Originally Posted by
canklecat
When I first used clipless I tended to literally pull the back wheel up off the ground when standing to climb. Just poor technique. Took me awhile to get the hang of spinning while seated, and more efficient pedaling while standing.
Younger folks who are well conditioned may get away with pulling up on the pedals without injury, and maybe put out more power. But that ain't me. I'm more likely to end up with hamstring spasms and knee problems.
Ha ha! Well I'm glad someone else agrees with me! The myth of "pedal pulling" as a way of increasing power refuses to die even after the science shows it to be ineffective at best, even at pro level. I think clipless pedals are great for road riding and have been using them since the mid 80s on all my road bikes and only relatively recently moved to flat pedals just for mountain biking. But I don't think using flat pedals on a road bike (done properly) is any major disadvantage for an average cyclist and the more I think about it, the more I can see some advantages for a touring setup. It was very interesting to hear about Lachlan Morton using sandals and flat pedals on the Alt TDF because of knee problems using his normal clipless pedals. Apparently his average speed remained the same, as someone else pointed out much earlier in this thread.