Does wearing cycling shoes increase your speed

[The expat cyclist]

Read "iraqr"'s very long post. Just 2 comments about flats vs shoes:

 

1. The fact that a person is faster wearing flats vs cleats has nothing to do with the shoe or the type of peddal (sic), but more with confidance. LEARN TO FALL WITH YOUR FOOT CLIPPED IN!

2.Power transfer from you to the bike is just 100 times better if the contact between you and the bike is SOLID!

 

Oh, and the reason people fall "harder" with cleats is because when you fall, you want to PUL your foot from the peddal rather than twist it off. This is because we ALL learned to cycle many moons ago, without clips or straps holding our feet in place.

 

This makes me wonder: If you take a kid who has never ever been on a bicycle and you start him straight of with cleats/clipless, how will that kid compare to one that starts with flats?

[Mad Dog]

True ...

[Yang]

Pedalling is more efficient when you're clipped in' date=' because you can do pedal circles. I've recently changed to flat pedals though, and I love it. You don't need to worry about technical stuff because you know you can just eject when you run out of talent.For me, flats is the way to go. I'll hold on to my clip-ins though for longer and easier stuff, like Breedts Nek.


[/quote']

 

I have been cycling road and MTB for 5 years now. I do triathlons as well. My last major race was the iron man in April. I have to agree entirely with Hog. I cycle on the tarmac with proper cycle clip in shoes. The benifits are unquestionable

 

Howver i am not as talented in the MTB and never will be. Im 36 and when i do a MTB race like Magalies monster or Lion man i can be found in the top 40%. About a year ago after yet another fall and injury i decided to do a "time trial" on a technical MTB route without my clip in MTB shoes versus old tackies and to my astonishment i rode 10% faster with tackies

 

Now lets me expand on my idea of flats versus clip in MTB shoes.

 

1) With flats i fly at a much more controlled rate down hill. Granted on heavy technical rdecents i am faster in my clips because my feet stay in the pedals at high speed. It then acured to me if im flying down hill at a speed that would ordinarily result in my comming of the bike because im not cliped in then i am decending at a reckless and dangerouse speed anyway. Thus as soon as things get shacky under foot with flats i know i have reached the spead limit for safe cycling.

 

2) So how can i be faster with flats on MTB? Well since many (non seriouse falls) i tend to cycle with more caution on my clips knowing that if i come of the bike i could have a bad fall because i am not able to contol my fall and MTB clips dont unclip as easily as road clips on falls you risk ending up with a face plant on a gnarly boulder. Since i am onflats i pick my line with much more confidence and commit myself to the chosen line. I am commited to my line and because my feet are on flats i very quickly get feedback about the saftey of my speed. Should i get surprised by an awkward spot on the trail and find it to late i am able to fall and choose the way i fall because my feet are not stuck on the F*@#ing pedals. Thus because of my new found confidence my overall times are better + in of road triathlons i dont waste time changing shoes either.

 

3) In MTB decents when your not 100% comited and hesitate even at slow speads you increase the chance of a fall. Since it often happened that i was not 100% commited i fell alot. With flats i have had one fall-not even a scratch because i had complete control of my fall.

 

4) Now what about going uphill surely i loose power and speed? Yes if its a nice smooth surface but gnarly steep hills with loose rocks has caused cramped hamstrings with clips. However i ride up hill also more commited because i dont mind going over a wobly boulder and dont run the risk of a sideways stationary fall. Your top riders dont have this problem because they go 3 times faster than most of us uphill and consequently have great forward momentum wich aids them in control and covering obstacles. Ordenary folks like me go so slow we fall side ways because our feet are still stuck in the F54cking peddles. Now on my flats i wack it a lot harder and dont worry about stationary falls. Also once i have to "push" i go way faster in my tackies than you will with your MTB cleats. In the begining my feet did slip on up hills. Now however that rarely happens nowdays.

 

5) Hot foot. If you have done long cycle sesions chances are you would have experienced "hot foot" at some or other time due to incorrect cleat positioning in relation to the peddle. These sometimes become incorrect as the screws loosen on the shoe. No problem ever with flats!

 

6) The bad thing about flats are in the beginning i experienced  shin wacking from the peddles. Now I have learnt how to avoid this.

 

7) Clip in MTB shoes are worth it for very strong and experienced riders. Im not one of them so you will see me in tackies and flats passing you on the next MTB race

 

8) Toe clips with straps----keep away from these. They are very dangerous and should be outlawed. In a fall you have almost no chance getting your feet out the pebbles.

 

9) Downhill racers use clip ins. They also use way better protective gear than most cross country marathon riders.

 

 

This just shows that its all about personal experience and preferences. I do not feel confident offroad on flat peddles, pedals, and ride with ease down the hills- up to 55k's at Sabie Classic. I twist out of my pebbles pedals at virtual standstill. When you start feeling your quads tightening up and the cramp starts biting, alternate pulling up for 3 or 4 strokes, then pushing for 3 or 4 strokes. I reckon if I had to try an uphill nowadays in takkies I'd knee myself in the chin.

[swoosh1973]

Hey Yang

 

Thanks for the spell check! Howz mozambik, Mozambique, I mean from a cycle point of view?

 

Recovered any more stolen bikes lately?

[cat-i]

just back from ride2rhodes. LOTS of marvelous technical stuffs.

i ride with combo-pedals, and used the flat sides quite often - especially when trying to cycle up lehanna - the 'training' pedals helped a lot with confidence to tackle stuff that i would have walked if i didn't have the flat option.

 

depends on the terrain though - on easier stuff (like most mountainbikeracess) the cleats help a lot with control.