Clipless pedals on hybrid

dutchk

Hello all. New to the group. I've lost about 75 lbs over the last 10 months with my exercise being mainly walking and light running. My knees aren't that great anymore and I want to try cycling as a potential replacement or at least a cross-training supplement. I live in the hills of western PA, and own a fairly good quality hybrid bike that I use for the occasional rails-to-trails excursions with family and friends. Nothing ever strenuous, perhaps 10-15 miles max.

A buddy is trying to talk me into road-biking with him and quite frankly I'm not ready to make the investment until I'm a little more sure of what my commitment to the sport will be. I really think I should put some more miles on the hybrid first. (Don't need something else hanging on my garage wall just for display). Having said that, I'm really excited about trying some more consistent biking once the snow melts around here (it's been a long winter) and my thoughts can't help but stray to longer rides on a road bike.

I've googled the topic and do understand that you can put clipless pedals on a hybrid bike. However, my real question is this something worth trying out to (1) make my road rides more efficient and (2) give me a little more taste for the road bike experience? I assume they aren't particularly useful for rails-to-trails and I'm certainly willing to swap out for those rare occasions.

One other question, can I use a road bike trainer with a hybrid or is there one built for those bikes? Like I said, the winter here has been long and I'm looking at off-season uses for the bike.

BTW, I'm always looking for MFP friends. Take a look at my profile, it's public.

Cyclink

To hit your questions in order:
1) Clipless pedals are more efficient for almost any kind of riding from mountain bike to road racing to track bikes to delivering packages on fixed gears. The only question is what kind of pedals you want.

Road pedals have wider platforms for more efficient energy transfer. Some are one-sided with a weighted rear end so you can clip in consistently. Some of them are two-sided, so you can clip into either side.

Mountain bike pedals are usually two or four sided and are more open to help get all the mud and gunk out of them.

You will also see pedals that are flat on one side and have a cleat connection on the other, which is nice if you're not sure if you want to wear cleats all the time.

Getting used to riding clipped into your pedals is a major step forward regardless of what kind of cycling you are doing.

Similarly, there are road shoes and mountain bike shoes.

Road shoes have a very stiff bottom and have the cleats mounted onto that. They are tricky to walk in. Mountain bike shoes tend to have more tread on the bottom and sometimes have the cleats recessed into the bottom so you can walk around in them. If you are just riding, road shoes are lighter. If you plan to get off and walk around while riding, the mountain bike shoes can be a better option.

2) To ride on a trainer, the biggest thing you need is a smooth rear tire. Cyclops makes one that is made just for use on trainers that you can get for $35 on Amazon. Continental makes one too, but it's slightly more expensive. These have no tread on them and are absolutely not meant to be ridden out doors, so they would only be for the trainer.

sijomial

I fitted Shimano single sided pedals (Shimano PD A530 SPD Clipless Pedals) to my hybrid - one side has has the fixings to clip in and the other side is a flat platform.

So for longer rides I wear mountain bike style shoes with recessed SPD cleats and clip in, for shorter local trips I can wear ordinary shoes if I want to. The flat platform and recessed cleats mean you can avoid the constant clip in / clip out if you are stuck in stop/start traffic as well.

Bit like a hybrid itself - a good compromise.

dutchk

Thanks to both! Lots of food for thought. Off to my bike shop to look at options later this week.