Originally Posted by
jrickards
I'm learning that these straps aren't as good as I had thought. I just thought that they'd be a way of wearing flat shoes but having some means of increasing pedal stroke efficiency.
Yeah, there's a whole myth about clipless being more efficient or faster. People see the attachment to the pedal and naturally think "must increase efficiency". But you can search youtube for numerous comparisons done and in the lab with equipment there is no improvement with clipless.
Some people argue that clipless is advantage in niche situations in racing like letting you put down more power in all out sprinting. Races can be won by 5 seconds or simply not getting dropped from the pack so it's a bit different. It could be, it's hard to test and I don't race so I don't feel qualified to wade into it, but I know they can test the difference in riding on the flat and found no difference.
Used to be there was a big advantage in clipless of your foot not slipping off the pedal by accident but you can fix that today with five ten bike shoes.
Like I said, both clipless and flats are good systems. Which to choose is a matter of personal preference. But per people testing in the lab increasing pedal stroke efficiency isn't a difference between the two.