Riders in the road forum have frequently extolled the virtues of clipless pedals. My father-in-law, who is a frequent riding buddy, often talked about how much more efficient they are.

I currently ride a Cannondale Adventure 3 hybrid (planning to upgrade to a Synapse 5 road bike) with a narrower road seat. A couple of afternoons a week, I'm able to get out for an 8 to 10 mile ride. Saturday mornings are usually longer - 20 to 35 miles.

After a lot of research, I ordered Nashbar SoHo pedals and Lake MTB shoes. They arrived yesterday and installation was fairly straightforward. Many people had recommended practicing clipping into the pedals and then twisting out thirty to forty times before taking a short trip around the neighborhood. This turned out to be a really good idea and made me a lot more comfortable taking off on this morning's ride.

First, I want to proudly say there were no falls. ...yet. A 27 mile loop was the ride du jour. You most definitely feel more at-one with the bike. The stiff Vibram rubber soles of these shoes were much more comfortable about the 10 mile mark than my previous tennis shoes (they really do have too soft of soles for riding any distance). When the soles of my feet start to get a little tired, I have been in the habit of picking my feet up slightly from the pedals on the upstroke in order to give them a break. Try that when you're clipped in. Whoa baby! When you're clipped in, you can still apply power on the upstroke!! Picked up about 2 mph after figuring that one out.

The end result: I whole-heartedly recommend clipless pedals and shoes for any semi-serious, longer distance riding.

I didn't fall until 100 miles of use when I was doing a long, 5 mile climb. I shifted into the small ring towards the end, dropped the chain, and I couldn't get my foot down in time.

you'll crash, don't worry

Yeah, that crash is called an "Artie Johnson" after the guy on the old Laugh In show who would topple over on his tricycle. Just about everyone does it at least once, and usually a couple times... don't sweat it.

I was just on the Cycle North Carolina tour two weeks ago, and was one of four trike riders among the 1050 participants. With a trike, you STAY CLIPPED IN when stopped. So each time a group of riders would come up to a stop and would need to pause for traffic you would hear click-click-click-clickity-click as everyone took one or two feet off the pedals. Than as soon as we began to start moving again, you could hear click-click-click-click-clickity-click again, as everyone snapped into their pedals.

Enjoy the clipless pedals, they really improve your connection to the bike and power to the pedal, as well as allow you to spin more effectively.

Tractor Tom in Okeechobee, FL

Not necessarily

I started road riding 3 years ago after 16 years of mountain biking. The only fall was due to not being clipped in. Unclipped for a stop and then didn't have to. Put pressure on the pedals and the foot slipped off. Luckily the fall was onto grass.

But give it 3 months with clipless and then ride a bike without them. The foot will slip all over the place- bump in the trail or road and the foot will bounce off the pedals and you will also find that the legs ache. I would almost say that riding platform pedals is dangerous. I would definitely say that when offroad. Tieing yourself into those pedals will give you more control. Slow technical bits and you want to move the bike around and you only have 2 contact points as you will be out of the saddle. Lose one of those and you soon find out how much control comes from a simple thing like your feet..

I agree. I have even ordered a set od M324 Shimano pedals for my cruiser. I tend to lift on the upstroke nough due to being used to clipless pedals that I find riding w/o them difficult.

The poll options should be "yes" and "not yet," unless you want to limit the scope of the question. My first clipless fall was about fifteen months after I started using clipless daily. I've tipped over a few more times since then.

Congratulations... I never really got the hang of clipless, and it doesn't much help that I'm a commuter (don't really want to spend the rest of my day walking around clacking everywhere).

It is much comfier for those long, straight rides though.

Maybe not, but it worked for me.

If you are commuting to the same place, you just leave a pair of shoes at the office.

congratulations, you missed the point!

That's what I do, but they also make normal looking shoes that take recessed cleats.

Practice unclipping BOTH feet, not just your dominant side. Find a place that offers walkin spin classes, go to a few. You will be amazed how much a very little training can smooth out your pedaling. And you will notice a jump in power output. Just remember "BIG CIRCLES".