and strapless toe clips to mountain shoes and clipless pedals. Was that all due to the clipless pedals? Maybe not. Am I going to go back to my old setup long enough to find out if my average speed drops? Not on your life!