registered usar

Just curious. But say you took a seasoned rider used to clip-in pedaqls and made them ride with platform non clip-in pedals. How much slower would you expect them to be? any guesses?

therhodeo

Interesting question.

Machka 

2 km/h .... or 5.4 km/h if the temperature is below -25C.

toucci

If you angle your toes on a grippy set of platforms the power delivery is can be nearly as linear as with clips. The loss from sneaker compression is inevitable, though.

ghettocruiser

Perhaps someone, other than me, will volunteer to conduct a test on this one.

I can say my freeride bike is about 1/2 as fast as my road bike. But there are obviously many, many other reasons.

Machka 

Done. Where do you think I came up with my numbers?

grahny

Not sure, but I can bet that climbing wouldn't be much fun at all

PepeLeTour

Empirical evidence is here. This past Saturday I drove about 40 minutes to a charity 100k ride only to realize that I forgot my bike shoes when I pulled in. I asked around before the start and luckily found someone who had platform pedals. I was really hoping they would have cages, but they didn't (beggars can't be choosers).

Let me just say it was NOT a fun ride. My feet had numb hotspots after mile 5. My average speed was about 17 mph -- the exact same ride last year was about 19 mph over the full 100k. I would say Machka's figures were pretty accurate.

After my first stop to refill water, I was seriously tempted to borrow some athletic tape and have my feet taped to the pedals a la Breaking Away.

maddyfish

I 've got pedals and shoes on order now. I currently use toe clips, and am very familiar with my average speeds for my various routes. I should be able to have a good idea of my improvement, if any, in a couple weeks.

KendallF

I just set one of my bikes up as the new commuting rig and put platform pedals on it; I was thinking it'd be nice to not have to remember to pack shoes in the rack trunk. Riding to work a couple of days I didn't drop any speed but did notice sore calves from the shoe flex. I said "screw this" and put an old set of Look pedals on it for the next ride in.

donoman

I had SPD's on my commuting folder - Despite having a luggage rack I got tired of bringing shoes. So yeah I put platforms on her and couldn't be happier. I am wearing pretty solid shoes with thin, hard soles. Not sure if that helps much but for me, it's good enough. Puma Samoa's are the shoes I use, and they're pretty stylish as well.

A good thing to do is to have a pair of work shoes and commuting shoes. I tend to like wearing regular shoes on my commute because it's just so much easier to walk around at the train station or going up & down stairs.

-d

slvoid

Completely made up, like 51% of all statistics.

ZXiMan

Last year I rented a bike in Tucson, Arizona but didn't have my shoes/cleats. I had them put flat style pedals on it... I rode it one day, about 35 miles and took the bike back, even though I had paid for the entire weekend. Yes, it sucked that bad! It was very awkward... I kept trying to pull up on the hills and almost lost it a few times.

MIN 

It's more than just an issue of grip... clipless pedals facilitate a fuller power stroke. Like the aero wheel debate, the answer is nebulous and debatable.

Anecdote: I have ridden a 250-mile ride with running shoe on a MTB and platforms (when I was younger and more foolish). Aside from the the reduction in avg speed, I think it led to earlier fatigue because you cannot spread the load of the work around to a larger group of muscles.

roadgator

if it was completely flat, in the saddle, say a TT. might not be much difference at all. sprinting and climbing it could be substantial.

mezza

8.4 %

VT to CA

Best answer so far.

twocoasttb

All I know is I feel pretty irritated when I get passed by someone with platform pedals. And I get really, really steamed when they also have one of those baskets decorated with a plastic sunflower.

botto 

slvoid

If you want to test it out in a controlled environment, go to the gym, get on an exercise bike, put it on watts, and alternate the same routine for a few weeks between clipped/strapped in and just platforms.

group105

I would say for a trained cyclist 2mph~ if I had to venture a guess.

waterrockets 

I forgot my shoes for my hill repeats last week, and ended up about 20% slower: https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycling/307060-power-upstroke.html

ekimeno

Nice - I'm already working out how to drop that one into everyday conversation.

Sir Real

42

StanSeven

If you don't need to stand and sprint or climb, very little, if any for short distances. However as the time/distance gets longer, you'll start to slow and fade because your feet will want to move around and you won't be able to keep steady and even pressure.