I joined the other team... GO CLIPLESS !!!!
 

I wasnt gonna post this on these interweb forums but I havent posted in a while... and I'm wasting a few minutes at home before I go out and actually do something tonight... but...

I rode clipped in the other day for the first time and today for another few miles. I LOVE it! I cant believe how much easier it is on your body. No sore feet. No strap marks on your nice suede Vans LOL.

I am destined to start a shoe company that makes clipless shoes or at least SPD compatible shoes that dont look like youre Robocop on a bike.

Everyone who rides in cages/straps needs to ride clipped in for a few miles and if you can get past the fashion frenzy, you'll never go back.

I may toss on my Sylvans and cages/straps for a bar/coffee/food run but if I'm out riding like more than 3 miles, I'm rocking these loaner Time Atacs and Nike clipless... til I get my owns LOL

(Make sure you rock MTB shoes though... at least you can walk normal.)

Yup. Clipless is far superior.

However, I'm glad I have a set of clips and straps on my bike. It's the bike that I used to work on, that I ride for shorter distances. It can be a pain bringing another set of shoes everywhere I go, so, the IRO got doublestraps and sylvans.

But once I start getting a healthy commute back on my schedule, clipless all the time.

i can't afford to right now but i'll eventually switch.

I think it's a bit inconvenient for commuting, but otherwise clipless is definitely the way to go.

There are some great shoes for walking around that are spd. Perhaps people could make some recommendations????

That is simply not true. All the types of foot retention serve their own unique purpose. I ride clips/straps, powerstraps, and clipless on my three bikes. This topic has kinda been done to death. Clipless are the most efficient system for power transfer but not always the best system depending on your needs and what type of biking you are doing.

Apostate!

I'd go clipless if I didn't have to carry around an extra pair of shoes when I commute.

leave your shoes at work then.

If you are looking for more casual shoes look into vans bmx racing shoes. 661 makes mtb clipless shoes that can be had for cheap.

I ride sidi Dom 3 with eggbeaters and just keep shoes at work or carry some in my bag.

Put that giant Diesel bag of yours to use, or just leave the work shoes at work.

I tried clipless on my MTB, SS, and road bike.....F'n hate it, I now have a set of Eggbeater pedals and a set of size 43 MTB shoes that I dont use ( used to be a set of road shoes, 2 sets of Ritchey clipless road pedals, and the Eggbeaters and MTB shoes! :mad: ) it seems to work out fine for most but I truly do not like clipless, Ill stick with toe clips. :thumb: Just got a set of what appears to be SOMA doubles and double toe clips. :D ( I say "appears to be" as they may be SOMA knock-offs. ) you tell me.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...c/clips007.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...c/clips006.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...c/clips005.jpg

I ride clipless on my road bike, cages on my fixed gear.

It's comparing apples and oranges. I'm glad that you found something you like, but I don't think this is some huge breakthrough. Everyone knows that clipless is superior in a lot of ways, but it's also very impractical. I bet all of those coffee/shopping/etc runs you do will add up and eventually you will just leave your cages on instead of always switching out pedals...that's what happened to me when I was using my road bike to commute

Rich, I wouldn't worry about converting folks. Even Jesus couldn't save the world. I think he rides clipless sandals.

I've been preaching clipless for years. But hipsters think that MKS pedals (and Brooks saddles) are the bee's knees. Apparently no other cycling subculture (except vintage) got the memo.

Hey, I think a set of MKS RX-1s with some nice double straps is a beautiful thing...to look at. Not to ride. I've had MKS + double straps before, so I'm not one to dis before trying. But I'll take my Ultegra SPD-SLs with my Sidi Genius 5s for racing or my TIME ATACs with my Nike Kato IIIs for around town over ANY double strap setup. You couldn't pay me to ride them.

I race with what we would call a hipster at the velodrome. He rides a kilo TT (with a purple chain) with MKS sylvans. The dude is fast. But he could be much faster. I told him only once to get clipless to get faster. I won't again until we are racing in different divisions.

After Tuesday's races he was like, "Man I saw you take off and I wanted to go with you but I couldn't keep up." I was like, "Really? Damn."

i'll wait for the clipless flipflop before i convert :thumb:

For those who say "I like the idea of clipless sometimes but I still need to ride in regular shoes sometimes-

Shimano M-324 or one of it's many knock-offs. I have these on my commuter bike and although I almost never ride the platform sides, I often loan the bike to friends/family who do. very convenient.

http://media.rei.com/media/668198Lrg.jpg

I think it would be simpler to swap pedals than it would be to take a set of cages/straps off LOL. Those would be good for a freewheel application for sure.

Carleton, yeah, I'm not really trying to convert anyone, I just needed to vent how much I liked riding clipped in. Lets start a shoe company. We can be like TOMS where we give a pair away to a hipster in need for every pair we sell haha.

uh half these posts seem to be saying clipless are cages and cages are clipless....

clipless refers to a toe-clip-less system of retention, like SPD, TIME, etc, while the other things are toe-clips, or cages using a strap for retention.

annnnyway. clipless is superior for performance, retention, all that, but the shoes do not go well with all of my cloths so I still rock cages on some weekends, looking to get a hot pink double strap system sometime.

really, being able to wear the shoes you want is important if you ride everywhere. i've met messengers who wear their cycling shoes everywhere, but they seem to only own cycling clothes too so its okay for them.

for me I dont think i have a dress or skirt or pantsuit that sidis would look good with

Jesus wore these when he commuted to the construction site (he was a carpenter, right?)

http://www.terrybicycles.com/product...splay/1684.gif

Perhaps my sense of style has deteriorated, or never existed :lol:, but I'm thinking these will be my next pair of commuting/utility shoes.

Shimano SH-MP66W...
http://bike.shimano.com/publish/cont...bm.512.384.gif

Also:

http://bike.shimano.com/publish/cont...bm.512.384.gif

Those are sexy. :thumb:

i know a few guys who ride those (two posts ago). i ride look clipless, but it is nice to slap some toe straps and cages on for commuting to school/grocery store, and alleycats with lotsa stops and gimmicks

bingo.

im riding platforms like an idiot right now, but clips looks nice.

How easy/hard is it to get in and out of clipping? I'm looking to upgrade.