What is the advantage in click in pedals

Hop along

Apologies for the silly question. I am new to cycling and really only do it for fitness at the moment. I currently have a hybrid (Trek 7.3 FX courtessy of bike to work scheme) which is fine for what I do. On a good day, I might do 40-50km trip on the bike. I notice a lot of the road bike users have clip in pedals. What is the big advantage of these? Are they worth adding to a hybrid bike?

DirkVoodoo

You get to buy ridiculously expensive and garish looking shoes.

EDIT: On a hybrid, maybe not essential, but whenever I go back to a Dublin bike I find that my feet slide a lot on the pedals, in wet weather this can be a little dangerous. Clip-in pedals have that added security, but if you are commuting on your hybrid it also means you have to carry an extra pair of shoes around. Garish ones, I hope.

Lumen

They feel nice.

ednwireland

they sound cool when you set off (especially if theres a lot of you)

t'bear

I love all that clicking and dont forget all the Garmin's farting and beeping into life as well :-)

AlreadyHome

Hop along wrote: »

Apologies for the silly question. I am new to cycling and really only do it for fitness at the moment. I currently have a hybrid (Trek 7.3 FX courtessy of bike to work scheme) which is fine for what I do. On a good day, I might do 40-50km trip on the bike. I notice a lot of the road bike users have clip in pedals. What is the big advantage of these? Are they worth adding to a hybrid bike?

Apologies to the other forum frequenters for giving a real response...

Clip in pedals, once you get used to them and focus on circular pedalling (pulling up as well as pushing down on the pedals), can make cycling a lot more efficient and feel more natural.

I've never used them for commuting purely because I don't want to carry around a spare pair of shoes or splash out on shoes with in-built clips.

smacl

I've these on my hybrid, which work fine either clipped in or as flat pedals. For me, I descend more confidently clipped in, and can spin faster without being worried about my feet slipping off the pedals. I leave the tension very loose on them, so unclipping quickly isn't an issue, and use MTB pedals and shoes, so I can still walk comfortably in the shoes.

Lumen

AlreadyHome wrote: »

Clip in pedals, once you get used to them and focus on circular pedalling (pulling up as well as pushing down on the pedals), can make cycling a lot more efficient and feel more natural.

Circular pedalling as you've describe it is a myth. In practice you just unweight one foot a little except in quite rare circumstances. Even the "I have to pull up when I sprint" argument is contestable by studies of power outputs of pro BMXers who produce far more power than a typical road cyclist.

There are a gazillion threads on the internet on this issue, like this one:

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t/492321/is-it-true-that-the-round-pedalling-stroke-is-a-myth

Which leaves the other less contested arguments, i.e. that the shoe/pedal system is more comfortable and secure than flats.

MB Lacey

smacl wrote: »

I've these on my hybrid, which work fine either clipped in or as flat pedals. For me, I descend more confidently clipped in, and can spin faster without being worried about my feet slipping off the pedals. I leave the tension very loose on them, so unclipping quickly isn't an issue, and use MTB pedals and shoes, so I can still walk comfortably in the shoes.

I've looked at buying these smacl, but doesn't the metal bit in the middle rise up a little, making it uncomfortable to cycle in normal trainers? I'd imagine the metal bit would dig into the ball of your foot if cycling in normal footwear.

route66

Hop along wrote: »

Apologies for the silly question. I am new to cycling and really only do it for fitness at the moment. I currently have a hybrid (Trek 7.3 FX courtessy of bike to work scheme) which is fine for what I do. On a good day, I might do 40-50km trip on the bike. I notice a lot of the road bike users have clip in pedals. What is the big advantage of these? Are they worth adding to a hybrid bike?

I also (re)started cycling on a Trek 7.3 FX in 2009 - nice bike. I did a few upgrades to it before buying a road bike (aka racer) last year and one of these updates was the pedals.

I bought these these clip-in Shimanos: link

These are SPD pedals. There is a cleat in your shoe that clips into them and this is recessed, meaning you can walk around - almost - normally in them. SPD SLs are more racer orientated, the shoes are more rigid and transmit more power, but the downside is that it is difficult to walk in them without looking like a penguin

Clip-in pedals mean you can have a much more even power stroke - (you can pull the pedals up and well as push down) and also positively locate your feet on the pedals which is handy when its wet.

I found them well worth the money, and the ones I linked to above are ideal for a hybrid because they are dual sided, meaning one side works fine with regular shoes.

Just make sure you keep telling yourself that you are clicked in or you will suffer the dreaded embarrassment of a fall at some point :eek:

AlreadyHome

Lumen wrote: »

Circular pedalling as you've describe it is a myth. In practice you just unweight one foot a little except in quite rare circumstances. Even the "I have to pull up when I sprint" argument is contestable by studies of power outputs of pro BMXers who produce far more power than a typical road cyclist.

There are a gazillion threads on the internet on this issue, like this one:

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t/492321/is-it-true-that-the-round-pedalling-stroke-is-a-myth

Which leaves the other less contested arguments, i.e. that the shoe/pedal system is more comfortable and secure than flats.

I haven't trawled the internet for hours, so you may well be correct. I know that on serious climbs I tend to feel a 'drag' on the up-pull - it's a very different feeling on the calf than the consequent push down.

When I'm out on the road and feel like my rhythm isn't quite there, I often imagine a wheel in my head and mimic that in the legs. Helps me a lot. From my own experience, pedalling clipped in is a far superior sensation to merely pushing down on pedals...with inevitable exaggerated bob of torso on each downstroke!

derealbadger

I am very new to the cycleing thing but I now know what a Fred is and I are one so the clip in peddle's are nessasary so that you think you look like you know what you are doing.On a serious note where I find the clip in pedals come into there own for me is when climbing to give one lot of muscles a rest when I'm f---ed I change to pulling up rather than pushing down

ednwireland

pulling up isnt a important as you think
http://www.roadbikerider.com/cycling-science/perfect-pedal-strokes

AlreadyHome

ednwireland wrote: »

pulling up isnt a important as you think
http://www.roadbikerider.com/cycling-science/perfect-pedal-strokes

Is it just me or was there some contradiction in that article? It spoke about professional cyclists putting a lot of emphasis on the down stroke, but then spoke about wheel spin from excessive emphasis on one area of the repetition.

I've been complimented quite a bit on fluidity of my stroke and find that I cycle my best when I feel like the motion is stemming from my hips and hip flexors as opposed to feeling most of the strain towards the bottom of my quads.

DirkVoodoo

AlreadyHome wrote: »

I haven't trawled the internet for hours, so you may well be correct. I know that on serious climbs I tend to feel a 'drag' on the up-pull - it's a very different feeling on the calf than the consequent push down.

When I'm out on the road and feel like my rhythm isn't quite there, I often imagine a wheel in my head and mimic that in the legs. Helps me a lot. From my own experience, pedalling clipped in is a far superior sensation to merely pushing down on pedals...with inevitable exaggerated bob of torso on each downstroke!

He is, unfortunately, nearly always right.

The circular pedalling you describe is just that, it's in your head. Other techniques, as mentioned by Joe Friel, is that pedalling should be thought of in a horizontal plane, where your foot pushes against the shoe on the down stroke and pulls back in the famous "scraping dirt off your shoe" motion on the upstroke. You may visualise it as circular or whatever, but the actual biomechanics are quite different.

Hop along

Thanks to all for your input. I think I am clearer :-)

Russman

I'm purely a leisure cyclist and do similar mileage to yourself Op, I use the pedals on the link earlier that are flat on one side and SPD on the other.
I find the SPDs fine and probably little better (in terms of not slipping etc) than the flats, I'm not even sure how much of it is in my head to be honest - I never used toe clips when I was younger, always flats and can't really remember any issues with slipping. I wouldn't dream of using the SPDs for commuting though, I'm very afraid of having to stop quickly and forgetting I'm clipped in. I know hundreds do and are fine with it, but I'm not confident enough with it yet.

That's probably not much good to you, but IMHO there's not as big a difference as you'd think, for leisure purposes. I'm sure for racing its different.

dfdream

For me anyway I went from toe clips to SPDs on hybrid but have now a road bike with SPD-SLs.
The big advantage for me on the SPD-SLs (in combination with good shoes) is that there was a better spread of pressure on the feet.
Even with the good shoes I was getting hot spots on my feet with the SPDs. SLs seem to distribute load better.

Also I find less strain on my knees as they dont rotate as much as they used to in the clips...

smacl

MB Lacey wrote: »

I've looked at buying these smacl, but doesn't the metal bit in the middle rise up a little, making it uncomfortable to cycle in normal trainers? I'd imagine the metal bit would dig into the ball of your foot if cycling in normal footwear.

Doesn't seem to bother me, and I cycle regularly in trainers. I've a pair of the single sided SPDs which I used previously, but found them a pain in the ass to clip into by comparison. (My toast always seems to fall butter side down). I guess if you had thin soled shoes it could be an issue, but not the kind of grunt wear I normally go for. If you'd like to try out the single sided 324s, you're more than welcome to borrow them, as I don't see them going back on the bike any time soon.

MB Lacey

smacl wrote: »

I've a pair of the single sided SPDs which I used previously, but found them a pain in the ass to clip into by comparison.

Thanks for the kind offer, but I've decided when I go for pedals they're going to be double sided.

Wishbone Ash

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

it also means you have to carry an extra pair of shoes around

AlreadyHome wrote: »

I've never used them for commuting purely because I don't want to carry around a spare pair of shoes

Would it not be a lot easier just to leave a pair of shoes in work?

coolemon

How do pedal cages compare to clip in systems in terms of function and efficiency?

Could be a happy medium instead of having to buy specialist footware.

Anybody use pedal cages?

Ole Rodrigo

I've used my road bike for commuting with the SPD SLs and wearing just runners. The freedom of jumping off the bike and not clicking over the office reception tiles was nice, and not having to change pedals for each weekend spin as well. On some days I took the long way home clocking up about 65km and my feet were grand ( not many hillls though ). I remember one time it was a bit longer than 65 and there was a slight ache in the ball of my right foot , so I figured that would be the distance I could go without needing to wear cleated shoes.

That said, I much prefer cycling in cleats (when they don't cause too much inconvenience, and for long distances )

I think caged pedals with runners would be grand in a lot of scenarios (I'll find out myself on Tuesday when I pick up a new single speed in them ).

There's a touring guy who swears by not needing clip ins and cleats, he has some interesting things to say :

http://ultralightcycling.blogspot.ie/p/equipment-reviews_12.html

cdaly_

coolemon wrote: »

How do pedal cages compare to clip in systems in terms of function and efficiency?

Could be a happy medium instead of having to buy specialist footware.

Anybody use pedal cages?

Cages have to be tightened to your shoes to be useful. Then you have to loosen them each time you want to put your foot down. The upshot is that you end up not tightening them at all and so they don't work as well as they could. You won't slip off the pedals but you won't be able to release as easily as you can from clip in pedals.

I use SPDs for commuting and I have no bother with clipping in/out for lights and traffic. I keep spare shoes at work so no carrying and the SPD shoes are walkable in.

BofaDeezNuhtz

ednwireland wrote: »

pulling up isnt a important as you think
http://www.roadbikerider.com/cycling-science/perfect-pedal-strokes

Not as important as pulling out

650Ginge

Suzuki_TL1000R wrote: »

Not as important as pulling out

Once you ride with them there won't be any going back. It feels awful even nipping to the shop in ordinary pedals now.

desertcircus

The biggest benefits I found were that switching to SPDs kept my feet correctly positioned on the pedals without any slipping, and the shoes themselves are far stiffer than normal shoes, so your feet and legs have an easier time of it and aren't working to maintain the right angle on the pedals.

AlreadyHome

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Would it not be a lot easier just to leave a pair of shoes in work?

Not all of us are fancy pants enough to own more than one pair of shoes

Unregistered.

Lumen wrote: »

pro BMXers who produce far more power than a typical road cyclist.

How do they compare to pro road cyclists?

Lumen

Unregistered. wrote: »

How do they compare to pro road cyclists?

Not sure they're directly comparable, but...

http://www.trainingandracingwithapowermeter.com/2010/05/fatigability-and-bmx-performance-at.html


"When I looked at the data, I was blown away by some of the wattages that these athletes were putting out at the start and then down the first straight and exiting each turn. Another thing that blew me away was that not only were the best athletes putting out over 1800 W exiting the first turn, but they were pedaling at over 160 rpm and the best were over 180 rpm"

Petethedrummer obviously missed his vocation.

kenmc

MB Lacey wrote: »

I've looked at buying these smacl, but doesn't the metal bit in the middle rise up a little, making it uncomfortable to cycle in normal trainers? I'd imagine the metal bit would dig into the ball of your foot if cycling in normal footwear.

I have the metal-cage version of these, and yes, the centre bit does sit up and you can feel it even in a pair of walking runners e.g. Merrells. It annoys me for anything more than about 2 minutes of a cycle, so fine for popping to the local shop, but not much more than that.
Each to their own of course, but I wouldn't recommend them without clips; I find them handy for MTBing as you don't need to get your foot into the clip to be able to pedal ok, but I personally wouldn't (and don't) use them for anything other than that.

mossym

the one place i find being able to pull on the pedal useful is on the mtb, where you go from free-wheeling to having to go up a sudden steep climb, being able to pull up on the pedal at the very start to get them moving is a big benefit. apart from that, i won't question the theory