I've been riding for 3 years and never have had clips on the pedals. I want to improve my time on rides. How much on average would " being clipped in " improve the ride and the time?

37.843%

It highly depends on what you are doing now. If you have good technique on flat pedals, for example, it probably will make very little difference.

For me, it is mainly about enforcing foot position and security when standing up and climbing.

It is unlikely to magically make you more efficient, unless you have poor technique to begin with.

I ride a gravel bike on the highways an understood that clipping in would allow to not only push down but to pull up while pedaling.

I resisted clipless pedals for a long time. From the moment I first tried them I wished I'd done it sooner. I still use flat pedals on my single-speed, all-purpose bike, but for distanced road cycling the clipless pedals are more comfortable and stable than flat pedals (including with toe clips) could ever be. Does this translate into better times over distance? Probably, but I don't really track that too seriously.

Admittedly, I’ve strapped or clipped in for decades, but I no longer feel safe on a bike unless I’m clipped.
Even my fixed has clips!
Any increase in efficiency is a bonus.

Barry

I'd wager you won't see any measurable time improvement

plenty of other good reasons to give it a try, tho

Ok, then I believe I'll get some new shoes and clips on my pedals and give it a whirl.

I agree with this post. Also, the pulling up on clipless pedals, imo, is greatly exaggerated. Again, IMO, a smooth, circular stroke, where on does not feel like they are pushing, or pulling on the pedals, is most efficient with less stress on the knees. I prefer spd type shoes/cleats, as I get off the bike, including steps, more often than I used to.

I don't think most people pull up with more force than what's necessary to lift their leg on the upstroke. I'll argue that's still beneficial, because if my leg weighs 50 pounds, I instantly get 50 extra pounds turning the cranks compared to letting that leg just sit there.

So how does clipping in come into the picture? You don't have to worry about a little extra force to pull up lifting that foot off the pedal, or a bump or pothole knocking that foot off. Now you can focus on a smooth spin without worrying about crotch meeting top tube.

Based on what I’ve read about clipped in pedaling, and what I try to do, is that you should concentrate on making full circles rather than ‘up and down’ pedaling. That is…concentrating on applying pressure to the pedal/crank for its full rotation. Some say that it can’t or doesn’t really happen. But that’s just what I’ve read. Also, there is a learning curve, or a period of getting used to clipping in, being clipped in, and clipping out. I.e…rolling along slowly as you take off, and then positioning your foot/shoe correctly in order to clip in. If you don’t have enough momentum, and you can’t get clipped…you fall. If you forget to UNclip when stopping…you fall. (And I’ve see people admit that in these forums).

Something else…depending on your cleat placement…if your toe hits the front wheel when turning while you’re clipped in…you may fall. I’ve recently gone to mid-foot cleat position (using an adapter). I’ve nearly gone down a couple of times. I have to keep telling myself to keep my pedals vertical when I’m turning.

Dan

Clipless pedals and shoes are a gimmick, there is zero scientific testing that shows they increase anyone's power. If you have developed and worked for good form with flat pedals, then all switching to clipless will do is make you lazy and make the muscles and coordination you developed to keep your feet on flat pedals deteriorate,

The science shows that the muscles used to lift your legs have only a small fraction of the efficiency that the muscles have for pushing down. This means that initially when you start riding you get a little thrill with a hair more acceleration on the flat or ease up a hill, but after a few minutes you will have nothing but muscles able to nothing more than they could do with flat pedals.

People say that clipless pedals secure the foot on the pedal, but so does coordination and skill, and in a lot of falls where you have to get your foot down quickly for a save you are not going to if your foot is fastened to the pedal and you are going to end up on the ground.

Most of the population follows fashion trends and marketing and tradition, if you want to be exceptional then switch to independent and critical thinking and actual research and science.

Added beng1 to my ignore list.

People don't really do this with any sort of force (except, maybe, rarely). Forceful pulling up might not be very good to do regularly biomechanically.

One of the advantages of clipless is making a higher cadence easier. One way of being able to get a high cadence is to "unweight" (lift) the non-power leg (this is a little like pulling up but there isn't much force). The unweighting is easy to do (with some practice) and it might be a tiny bit more efficient (because you aren't using the power leg to lift the other leg).

There aren't really ways to buy significant speed (as long as your bicycle is decent). The biggest way to increase speed is generally free: riding in the drops. Anything else is going have a much, much smaller increase in speed.

Which is it? Is there scientific testing, or zero scientific testing?

Dan

If you are interested there is little reason to not try clipless. For me, and apparently others, foot security and having one less thing to think about are the primary benefits. If I had to do a lot of stop and start I might make a different choice.

You don't get much from pulling up on the pedal (though I'd argue that there are situations where you actually CAN pull up, like out-of-the-saddle low cadence climbing), but you can un-weight the pedal on the side that's coming up without your foot coming of the pedal and perhaps not returning to the optimum location. I see so many people with flat pedals putting the pedal spindle under the center of the foot, rather than the ball, and thus losing a lot of leverage. And they help with "push over the top, pull through the bottom" for optimizing your pedal stroke.

Classic. A review of gear from someone who has little to no actual experience with it, peppered with mild insults towards people who use that gear.

For decades nearly every racer in nearly every discipline of bicycle racing has used some form of foot retention. Are they all just wrong? Are they all just stupid followers of "fashion"?
Toe clips came out over 120 years ago. In all that time nobody has figured out that it doesn't work?

If you don't want to use foot retention that's fine, nobody cares. But some of us have used various forms of retention for many years and not necessarily because it's "faster" or "more efficient".

If you pull up hard enough, you will come unclipped. If you use the easy-out Shimano 2-bolt clips, you don't even have to pull up hard.

These straps are added to the track racers clipless pedals to prevent unclipping while thrashing the pedals at the track. Of course, it's just a gimmick and all the greats use flat pedals.

It's the same for me. My feet being securely attached to the pedals makes the ride much more comfortable, especially when riding out of the saddle.

SH56 will release on a modest upward pull by design. For this reason, I find them scary to ride with.

SH51 will release on a sharp upward pull before your bones snap in a crash, like ski bindings.

Apparently.

Apropos of nothing in particular, I once read that there is some kind of neurochemical reward some get if they believe they've figured out something nobody else has.

The exception to this rule being the first time you come up to a red light on your first ride with clipless pedals. Nothing in nature will unclip you then.

No, it wouldn't. Many studies with power measuring pedals show that the only time people pull up is at very slow speeds, typically when climbing. We simply don't have the coordination to pull up when spinning any reasonable cadence. This applies to professionals and proficient amateurs alike. Pulling up is a myth. Now cure the folks who say/believe they pull up, but actually don't.