Well that's a bit of an exaggeration. You can wear shoes without cleats and still have foot retention. That sounds like a benefit to me...

I think if I make the switch to clipless (MTB or road), I'll still carry my Vans with me so I can switch out when I go to class.

no reason you cant walk in spd shoes. hell, ive walked 10 miles in my spd shoes in my last 2 bike rides.

and if you think about it, you have 25% efficiency with platforms, 50% with clips/straps and 100% with clipless.

Where did you pull these numbers from? I can do 20mph easy with clips/straps with my current setup. So if I go clipless I will be doing 40mph no problem??? Why didnt anyone tell me this before???

just think about it.

uncited numbers ftw

On the bike, clips and straps have nothing on clipless; off the bike, regular shoes barely beat MTB shoes but definitely beat road shoes.

wearing bike shoes to class is b****ing because everybody is like 'wow check out that hardcore fixie bro'.

The idea is that with platforms you only exert force on the pedals with the downstroke, or ~25% of the total cycle. With clips you exert it on the downstroke and the upstroke (50%), and clipless you can apply force throughout the entire stroke cycle.

Of course it's an oversimplification. See here for platforms vs clips, and here for clips vs clipless, if you're at a university.

Other than the fact that most SPD shoes (even the "fashionable" ones) are pretty ugly and look like clown shoes...

Of course that's entirely a matter of opinion.

you need the square of the power for 20 to go 40.

Normally I would think you're joking but I have actually received this comment when I had my SPD-SL on the fixed gear

congrats on buying pedals and shoes, great job. now you have the ability to be more efficient*... about those risers...


*going clipless is only half the battle, now you need to consciously work on your pedal stroke. lower your ratio and practice spinning circles.

Sick Tigers!

Actually, the Clipless pedals were for the Leader that I built up... I just wanted to try it out on the Prez because I got the pedals before I completed the Road bike. . . They are on the 722 now, and the Prez has its origin8 pedals back on it.

http://www.pedalroom.com/p/leader-722-rs-2280_12.jpg

http://www.pedalroom.com/p/leader-725tr-1959_13.jpg