Originally Posted by
GrandBob
In a word, unless you're a racer you don't need clipless pedals. We cyclists are suckers for every gadget and innovation that comes along and I am just as guilty as others in that regard. I have a high end carbon fiber bike (Trek 5200). I put the clipless pedals on when I got it. Worked fine for quite a while. Then in a space of a few months my deraillier got slightly out of adjustment and I fell three times when the chain came off after shifting into the small chain ring. I took the pedals off and replaced them with toe clips, and frankly I can't tell the difference except in emergency situations when I need to come off the pedals in a hurry. That's when I'm glad to have them. I am basically a road tourist, having done nearly 40 across state rides over the past 30 years. My experience may not work for everyone, but I think it's at least worth thinking about.
A couple of years ago I helped an older lady (76) buy a good road bike and the young salesman kept trying to get her to buy shoes and clipless pedals. I persuaded her not to listen to him, and I told him, "Look, she's not going to do the Tour de France. Toe clips will work just fine." Tourists and other ordinary riders really don't need the additional stress of racing clipless pedals.
I have to disagree with you slightly about clipless. I agree with your points pretty much, but,
in my case, clipless is better for my feet. I'm diabetic and this past winter('12/'13) I developed an issue with my second toe on my left foot. It would heal a bit and then get worse or one spot would heal and another would start. I believe it was the clip that was causing pressure on my toe and creating the issue. After I went clipless, this past late May, the toe started to heal at a much more accelerated rate and healed completely. So my reason to go clipless, which has been validated, was to save my feet, not to be in the Tour de France or a racer boy. But again, I do agree with you unless one has a situation such as mine.
BTW, I use MTB shoes on a road bike because I want to be able to walk in the shoes and not ice skate, duck-walk, or destroy the clips in a short period. I also use the SPD SH-56 multi-release cleats rather than the standard SH-55 cleat. The SH-56 cleat is much easier to clip in and out and there are more options for clipping out. In fact, I had to increase the tension from loosest to about the middle for the multi-release cleat.