It depends what pedals and shoes you use. I only ride flat pedals on my mountain bike, but they are super grippy with good flat mtb shoes and I have no issues spinning at 100+ rpm. In fact I often do cadence drills on my mtb.

Tipping over happening to almost everyone when they are new to riding clipless. It's a movement pattern you have to practice until it becomes automatic.

Interesting how they didn't show anyone actually pedaling - lol.

My observation is that in the range of 80-90 rpm, I don’t have to attend to pedaling even with flats. Above 110 rpm, it definitely requires attention and becomes difficult to manage above 130 or so, while with toe clips I can pedal at higher speeds without having to mind it at all.

A quick reminder, higher cadences are energetically disfavored due to the much higher internal work required moving feet, legs and pedals at higher speed: 1.0 W/kg at 110 vs 0.3 W/kg at 70 rpm and 0.6 W/kg at 90 rpm. I don’t do much pedaling above 100 rpm as it isn’t needed in my rides, but there are many circumstances where it is more effective to pay the energy cost for other benefits.

Otto

My pedals have SPD on one side, flat pedal on the other and ride in sandals equipped with SPD clips. I've found that for long days of touring using the flat side is much more comfortable than the SPD side (the SPD clips on my sandals are embedded so not a problem). Yes, the SPD side might make you more efficient (especially on climbs), but it also "locks" your foot (and attached legs) into one position for long periods of time which I've found to be uncomfortable and wearing.

Another way to look at those energy costs is that the higher internal work associated with high cadences means that you're likely to see greater improvements in cardiovascular function than with lower cadences, and you're also likely to burn calories at a higher rate.

And we're now told that Zone 2 is where you want to be to improve your fat-burning workouts, so doing low-effort, high-cadence workouts much of the time you're on your bike would seem to be a good idea.

Easier on the joints and connective tissue, too.

Agreed, and the main reason I don't like clipping in. I find that, regardless of where the cleat is mounted, after X number of miles, my feet (more so my left for some reason) begins to hurt. I like being able to reposition the foot from time to time to relieve discomfort.

What's the trick when you have to start uphill to cross a busy street after stopping?

I boost off with a downstroke of the foot that's clipped in, but often can't get it clipped in on time and I'm having to stop with a foot down in the middle of the intersection?

I have Shimano road clipless pedals and shoes, so if I try to pedal without being clipped in, the foot just slides off like it's on ball bearings.

That’s dangerous

The only way to get better is to practice clipping in and riding on top of the pedals if you can’t. If you still want to clip in and can’t get the hang of road clipless just go mountain where you get both sides of the pedal and and a less complex movement in and out.

Yes. The double-sided pedals all but eliminate fumbling to clip in while starting off. The only down-sides are a slight weight penalty and maybe "What will the cool kids think!" anxiety. My remaining sets of SPD single-sided pedals eventually migrated to my least-used bikes.

After a while it became second nature to clip in with the other leg (using Look pedals), but it's not exactly 100%.

Certainly an advantage of flats in the city. Though, sometimes when I'm commuting I'll just use my road bike with normal shoes instead of clipping in and that works just fine for that purpose, to be honest.

Sticking with good MTB flat pedals on my gravel/allroad bike, it's handy when I have to take my foot off on some sketchy bit. Doesn't slow me down on the road except I can't sprint nearly as hard (that's about the only time the whole pull up thing becomes relevant; in anything over a minute you are bounded by the amount of oxygen, not how much muscle mass you can recruit).
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Agree. I've never used road clipless, but since the two or three rides when I started using Shimano spd (mountain) pedals/cleats -- more years ago than I care to remember! -- have never had an issue. Clipping in the unclipped foot after starting off is pretty much an intuitive 'put the foot on the pedal and press forward/down.' On those very rare occasions when I can't quite get it, riding 'on the pedal' to get going until I can clip in is dead easy.

Get to the other side of the intersection as quickly as possible, then get yourself settled.

This is actually an example of when and where there can be value in being able to pull up on the pedal -- if you're strong enough, you'd basically be doing 1-legged pedaling until you do succeed in clipping in the 2nd foot.

I just takes practice. Maybe find a place with no traffic and a hill and practice starting from a dead stop. Soon you will get the hang of it and at least feel confident that if you "miss" getting clipped in on the first attempt you can quickly try again while still barely moving.

Just curious, what pedals do you have? I've been riding the PD-EH500 pedals for a few years, and while I have no complaints aobut their functinality, I don't like the fact that they only come in one colour that doesn't match my black bike. So I've been searching for a good set of SPD/flat pedals that are as compact as the EH500 and come in black.

I have Shimano Deore XT Touring PD-T8000 SPD Pedals on my touring bike.

Thanks! I tried those for a few months before switching back to the EH500, mainly because I like compact platforms. They're definitely great pedals.

Speedplay FTW!! :)

And they are lower so they hit sooner in corners. I have them on a Raleigh Competition (low BB!) with 175 cranks. Good thing they are Shimano SPD MTB sturdy. They've hit pavement many times and more than a couple of speed bumps.

It's been decades since I scraped a pedal in a corner, even on my fixed-gear bikes. Tip: lean your upper body into the corner while keeping the bike more upright, and you can get another degree or two of lean without scraping the pedal.

The best pedals are the ones you like
 

Great discussion about pedals. Reflecting upon what I've read I realize there are road riders, racers, mountain bikers, gravel bikers, tourers, cruisers and other categories of riders who posted a reply. The pedal selected, more often than not, seems dependent upon what type of rider they are or want to be. Some clip in, others don't. Some have clipped in and now they don't and there are those that didn't clip in that now do clip in. There are no right or wrong answers - it is what suits you, what you are comfortable with.

I ride clipped in on my Cannondale road bike. But if I am doing a very large group charity ride with kids present, or riding gravel trails with friends who aren't regular cyclists, I use my old Raleigh Technium and will switch out for platform pedals, so I can walk if need be. Normally this bike is on the trainer, but is great for gravel trails, like near the wineries, where I know I will be walking around.

If you like being clipped in for bunny hops that’s good.

That said, I think the riders most concerned with bunny hops don’t clip in. BMX tricks, Jimmy Levan, Sam Pilgrim, etc.

Foot retention.