Hallo. I would like to get a second (third, fourth..) opinion on whether or not I should go the clipless route: I am planning to purchase a very nice road bike from a friend of mine. This will be my second year w/ the sport & thusfar my experience has been on old equipment w/ running shoes & standard old-school ten-speed pedals. I do not plan on competing anytime soon, though I'd like to work toward that. For the time being, I will be using my new (used) bike for distance/endurance training.

My friend had been using a Look clipless system with the bike, but will be keeping the pedals. I'd like to just jump in & do the clipless thing but my friend seems to think that I'll have enough to acclimate to w/ the new bike that I should save that for later on down the line & use a Campagnolo-type clip pedal w/ mountain bike shoes for the time being. Has anyone dealt w/ a similar set of circumstances &, if so, what did you decide?

What does your friend think will make going from one bike to another so distracting that your brain will overload if you get clipless pedals at the same time?

It's just riding a bike. In the beginning, you only really have to think about clipless pedals when you're getting ready to stop, and after a few rides it becomes second nature to rotate your heel outwards before trying to put your foot down. It scares me to think there are people with drivers' licenses who find clipless pedals too difficult to figure out.

Well, hopefully it is not an issue of competence

The other main adjustments for me will be moving from ye olde 10-speed system w/ down-tube shifters to a newer 16-speed Shimano system w/ the trigger-style shifters attached to the brake levers.

Another factor in his opinion is that clipless-style shoes would be uncomfortable/clunky on long day rides on which I would be taking long-ish breaks, walking around and such.

Carry some flip flops along.

I think they're starting to make flip flops in carbon fiber, so it shouldn't add too much weight.

(sorry if this appears twice - my first attempt seems to have evaporated)

lol @ carbon fiber flip-flops. I don't think my performance level is at such a degree to necessitate carbon fiber flip-flops. Good idea tho. A pair of lo-cut Chucks in a day pack should work just fine..

So my feet don't fall off at the end of a long ride

none of those are reasons not to go clipless IMO. Wanting to walk around a lot would be a reason to use mountain type pedals/shoes instead of road pedals/shoes, but that's still a big step up from platform pedals. If anything, switching from downtube shifters to STI shifters should make things easier.

A few years back, my wife dove into road cycling and bought her first bike with brifters and clipless pedals. On her first ride, she did get a little overwhelmed by these two new factors, despite having ridden plenty in general.

It didn't take her long to get over it--maybe 100 miles of riding.

If you want to be able to walk around, get SPD pedals and walkable bike shoes with SPD drilling. Or stuff a pair of carbon-fiber flip-flops in your jersey pocket.

There's a fundamental misconception in the premise. The alternative to "clipless" pedals is what we used before clipless pedal came along, i.e. toeclips, with shoes with cleats.

If you use toeclips the way they were intended to be used, they are much more difficult to disengage (and therefore you are more likely to fall) than with clipless pedals. And its a heck of a lot less comfortable than using clipless pedals.

And if you're using toeclips without cleats and tightening the strap, then you're much less efficient than riding with clipless.

If most people trip over their feet, at least once, why not have them amputated?

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this to the OP yet, but for years and years and years cyclists have been trying to overcome a certain problem: When your feet are in the 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock position there is very little power transfer. It interrupts the "spin" and creates a "dead spot" in the cadence. It is one of the basic things that separates good (efficient) cyclists from bad (inefficient) cyclists. Clipless is one way to overcome that dead spot. And of course there is the upstroke.

Of course attaching yourself to the pedals was originally for pros who got on the bike and didn't get off for a while. They peed off the bike, ate on the bike, get medical attention while on the bike. They might as well lash their feet to the pedal on the way out.

I, on the other hand, make a lot of stops while riding. So I just installed "half-clips" on my bike. They work all right for some of my outings. I use clipless for other, longer rides. I do it for fitness anyway, so what do I care about efficiency? I also don't get the hot spots associated with clipless, which is nice.

Bottom line: If you can't "justify" to your friends why you ride clipless, then you probably don't need to be doing it.

no foot retention on a fixed gear = suicide

on a geared bike, it's easier to bunny hop over pot holes.
and my feet don't slip off the pedal when shifting or riding in the rain.

just try coming to a stop with no feet on the pedals, very hard.

Most of the advantages of clipless can be had with good flat pedals and shoes to go with them. Also much better for walking around with when you get off the bike.

well, there's MTB style clipless if you want to walk around with clipless.
and no, most of the advantages of clipless cannot be realized with platform pedals and good shoes.

namely the being attached to your bike part.

it's the difference between going down a hill on a toboggan compared to skis or snowboard.

Not to hijack this thread, but I am wondering.

As my bike is 'broken' at this moment, is it worth it to put my clipless pedals on my 1986 steel bike and ride that for a few days? Or isn't it worth the hassle, and should I just ride my running shoes in the mounted clips?

this shouldn't interfere with the clipless learning curve at all. the only time riding clipless is even thought about is when starting and stopping. when you're at the point you need to unclip and put your foot down, you can't or shouldn't be shifting. when starting off, you should be in the right gear to start off from before you stopped, so again, clipping in shouldn't interfere with the new shifter learning curve.

it takes 2 minutes to swap pedals if you work slow. do it.

Alan Bike Houston, is that you?

My thought too !

No, your not attached to your bike, but if I don't slide/bounce of wet downhill mountain bike courses, your not going to bounce off on the road. The fact your not attached with platforms does reduce the number of possibilitys of comedy on the bike. And yes, you can walk around in clipless shoes, but it's not as comfy as shoes to go with platform pedals.

There is the thing about pulling up, which yes, if your sprinting in competition is good, otherwise it's got no advantage over platforms AFAIK.

And who are you comparing me to?

you obviously haven't ridden in severely bumpy roller-coaster terrain or wet days where rubber and platform turn into skating rinks when you least expect it.

Being attached to your bike at the feet is very important if you want to maintain any control.

For kicks, raise both feet off of the pedals and try braking or going over speed bumps.


see, with tobogganing and skiing, they're both going down hill, but the degree of control is vastly different between the two because you're firmly attached with one, and not so with the other.

Lol at that statement. Please don't make assumptions about my cycling. I live in the countryside in England... wet days is what we do best, with rolling countryside coming a close second.

With decent soled shoes and proper platforms I never have a problem with control. Like I say, if I can manage wet, slippery downhill courses with them without loosing control, then you can do it on the road.

Oh, and with you annalogy, if it's a proper well designed toboggan then the amount of control will be great.

On a mountain bike I feel infinitely more in control and safer riding clipless than on paltforms. I can power up inclines at a higher cadence than riders on platforms, push the bike around easier with my feet through obstacles and never feel like I'm going to slip off the pedals no matter what happens.

As far as "sprinting" I "pull up" during every aspect of my riding. climbing, warming up, cooling down, going fast, going slow, sprinting, etc. In every situation it is more efficient than a platform pedal. And again, I feel well connected to the bike and know my feet wont come off the pedals at the top of a sprint if I hit a hole in the ground.


and for walking, I put the little covers on my cleats and can probably run a 50 yard dash in my cycling shoes.

If your pedaling at a higher cadence than people with platforms, that's because they haven't got a good pedaling technique, not because of their choice of pedals. Tbh I never feel like I'm going to slip of either. Also all this is your "feeling" meaning it is your opinion, not fact.

I'd also bet that you don't pull up all the time half as much as you think you do. And it doesn't make it more efficient, your muscles are still using the same amount of fuel to produce the same amount of power (assuming they are trained as well as the muscles you use to push, which I obviously can't really comment on, but in most people I'd expect they aren't). Once again I have no problem with feet coming off the pedals.

Woop de do, I can and have done hikes in the alps quite happily in the shoes I used for cycling, they are supremely comfortable for both that and cycling.

classic.