Almost every mountain biker I see on the trails either uses clipless pedals or those pedals with traps for your feet. I realize that with these kinds of pedals, slipping off of them is a lot harder. But on the same token, if you’re about to eat it, it’s harder to take your foot off of the pedal to steady yourself for the fall.
I guess I’m just so use to platforms from my BMX days that I can’t make that transition. Someone please convince me to use clipless pedals. I’m always getting weird stares for having platforms.
You’ll get much more power out of each pedal stroke. Because you can lift the pedals when you’re clipped in, your weaker leg can partially compenaste for the weaker one.
It also makes bunny-hopping easier, requires a little less attention, and makes it almost impossible to do trials riding in your bike shoes.
Toe clips with tight straps might make it harder to get your foot down, but with clipless pedals I find it just as easy to get my foot off as without - I just yank my foot sideways while twisting and it pops right out. After a month it’s a reflex - you can pop your foot out in a nanosecond.
I personally am used to clips and straps-- I’m so sloppy that with flat pedals my foot slips off, but when I use clipless I space out and capsize at stoplights. It’s nice to have the extra clearance on the side so you don’t skip a pedal on rocks, though, and the more efficient energy transfer even on the up-stroke is noticable (nice on hills on a road bike). And for ti-wienies (I’m not one) they are lighter, and every half gram counts.
Trials with clipless pedals would be like leaping up and down on top of a pair of bottlecaps.
BUT I think platforms are totally cool and respectible and making a come-back (my favorite bike right now, though, is a single speed with a Raleigh frame from the 50s and drum brakes). Do not be ashamed of your archaic ways.
I was waiting for the lights to change whilst I was riding my bicycle in the middle of my home town Leeds and the place was absolutely packed.
Usually I’m pretty good at ‘track stands’ and I was riding fixed gears which makes it a whole lot easier but these lights just took longer than I expected, my feet were very tightly fastened in by the toestraps and I just fell over, gracefully as I could.
There I was laid in the road only a few hundred people watching and me struggling to reach down (by now sideways) to unclip my feet whilst holding up the traffic.
If there had been clip-in pedals in those days I’d have been able to get my foot out in an instant.
As for the weight, well generally clipless pedals are actually heavier than the track pedals with straps and it does affect your ability to accelarate slightly but then only from a near standstill such as track sprinting.
When they were first introduced there was some concern that clipless pedals did not allow any rotational freedom of movement which conventional pedals did and in regular club riders and pro’s this caused some problems but nowadays virtually all clipless pedals have a certain amount of float built in.
One big advantage for mountain bikers is that clipless pedals have a narrower overall width so if you are riding certain rocky trails it gives you the extra few millimetres clearance to avoid catching it on rocks and the like.
Disadvantage, if you ride in very muddy conditions like we often have in the UK then the locking mechanism can foul up, but this is rare.
It is a good sales ploy by the manufacturers because it restricts your choice of pedals, let us say you have maybe three or four machines, then you will find that you end up buying most of your stuff from one manufacturer just so that you have compatability across all of your bikes and shoes, yes I know most stuff is supposed to work together these days but people tend to be conservative about this.
Personally I like them but some of the racing versions are impossible to walk more than a couple of steps when you are off the bike.
casdave, I found it easier to do a trackstand on a mountain bike than a road bike but I managed to master both, a big advantage when I lived in San Diego. You’re right that a “fix” is much easier to do it with but not as practical outside the velodrome on those California hills.
The only clipless pedals I’ve used are the original Shimano SPD 525s with a pair of Specialized shoes I didn’t particularly care for. The SPD cleat is mostly recessed so it’s easy to walk in. Lots easier than a traditional hard soled road shoe with a bulky and cleat. Makes for good ice skating on the waxed floor of the 7-11 store when getting a drink.
I wear mountain bike shoes, even on my road bike, since the clips are almost always recessed. The ones I wear now are Diadora Chilis, way comfortable. I, too, have always used Shimano SPDs and I love 'em, except I wish they had two sides instead of just being able to clip on one side.
As for mountain biking, I always use regular pedals. This is probably because I mountain biked almost exclusively in one place in WA that had a loy of huge mud puddles to get through, and you’d have to put your foot down often. It’s kind of hard to restart on clipless pedals when you’re stuck in the mud. Now that I’m back in CA, I think I’ll stick some clipless pedals on the bike so I can get up some of those hills!
[[Usually I’m pretty good at ‘track stands’ and I was riding fixed gears which makes it a whole lot easier but these lights just took longer than I expected, my feet were very tightly fastened in by the toestraps and I just fell over, gracefully as I could.]]
I was showing off, doing a track stand (mountain bike, not a fixed gear) at a busy intersection in front of the University and ended up capsizing like that. Bad, too, because I had on a dress that ended up blown up over my head. Not a pretty picture. Well, maybe some people thought it was.
