anyone ride clipless? i'm finally building my fg and i'm thinking of throwing clipless pedals on... any reason not to? i've been riding them for years, so i can't see using straps and cages... thoughts? advice?

sometimes the silver spd cleats undo themselves apparently. I've popped out twice. Apparently the black ones don't do that. I run a brake with my clipless pedals just in case. For some reason I don't trust them enough for brakeless. Though it does feel nice having your foot really secure like pretty much only clipless can do. I still prefer clips and straps for the convenience of wearing normal shoes.

I wouldn't ride seriously with anything else, unless I had a brake. I don't think I could skid if I didn't have clipless.

I absolutely love my Speedplay's, unless I have to walk more than fifty feet.

clips and straps suck

get clipless if thats what you ride

CLIPLESS!!!!! more powere transfer -----faster

Unless the black ones are somehow black all the way through, this is bs. I dont know what color my original cleats were new, but they were silver when i got them. I clipped out three times unintentionally (though the first two were largely the result of being new to clipless and the last was due to cleat wear after a little over a year of riding). THen i changed cleats to a black set. THey are now silver (after the black paint comes off) and last week i unclipped while skipping down a hill. Just sayin, you always gotta be prepared for an inadvertant release. I'm sure i did something wrong in my skip but I'm just as sure that there isn't a real difference between black and silver spd cleats, unless it's just about how new the cleat is.

No, the two are different.
Silver cleats are multi-release (one of the release angles, I think, is pulling forward and up), while the black ones only release with a lateral twist.
Why else would they make two different colors? So you can co-ordinate you cleats?
I don't even ride SPDs and I know this...

lol. they're a different shape.

I rode on spds for a while with no problems. I had been using them for years though so that may have something to do with it. For that last year I have been using atacs they work fine but the aliums are distinctly harder to get into or out of(intentionally) then either spds or the newer xses atacs.

A few weeks ago I had to ride a few times in clips and straps and good ****ing lord did it suck. The mtb cages were tolerable once you got use to the sloppiness but the superbe pros ****ing blow all around. Not secure enough to really pull not supportive enough to really push. What a ****fest. I had forgotten how ridiculous the "track pedal" fad was.

I find clipless easier to get in and out of than my clips and straps. The connection feels better as well.

OP if you ride clipless freewheel you'll find it much less awkward than switching to clipsnstraps. Just be sure you have a good system, or if you can't be troubled to get a good system or maintain an spd system be sure to put a brake on the front if you weren't already.

Now, more importantly, Who wears short shorts?

I run clipless on both of mine. Wouldn't have it any other way.

i've been riding on clipless pedals for a couple of weeks since making the jump from clips and straps. they're really nice for my 16mi r/t commute, and were great to race on this past weekend in new haven. i'm sure they'll be great for the upcoming long rides.

i don't think they're quite as awesome for when i want to hang out and ride around more casually, and they are the supersuckiest option for bike polo.

but i'll keep em around.

my experience with clips and straps (singles - i haven't used doubles) is that they're satisfactory when you tug the straps tight. i'm not sure if i'll still feel this way when i ride on them again, after having ridden clipless.

nope

i wouldn't want to be clipped in at all for bike polo. i even found loose clips and straps unsatisfactory. all that low-speed off-balance reaching and whatnot it's nice to be able to take your foot off the pedal at any angle. footdowns are better than falling. my body still hurts from a couple of pre-race polo tumbles in new haven.

ride them for a few years and you'll think differently.

sure. you want the address where you can send me a pair?

I meant any clipless.

except aliums aliums suck.

...and don't it feel great

I'm curious dutret, did you recommend those because they have a flat platform to use while unclipped, or because they are easy to get in and out of?

you can skid with platforms. just put your foot under the pedal and pull up.

I love clipless, though.

both. But only for special uses like polo.

just too clunky for normal riding?

While you do a good job of asking a stupid question, i would counter with, is there another way they could differentiate between the types of release? Incidently, the black cleats i have are the one's that unclipped when i believe i was pulling up and forward, as you suggest only the silver cleats do. Whereas the silver cleats i had (though they were lightly used, but i could detect no black on them even when i took them off the shoes) never released that way.

Dutret, you say that they are different shapes. I know there are different shaped SPD cleats. But i am trying to get at the point that it is the shape and not necessarily the color that is the determining factor. I cannot tell a shape difference actually in my two sets of cleats. I don't notice a real difference in use either. There is a slight float difference but that's it.