acidfast7

That's an interesting quote because I see the understanding totally differently.

The manual transaxle is the less complex option as it costs less to build and maintain and is much less hassle to use. The automatic transaxle is often more expensive and requires additional hassle in the form of additional maintenance that isn't required on a manual transaxle.

To drill deeper ... a manual transaxle is like my daily worn shoes and standard pedals. Nothing else is needed. The automatic transaxle requires additional shoes and pedals just like the extra components of an automatic transaxle including a torque converter, extra cooling systems and additional fluid pumps/electronics.

In fact, one can argue that they can "select a specific gear" with an automatic transaxle just like they can ride on the inverse side of the pedal but both are really half-assed solutions.

To me, the automatic transaxle results in worse real-world performance (fuel economy and acceleration) while making something more complex than it needs to be, when directly compared to a manual transaxle.

Steely Dan

i'm the same.

i'm definitively right-handed (my left hand is a mostly useless appendage), but for bike riding, my left foot is always my starting foot.

my left foot gets locked onto the pedal at the start of a ride and doesn't get unlocked until the end of the ride. i believe this is because, just as with my hands, my right foot is ~8 billion times more dexterous than my left foot, so getting in and out of my SPD's is more easily done with my right foot. the left foot becomes a "set it and forget it" thing, while the right foot does the work of getting in and out of the pedal along the way.

not that i keep track of such things, but i could probably count on one hand the number of times i've ever unlocked with my left foot first in my entire cycling career. that's how rarely it happens. it's always my right foot. ALWAYS.

alan s 

DrIsotope

I'm right-handed, kick with my left foot, and always, always unclip the right foot when coming to a stop. Unclipping the left feels genuinely unnatural... to me. I've tried starting off with the right foot clipped in, and it's as if I've forgotten how to ride a bicycle.

That said, most people I see unclip the left foot at a stop. Which is weird to me here in the land of driving-on-the-right. With my right foot unclipped I can stand on the curb and stay in the saddle at stoplights.

Wattsup

I recently had two examples on the same ride that reinforced my decision to use flat pedals, rather than clipless. It was 35 degrees and runoff from a storm from the previous day had created a number of puddles, some six inches deep on the asphalt trail. On two occasions, while riding very slowly, (I didn't want to get sprayed) the rear wheel slipped out from me. Very rapidly. I think the runoff had deposited a very thin layer of very slippery mud/silt. It was only ability to put that leg down quickly that stopped me from falling in that puddle. Being soaking wet on a windy, 35 degree day ain't fun....I was 15 miles from home.

p.s. I've had a physics class or two.

corn on the cog 

Hoopdriver

I've used clipless for over five years now, but am seriously thinking about going back to either toe clips or powerstraps. I'm finding that no combination of cleat adjustment or even different shows prevent me from developing hot foot on longer rides. Additionally, now that it getting colder, my feet just don't tolerate the heat sink from shoe through the cleat to the pedal, despite the attempts I have made to insulate. I'm also looking at pedal mods for my recumbent trike. Preventing foot suck makes it necessary to positively fix your feet to the pedals. I currently run SPD pedals, but am exploring a number of different devices like heel straps.

pdlamb

I'm one of those unclipping my left foot. My reasoning is that most of the time when I stop there's not a convenient curb, but the crown of the road sometimes means it's a long ways down to the gutter on the right.

Do you say po-tay-to or po-tah-to?

DrIsotope

I live in Southern California. If there's no curb, there's probably no stoplight either. It also doesn't rain here, so our roads don't have enough crown to offer up a foot preference.

I've also watched people get on their bikes-- with few exceptions, the leg they swing over is the "not unclip" foot. I get on my bikes from the right, so my left leg (the one I don't unclip) goes over the top tube. I've tried getting on the other way. Hips don't work right.

PaulRivers

I don't think that's accurate though...automatic transmissions are easier for the driver to use, that's their whole purpose. The driver doesn't have to pay attention to what gear they're in or reach down and shift gears. They also don't have those "rolling backwards" issues on hills that manual transmissions have or have to shift constantly in stop and go traffic. Automatic transmissions are expensive. And I believe it used to be that automatic transmissions had reliability issues. By "used to be" I mean 10-20 years ago, but it seems like they're pretty reliable for the lifetime of the vehicle now, though you personal experience is limited to one car.

The closest analogy pretty close to friction shifters (I think that's the term) vs index shifters. Friction shifters require taking your hand off the bar and paying a bit more attention, but they continue working after cable stretch and don't really need any shop adjustment, you just adjust how much you're shifting them after changing the chain/cassette. The more commonly sold indexed shifters don't require taking a hand off the bar to shift but they require a lot of readjustments - first when you buy the bike when the cables initially stretch. Then if the cable stretch more later or if you replace the chain or cassette. Also I don't think they sell friction shifters for today's 9/10/11/12 speed cassettes.

I'd put that as a closer analogy. But with a car an automatic transmission is less hassle to use, that's the whole point of it isn't it?

Archwhorides 

Hoopdriver

Yes I have and they are a good improvement. The problem is that they make my shoes even tighter, which leads to other issues. I routinely shift to toe clips in Winter on my commuting bike, just so I can wear shoes that keep me toasty down to single digits (F), but have up to now retained the clipless pedals on my recreational bikes. Since I retired last August, I am putting most of my miles on recreational bikes hence the pondering over reverting.

noglider 

I still prefer a manual transmission, but I won't delude myself into believing they are still superior. Automatics are more fuel efficient and allow for better acceleration than manuals do, thanks to computer control. My wife's car is a 2004 Honda Element, hardly a high tech car, and I like the automatic. It shifts exactly when I would, which is good, because it's a big vehicle with a 4-cylinder engine. I imagine manuals are still better for traction in snow, but maybe not, now that there is computerized traction control. Hey, I even had a manual car that had that.

RubeRad

Really? I had always heard that automatics were less fuel efficient, mainly because of the extra weight.

I've owned a Saab in OH, I totally believe that computerized traction control is effective, and better than human drivers (unless you're on the pro rally circuit or something)

Archwhorides 

When the thermometer dips below 20F, I switch from a mountain bike shoe with a neoprene cover and aerogel footbed to clipless winter biking boots. I have Lake MXZ 303 boots, my coworker has 45NRTH. Aerogel footbeds come pretty much standard with this gear class.

reishi

I like flats for city commuting- since I cant trackstand- I'm unclipping every 30-60 seconds on most of my rides around town, and there are lots of steep hills where I live. If conditions are wet, I recommend cages to prevent slippage.

cyccommute 

KraneXL

Claustrophobia? Actually, that was my thinking too (for a long time) until I tried and got used to them.

Jim from Boston

I just sped though this thread of only three days duration, and I was impressed by all the prolific cycle commuters who posted. I use clipless and like them.

FWIW, I did not see this explanation suggested: .

Jim from Boston

On further reading, I noted the right vs left unclipping discussion. We have plenty of curbs and I unclip right. In fact, when I'm on the left side of the road, left foot unclipping seems awkward.

I first to thought about it when I started riding with a regular companion, and he always unclipped left.

acidfast7

I don't ride clipless, but how I mount the bicycle has changed as I had switched to riding on the left hand side in the UK. I now swing my right leg over. In the US/UK/GER/DK/SE I would always swing my left leg over.

Also, I need to support myself on the curb in the city at stop lights, which is a pain in the ass with clipless in the winter or on the footrest at lights. When cycling around CPH last time, I've noticed that I've lost some right leg dexterity as my left leg has done this for the last 5 years (since moving to the UK).

acidfast7

I don't ride clipless, but how I mount the bicycle has changed as I had switched to riding on the left hand side in the UK. I now swing my right leg over. In the US/UK/GER/DK/SE I would always swing my left leg over.

Also, I need to support myself on the curb in the city at stop lights, which is a pain in the ass with clipless in the winter or on the footrest at lights. When cycling around CPH last time, I've noticed that I've lost some right leg dexterity as much left leg has done this for the last 5 years (since moving to the UK).

acidfast7

It's so important I posted it twice!

noglider 

I believe more energy was lost in the automatic because of slippage and complexity, and also the shift points were not always optimized for fuel efficiency. I'm under the impression that computerization has pretty much solved these problems. Humans can no longer shift as intelligently as the new automatics. At least that's what I've heard. Not only that, automatics used to have fewer gears than manuals, and that's not true any more, either. I rented a Kia Soul with a 7-speed automatic.

RubeRad

Right, that's another thing I remember from the past, automatics used to be only 3 speeds, whereas a commonly-available 5-speed manual allowed better gear ratio selection. But now automatics have more speeds. My 2013 Nissan Quest minivan has a continuously-variable transmission. (The manual for that says it is not good to shift in and out of neutral while driving, which I do in my 5sp manual Golf all the time to hypermile, and even used to do in my previous Honda Odyssey minivan)