Originally Posted by
livedarklions
I have absolutely no dog in this fight because I cannot use any foot retention without setting off very bad chronic pain in an ankle due to a gongenital defect. I'm stuck with platforms no matter what.
It really isn't all that far-fetched that racers are "wrong". My understanding is that the evidence for actual benefit of clipless is so marginal that we can't necessarily sort out whether they all train that way because of the benefit or whether they're just better on clipless because they train that way. As the cliche goes, practice makes perfect. If you don't ride on platforms, there's no reason to assume you'd be particularly good at it when you do objective testing.
I'm a firm believer that people should try things for themselves and see if they work better or worse for them. I have no idea whether OP will be faster, slower, more or less comfortable, but as long as there's no harm in trying, it's going to be a lot more informative than reading a bunch of arguments over what should or shouldn't happen.
One thing I will argue with, however. Usually, someone in these threads will start rattling off a list of things "you can't do" on platforms, which usually consists of items I do regularly on platforms, and/or assertions that platforms are somehow "dangerous". This stuff is so misleading, that I feel a need to correct that. I am convinced, however, that platforms suck for sprinting.
Sure. I have ridden with people on mountain bikes who do fine on flat pedals. Hard climbs, whatever. Would they make more power with clipless? I don't know. It doesn't matter to me.
I've ridden with a few (very few) people who use flat pedals on the road. They are usually not leading any climbs, but it's probably not the pedals. I have also seen people who use flats because of physical reasons, as you have described. I always use clipless for all riding and have since I stopped using clips and straps in the 80s. Do they make me faster? Doesn't matter. I would still use them even if someone could definitively prove they didn't help me make power.
People like to say "studies have shown" or someone says you can't make power on the upstroke. Again, I don't care about that, but with just a little looking I found a study which shows an increase in upstroke power when riders were instructed to pull up. You can find other such info/opinions, whatever.
It's similar to arguing about speed. Like everything every rider does is always about more speed. We've seen it many times. Someone says they are buying something and others say it won't make them faster. Or you can be just as fast on a cheap bike as on an expensive one. Is that what all of us are always doing?