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I am getting ready to buy my first serious road bike, and I have been doing some research on pedals/shoes. I am not at all interested in racing, but am interested in touring, commuting, and recreational riding so I am going to want shoes that can be walked in comfortably. Given this, the consensus seems to be that I need MTB-style SPD shoes and pedals.
OTOH, I would like to occassionally do longer rides, and if I do start doing some serious touring I will probably be doing some long pedaling sessions. Based on what I read, SPD shoes may cause hot-spots or other forms of pedaling discomfort during long rides.
Finally, in the interest of both fitness and reducing driving, I try to run most of my errands now on my bicycle. Currently I have a hybridized MTB with platform pedals that I use for errands, but I would like to be able to run errands on any road bike I buy too. It seems to me that the key to actually integrating a bicycle into my normal daily life is to make it as convenient as possible. Clipping on a helmet and slipping on gloves is easy enough, but if I have to change into special shoes just to get on the bicycle the end result is that I will probably ride less. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that sometimes my errands require unique shoes of their own; for example, I referee soccer games and I need to wear soccer cleats for that. I don't want to have to carry an extra pair of shoes to the soccer pitch and then change when I get there.
Given all of this, the more I think about it the more I think that good old fashioned clip-style pedals are the way to go. I can wear almost any kind of shoe and still get greater pedaling efficiency than with platforms.
Is there some significant disadvantage to clips that I'm not considering? Sure, they may not be cool but so what? I am not a cool person. Clipless pedals aren't going to change that. But people seem to be so anti-clip these days that it makes me wonder if there's actually a legitimate reason.
OTOH, I would like to occassionally do longer rides, and if I do start doing some serious touring I will probably be doing some long pedaling sessions. Based on what I read, SPD shoes may cause hot-spots or other forms of pedaling discomfort during long rides.
Finally, in the interest of both fitness and reducing driving, I try to run most of my errands now on my bicycle. Currently I have a hybridized MTB with platform pedals that I use for errands, but I would like to be able to run errands on any road bike I buy too. It seems to me that the key to actually integrating a bicycle into my normal daily life is to make it as convenient as possible. Clipping on a helmet and slipping on gloves is easy enough, but if I have to change into special shoes just to get on the bicycle the end result is that I will probably ride less. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that sometimes my errands require unique shoes of their own; for example, I referee soccer games and I need to wear soccer cleats for that. I don't want to have to carry an extra pair of shoes to the soccer pitch and then change when I get there.
Given all of this, the more I think about it the more I think that good old fashioned clip-style pedals are the way to go. I can wear almost any kind of shoe and still get greater pedaling efficiency than with platforms.
Is there some significant disadvantage to clips that I'm not considering? Sure, they may not be cool but so what? I am not a cool person. Clipless pedals aren't going to change that. But people seem to be so anti-clip these days that it makes me wonder if there's actually a legitimate reason.