Originally Posted by
cyccommute
I have to disagree. Clipless makes rough riding more efficient because you can pull up while riding over the rough spots and you are less likely to slip off the pedals. Your picture isn’t even all that “rough”. If your buddy fell over while clipped in, I would blame the bike and it’s inability to handle the conditions. Those are very narrow tires that are likely to be deflected when they hit something rather than roll over it. I regularly ride clipless off-road on mountain bikes. Most of the trails are rocky with rocks ranging from fist to baby head sized. I don’t have a lot of trail pictures...I’m busy riding...but this is somewhat typical of a milder mountain bike ride.
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I also ride clipless while commuting throughout the entire year which has a lot more stop and go. There I’ve learned how to trackstand but clipping out isn’t a problem if I need to. Even in snow I’ve found the clipless to be useful and helpful.
I don't think we disagree. I was just illustrating that some conditions may make people favour one system over the other. I know lot's of mtb'rs who ride clipless for foot control.
My friend really fell over because he simply forgot to unclip. The trail was off and on start and stop a lot and that was a pretty benign section. We talked about bike choices and agreed that his excelled on pavement and groomed gravel but mine did better on loose and single track. I wrote a trip report about it here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/cyclocros...er-valley.html
My thoughts on clipless and platforms are just different strokes for different folks. My value for them comes from not having to think about foot position which increases or decreases depending on conditions. While touring I am almost never riding at maximal effort so the idea of high watt/speed efficiency is a wash for that application.