clip pedal vs cages

The clipless allow you to pull up, making you more efficient and tiring you less for the same amount of work.  You work harder to go slower with cages.

--  Cages user... clipless, one day

Well, both toe clips/cages and clipless pedals attach your foot to the pedal, and increase your working capacity--you are pulling up and pushing down. Clipless will, in general, have a stiffer sole than your sneakers, though, so less power loss. (Although you can get something like those pyro platforms to help with that).

The main reason to use them in my mind is they are safer--it's much easier to get out of clipless pedals. 

The amount of work done pulling up is vanishingly small (I've seen 2% of total, I've seen zero).  Almost all work is done stomping down.  The main reason to go with clipless is safety.  Much easier to come out of them.

This is correct. Performance gain is not that great, but there is a safety advantage with clipless. I've got a buddy who was a late conversion to clipless and was crazy fast in his cages.

And don't throw out the cages once you make the switch. I still use mine occasionally if I want to take the bike out for errands and don't want to clip-clop through the stores in my bike shoes.

if you can, go clipless. it's a much better system than cages.

to make cages work well, you have to cinch them down, but that makes it difficult to remove your foot. if you ride like this, it's dangerous. if you ride with the cages loose, then you are not getting the full benefit. another problem is depending on your shoes, the tread can get caught on the pedal, making it hard to get your foot out.

otoh, clipless snaps in, gives the same feel every time, in the same position, and snaps out when you want. much more consistent and easy to release the cleat.

of course you need to have the cleats adjusted properly...

I switched from running shoes in toe cages to clipless with bike shoes last September.  I have yet to see a performance difference, but I may just need more time to develop more pull on my stroke.  I guess my point is that you won't see an immediate improvement, but I figure if everyone in TDF uses them as well as all of the faster triathletes, they must be better.

Regardless of any power benefit you may or may not have, one benefit is reduced hot spots/increased comfort over long distances on your feet.  Bike shoes themselves have much stiffer soles than running shoes, so you don't get pressure / hot spots when pedaling for hours.

And even if you wore bike shoes with toe clip/straps, you would still have the clip and strap pressing on the top of your foot, as opposed to the foot pressing on the inside of the shoe, which is more spread out.

For mountain biking, it also seems that you get better movement at very low speeds, since your legs can engage even with the pedals at 12 and 6, since you can push/pull, where with clips and straps, you could only push at 12:00

Thanks everyone..ya'll have sold me on the clips.  Now the next ???  The bike store recommended mountain bike clips instead of road clips?? What is the difference?  He said they were a little easier to get in???  Again I'm aking for recommendations, mountain or road clip pedals?  Also i think shimano is what everyone is using, is there a cheaper brand (generic) that is cheaper that is just as good? or is Shimano not good?  I've seen prices from $29 to over $100.

Again thanks and thanks for being so kind to a complete novice.

Please don't put mountain bike clips on your road bike.  Yeah to me they are a bit easier to get in and out of but at the end of the day they put in resistance adjustments on ALL the shimano pedals that make it easier/tougher to get in and out.  The mountain bike clippless are going to be a lot heavier as well.

Why he would try to sell you those for your road bike is beyond me.  Go with the shimano road clipless.  I would also recommend to get your shoes at the store if they have a good selection.  Sizing can be kinda tricky when it comes to bike shoes.

I strongly encourage all road cyclists to go for clip-ins.

You are never truly "at one" with the bike unless you are clipped in.

That said, the performance differences are pretty modest so if you absolutely don't want to get clip ins, that's your choice.

not a bad idea if you have a mountain bike already and plan to transition to clipless on both. (then you can get the road version later)

it is easier to get into, especially since MTB Shimano clipless has dual sided clips on the pedals, whereas the road pedals have only 1 side to clip in.

road clipless pedals are more aero and lighter than MTB clipless pedals (in general).

if you don't have a MTB, then best to get road clipless. there are lots of systems.

don't go cheap and with weird brands. stick with tried and true, name brands. I use Shimano's and it works great for me. Shimano SPD-SL is the road version, and get the Yellow (articulating) cleats (not the red).

The 105 version pedal is fine and is fairly inexpensive. You will need a pair of cycling shoes too, with std 3 hole cleat attachment.

make sure you adjust the tension on the pedals to be the LOWEST. otherwise you will have a hard time unclipping.

I still use my old toe in cages once a year.  These are the kind that just go around the front of the foot and do not strap in.

We have a reverse tri in Naples with the run first and a long run from T2 to the water.  So, I just throw my old cage pedals and don't change shoes.  Just hop on my bike saving a lot of time - for me - in transition.  It also helps a lot coming out of T2 running to the water and I just take off my shoes at the shore.

enjoy,

Duane 

I agree with the posts about clipless, I use the following on my bikes:

1. Shimano SPD MTN bike (on MTN bike) dual sided very easy to use

2. Look Keo (single sided road pedal) good solid platform easy to clip in/out when you are used to them.

3. Speedplay Zero - by far the best clipless pedals I have used on a road bike.  adjutable float, very easy to clip in/out without looking. 

I had cages a while back, and the comment about having them tight to get benefit causing a safety concern is spot on IMO.

My recommendation: Speedplay pedals all the way, dual sided and very very easy to use. (if you want float the zero is a good option, go for Chromoly and it's not too expensive.)  Service from speedplay is also first class.  riding buddy called them 2 weeks ago as a pedal he's had for 2 years was clipping out on the pull, the speedplay tech thought dirt or grit had worn the pedal, so speedplay replaced the set, free.

As an addendum to the other stuff: I run spd-compatible (two-bolt hole style cleats) on ALL my bikes, road, track, tri, and MTB. I have both MTB pedals (dual sided) and road (single sided), but 90% of the time I just use the dual sided ones. I do generally have the road pedals on the track bike, since you're not really clipping in and out.

So it is possible to get the lower profile two-bolt hole style in both road and MTB shoes and cleats. (And there are also adapters for shoes that are three-bolt hole, if you find a shoe and a pedal you really like).

I sometimes pick up used pedals for $5-10; new you can get for well under $50. That's the beauty of the spd-compatibles :-)