Originally Posted by
Voodoo76
Some work yet to be done. I've seen some data on the Speedplay Aeros, ERO Sports showed 3-5W over the std pedals. Not much out there on shoes but thinking about going to lace up like Empires or Sub6. What are the fast youngsters using?
Depends a bit on the event, and considering riders will tend to use what they use most often which is normally what they use on the road bike. My kid used his road Shimano on his 1st MTB race bike. It was later he changed.
Lace-ups with shoe covers and platform/low float (Shimano, Garmin, Look, Mavic, Keo) is what I think best for the TT.
For road, the very fast kids are using what the team provides. There is a push to have interchangeable equipment.
So the whole team is "forced" to change pedals. At the time mine was on we were at the point some of us had invested in our own stuff and the team was getting its stuff - so it was hybrid.
I know Speed Plays were on the road bikes for LUX. But when they won the US TTT I believe it was half and half. There was no edict.
For the TT, I see more fixed pedal/no float than I think I do on road. As a spectator I am usually at the start taking video, and have to admit, I notice but don't remember (I can pull out video). I know the national ITT winner junior and U23 several years was on "platform".
At the track, I have not seen anything but the platform pedals, but I am new to the track world.
I believe, without hard proof, and heard from a senior product development guy that the float type (Speed Play) take a bit of energy from the calves that need not be used for the platform ones. That amounts to a few W.
I had ridden Speed Plays from the year they came out (inventor was a local) for at least a decade, and commuted and raced on them and this seems true to me. They are less used in Europe. USAC told the kids to be aware of getting spare parts. It can really be felt two people out-of-the-saddle sprinting on a tandem. My 1992 tandem was setup with speed play (I had a very powerful stoker) and I found it easier to control the bike when we went to no-float Shimano. Since then, I've just done that. As we had a relationship with Shimano folks I've stayed with that brand.
I tend to see the pedal type line up with the discipline.
MTB - various non road type. SPD is popular. I've seen everything.
CX - same as MTB
Track - almost all some platform variant - low-no float
Road - I see more float. Seems to be regional. So Cal has lots of Speed Play. I see less at national events.
ITT - Less float
I have piles of TT video. You can see the speed play (#10) and platform being used. I'd have to go to the video cuts and take a closer look at the starters.
Tehre might be a pattern on stability too.