Clipless Pedals: Are they really worth it?
Options
Replies
-
-
chivalryder wrote: »lol. separate your knee joint... I'd love to see the research on that.Clipless pedals will no help with endurance and will not make the ride easier.
orly? Funny, when I switched to clipped pedals, my cadence increased, cruising speed increased, heart rate during climbs decreased, and overall ability to ride over long distances increased both perceptually and corroborated by cycle data.
You're making up stuff as you go. If you understand anything about power transfer, you know your statement is pretty silly. The reason those pedals and shoes exist is to increase efficiency and power. Both combined makes the experience easier. derp.
https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-2008-1038374
"There was no significant difference for pedalling effectiveness, net mechanical efficiency (NE) and muscular activity between [flats] and [clipless]."
I think you forgot to put in the final line: "However, an active pulling-up action on the pedal during upstroke increased the pedalling effectiveness, while reducing net mechanical efficiency."
Which, I think, is fairly "duh" worthy. If you apply more force during the upstroke, you will create more power, but it is decidedly awkward.0 -
chivalryder wrote: »"Scraping mud" or "pulling up" is only a way to introduce newbie riders to using them. If anyone actually rides that way for very long they haven't learned to use the pedal.
^^^This.
"Pulling up" will lead to knee injury.
It's also the #1 thing you hear from people boasting about riding clipless, saying it improves hill climbing, etc.
The only thing it will do is mess up your legs.
With all due respect, this post is propounding absolute garbage. There's more likely hood of injury / muscle strain using just a basic down push at any reasonable intensity ... Muscles and joints such as the knee are designed to be exercised in both motions, hence the opposite contraction and stretching of the opposing muscles. Just basic physiognomy really, as taught to teenagers0 -
rprussell2004 wrote: »
There are only two kinds of clipless cyclists in the world.
The kind whose knee joints have separated, and those whose are GOING to.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Uhm, no.
0 -
Dude. It was right there on page one of the thread.rprussell2004 wrote: »
There are only two kinds of clipless cyclists in the world.
The kind whose knee joints have separated, and those whose are GOING to.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Uhm, no.
Are you telling me you don't believe something posted on an MFP forum?
I.. I'm just.. I can't believe this.
WHAT KIND OF PERSON ARE YOU??!? You're a bot, aren't you?0 -
OP here - Okay to help everyone out...I am not training for an Ironman Tri. I am, however, training to do multiple century rides next year. I did my first one this year on a steel bike with flat pedals and tennis shoes. It sucked in more ways than my knees and lower legs.
The primary reason I bought a carbon bike (and specifically the Trek Domane 4.3) was the way it handles rough trails and bumps. I have had both rotator cuffs repaired and riding on steel I felt every vibration straight up the fork. With carbon I do not get near the vibration.
Would I say I'm a casual rider? It depends on how you look at that. I want to improve but I am also not looking to do a time trial anytime soon.
Well, I have one question for you then, which are brought up by other posters: Do you care about technique and becoming a better rider, or do you want to be lazy and just go ride?
If you want to be lazy and don't care about becoming a better cyclist, go clipless. That seems to be what "casual riders" want. (That is not my opinion). If you actually care about technique, smoothing out your spin, learning how to keep your feet planted on the rougher trails and have better body language on the bike, go flat. There's absolutely no reason why you'll be slower at riding a century on flats than clipless, unless you stick with the tennis shoes. I do not recommend sticking with tennis shoes.0 -
chivalryder wrote: »"Scraping mud" or "pulling up" is only a way to introduce newbie riders to using them. If anyone actually rides that way for very long they haven't learned to use the pedal.
^^^This.
"Pulling up" will lead to knee injury.
It's also the #1 thing you hear from people boasting about riding clipless, saying it improves hill climbing, etc.
The only thing it will do is mess up your legs.
With all due respect, this post is propounding absolute garbage. There's more likely hood of injury / muscle strain using just a basic down push at any reasonable intensity ... Muscles and joints such as the knee are designed to be exercised in both motions, hence the opposite contraction and stretching of the opposing muscles. Just basic physiognomy really, as taught to teenagers
Say that to all the doctors and sports physical therapists I had to spend months with after I injured my knee from doing just that.0 -
chivalryder wrote: »There's absolutely no reason why you'll be slower at riding a century on flats than clipless, unless you stick with the tennis shoes. I do not recommend sticking with tennis shoes.
For the record - what chivalryder is advocating is not the "cheap" pedals that sometimes come on bikes, rather something like this:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/us/en/nukeproof-electron-flat-pedals-2014/rp-prod85858
And shoes like this:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/us/en/five-ten-freerider-mtb-shoe-2014/rp-prod118577
They make a lot of sense for MTB riding. I still disagree on the sloppy technique point with clipless. Sure if might allow you to shortcut your technique but that is not at all a given, and serious cyclists are not likely to have that issue anyway.
0 -
chivalryder wrote: »If you want to be lazy and don't care about becoming a better cyclist, go clipless...
If you actually care about technique, smoothing out your spin, learning how to keep your feet planted on the rougher trails and have better body language on the bike, go flat.
... aaaaaaand there's that classic MFP "if you're not with me, you're stupid and/or lazy" attitude of judgment.
I have to admit, it's refreshing to see it in a conversation not involving carbohydrates for once.0 -
rprussell2004 wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »If you want to be lazy and don't care about becoming a better cyclist, go clipless...
If you actually care about technique, smoothing out your spin, learning how to keep your feet planted on the rougher trails and have better body language on the bike, go flat.
... aaaaaaand there's that classic MFP "if you're not with me, you're stupid and/or lazy" attitude of judgment.
I have to admit, it's refreshing to see it in a conversation not involving carbohydrates for once.
Ya know - I have always wondered what everyone's issue with crabs is. They can't be all that bad. Sure maybe high in cholesterol, but I figure the amount of calories you burn trying to crack them open makes up for it.0 -
-
Can we maybe bring this back around for the OP? Treat this kind of like a wiki... feel free to add/edit as necessary - I'm not claiming to be the end-all expert on this.
We have 3 options, right?
1) regular running/athletic sneakers and toe cages
2) purpose-specific flats and shoes, like chivalryder is recommending
3) clipless pedals and shoes, like others are recommending
Pros and cons to each, based on general, real world use. Let's try to keep very small studies out of it (because I'm sure we can find small studies to "prove" anything), keep freak accidents out of it (because I'm sure we can find accidents with all 3 setups), and keep our own personal biases otu of it as much as possible. Can we do that?
Regular athletic sneakers and toe cages
pros- no special equipment needed
- no additional cost
- least efficient use of energy
- toe cages can be clumsy
purpose specific flats
pros- increase efficiency/energy transfer
- increased stability on the pedal
- no worry about tipping over because you can't get unclipped while you are getting used to them
- promotes better technical riding
- increased learning curve while learning to spin with them
- ?? is availability an issue ?? I've never seen them in my town, and none of the LBSs I deal with stock the shoes.
- added cost
clipless
pros- increase efficiency/energy transfer
- increased stability on the pedal
- no worry about coming off the pedal while learning to spin with them
- can help lead to better technical riding/spinning
- increased learning curve while learning to clip in/out
- added cost
Anything else worth noting for the OP?0 -
I guess my best answer to, "Are you looking to improve?" Yes, I am looking to improve. I want to do this for a very long time and stay as healthy as I can doing so. I'm not looking to compete at all. I am just looking to go bike as far as I can for as long as I can without completely bonking (no - I am not looking for carb tips, gel tips, energy drink tips...I am covered in that area). I just know the way I am riding currently is comfortable for me because it's what I know. But just as a move from a MTB to a road bike was a HUGE change...so will moving from stock pedals to either clipless pedals or nice flat pedals and proper shoes.0
-
And THAT is what I was looking for Jacksonpt...input on the differences. Most everything I read is slanted to one way or another. I want to objectively look at all the options. I want to thank all of you for your opinions, advice, and knowledge. I know I need to do something other than what I am doing. I just want to make sure I am knowledgeable about why I am making a change before just going and making a change.0
-
And THAT is what I was looking for Jacksonpt...input on the differences. Most everything I read is slanted to one way or another. I want to objectively look at all the options. I want to thank all of you for your opinions, advice, and knowledge. I know I need to do something other than what I am doing. I just want to make sure I am knowledgeable about why I am making a change before just going and making a change.
Ultimately, either one is going to be a huge improvement over your current setup, and more than likely, personal preference will be the biggest factor as to why you should choose one over the other. Watts and aerodynamic drag and spin technique... the differences probably don't matter enough to you to be determining factors.
0 -
-
I have not read all 4 pages but I dont know what I would do without my bike shoes. IMO you lose a lot of power transfer due to the rubber flexible running shoes that you do not have in a shoe designed for efficient power transfer. And for me if I do a hard 40+ mile bike ride (semi-race to race pace) then the bottoms on my feet get sore because of the shoe flex. With my bike shoes I do not experience that.0
-
Danny_Boy13 wrote: »I have not read all 4 pages but I dont know what I would do without my bike shoes. IMO you lose a lot of power transfer due to the rubber flexible running shoes that you do not have in a shoe designed for efficient power transfer. And for me if I do a hard 40+ mile bike ride (semi-race to race pace) then the bottoms on my feet get sore because of the shoe flex. With my bike shoes I do not experience that.
Just watch your knees, bro.
Sometime soon they're gonna fly apart, and the tendons will snap up and put your eye out.0 -
Has he provided any proof for this yet? I lost track of the MTB contribution to the road bike discussion.chivalryder wrote: »The only thing it will do is mess up your legs.
0 -
Can we maybe bring this back around for the OP? Treat this kind of like a wiki... feel free to add/edit as necessary - I'm not claiming to be the end-all expert on this.
We have 3 options, right?
1) regular running/athletic sneakers and toe cages
2) purpose-specific flats and shoes, like chivalryder is recommending
3) clipless pedals and shoes, like others are recommending
Pros and cons to each, based on general, real world use. Let's try to keep very small studies out of it (because I'm sure we can find small studies to "prove" anything), keep freak accidents out of it (because I'm sure we can find accidents with all 3 setups), and keep our own personal biases otu of it as much as possible. Can we do that?
Regular athletic sneakers and toe cages
pros- no special equipment needed
- no additional cost
- least efficient use of energy
- toe cages can be clumsy
purpose specific flats
pros- increase efficiency/energy transfer
- increased stability on the pedal
- no worry about tipping over because you can't get unclipped while you are getting used to them
- promotes better technical riding
- increased learning curve while learning to spin with them
- ?? is availability an issue ?? I've never seen them in my town, and none of the LBSs I deal with stock the shoes.
- added cost
clipless
pros- increase efficiency/energy transfer
- increased stability on the pedal
- no worry about coming off the pedal while learning to spin with them
- can help lead to better technical riding/spinning
- increased learning curve while learning to clip in/out
- added cost
Anything else worth noting for the OP?
I'd just like to note that there is no solid evidence that clipless pedals indeed do increase the overall efficiency and pedal transfer over a proper flat pedal set up.
Also, if you have a good flat pedal/flat shoe setup, the stability is equal to that of a clipless pedal. Also, your foot CANNOT slip off of a flat pedal. The shoe will grip the pedal so much, it will feel like glue. You can, however, lift your foot and your foot can bounce off off the pedal if you hit rough terrain - which can be fixed through practicing good riding technique.
I will certainly agree with availability of good flat shoes and pedals. They are hard to find.
I'd also like to note that with clipless pedals, getting someone else to fit your bike is paramount. It's not as vital with flat pedals because your foot isn't locked into one position on your pedal. Improper cleat/saddle:pedal setup will lead to overuse injuries.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.9K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.8K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 398 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.3K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 976 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions