How much time can I save with clipless pedals/ shoes?

What race is it that has this bike cutoff? Is it a time limit for the elite wave or something? A 28km/hr avg speed, even just for 28kms, is crazy to ask.

I can't speak in terms of time savings, but pedalling efficiency greatly improves with clipless.

And yes, toe clips will help if you can't get clipless where you are.

Good luck!

Thanks!  I thought that time limit was pretty tight.  It's a triathlon here in Taiwan- I get the feeling the organizers aren't actually athletes.  And it seems like most people here either don't do races, or they're professional athletes.  Also there's no age groups for women- we are just all together in one wave, I guess because there are so few of us.

Anyways, I'll bit the bullet on upgrading my pedals, and thanks for your help/ advice.

That's less than 17.5mph in American, that would have to be an awfully hill course for that to be "elite wave" speeds. Might be tough for some beginners, challenging for others, but definitely doable on most tri courses. Not even crazy to ask.

Doable, yes, but definitely not newbie friendly, which the OP admitted to being. Not exactly the way to attract more to the fold by giving them a cutoff many first-timers won't make. The elite wave comment was only to highlight the fact that the cutoff is unreasonable. IMO.

I've heard 10% increase in efficiency, but either way it's worth it.  I would recommend you adjust them to be as loose as possible so it's easy to get out of the pedals and practice getting out of your pedals a lot before your race.  You don't want to fall down Artie Johnson style at dismount.

This is appears to be a very, very generous estimate. 

I'll answer this thread differently.

Of all the upgrades you can make to your bike, the FIRST (in terms of cost/performance) should be clipless pedals and shoes.  Next comes aerobars.  After that, the value becomes significantly more marginal for various upgrades.

Thanks for all the advice!  I know that the bike time isn't crazy-fast, but considering you get 40 min for the 5k it seems fast.  Also, I have a hybrid bike- got the smooth tires, but still, it's not built for speed.

Has no one tried to ride a route with sneakers and then tried to ride the same route after they get clipless pedals?  When my new shoes come in (in the enormous 41) I will ride one of my regular routes and try to settle this question- 20% faster, or 2 or 3 mph faster, or not really faster at all?