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.
Originally Posted by
Rewillia
Great sticky, threads and advice.
Anyone have wisdom to share as regard the use of clip style pedals for those of us 50+ who may be re-entering the cycling world and have no prior history of using them?
That's me and while taking in all the good advice from the commentary provided here in this sticky, to having my newly acquired high-end used road bike check-out and tuned by my LBS along with my scheduled frame-set fitting the day after tomorrow - the only concern I feel I have at this time is not having a foundation of awareness of how to properly and safely use clip style pedals. As such, I would appreciate some insight and knowledge as regard;
- knowing how to properly engage or disengage the shoes/clips with the pedals, such as when commencing to take off or coming to full stop (what to do and how to do it safely and in what order)?
- knowing how and what steps to take to safely release from the pedals in the event of an emergency or in part with a mishap, ie. unexpected fall....(what precautions)
- any other tidbits of advice, i.e. tension adjustment, left foot vs. right foot first, kicking out, etc, etc.