Clipless vs Platform Pedals

[Stefan Mikes]

Coming from an academic background and with no disrespect to the student, a thesis is a student's work assessed, most likely by two reviewers (it is a Masters thesis). What counts is the publications, if any, that arise from it; where they were published and then their citation record. That provides far greater insight into the quality of the research and findings.

Disclosure: I passed my Masters by Research, but no publications followed. Yes, I passed, but was it quality work? It was a rather abstract study in an area not widely researched, and there were no statistically significant findings, so it was not publishable, so maybe not that great. My Honours, on the other hand, at least resulted in a publication. One loss, one win, I suppose.

I will, when time permits, look for any publications flowing from it.

I'm a M.Sc. Process Engineer. In Poland, a student to graduate with M.Sc. writes a thesis, which is not published but put in a record. The funny thing about my graduation was this:

I was expected to go to the Army as a conscript. If I were a graduated student, I would go to the Military Academy as a cadet. I finished typing my thesis and my wife completed the drawings for it. I left spaces for any Greek characters. In the morning on the day of beginning my military service, I took a bus to my Technical University and first approached the drawing hall. A friendly student lent me the drawing tools, so I could draw the Greek letters in. Then I took my thesis and had it xerocopied and bound. Eventually, I brought my work to my Faculty to register it. Since that moment, I was as good as if I had already graduated.

Finally, I jumped on an Intercity train to Cracow and reported at the Military Academy at 6 p.m. The next day, the Company commander (a Captain) interviewed me. He said: 'Cadet, you should be punished for arriving late. Explain yourself!' to which I answered 'Sir, the draft paper only specified the date but not the hour'. I could convincingly smile Hard to believe, I was not punished. A friend who started his service at the very same Academy 3 months later and was mimicking my actions was punished for the same. The point was, he could not smile

I defended my thesis only in November that year while on a leave from my Warsaw unit. The academic cadre encouraged me to come in the uniform (just for fun!) but I modestly wore my suit

 

[stompandgo]

Maybe I'm just an obtuse person, and there may be some truth to that, but I don't feel the need for scientific proof for everything in my life. I do appreciate that others do. All I wanted to do was show that this question has been studied scientifically, to some degree, and wearing clipless pedals does more for the rider than "make them look like a pro".

I'm a pretty firm believer in, "let the market decide". Through all of the gyrations, improvements, and trends in the last 40 years in this industry, clipless pedals have only evolved, not faded away. A significant number of riders are getting benefit from them, or they would have gone the way of Delta brakes.

 

[Aushiker]

I'm a M.Sc. Process Engineer. In Poland, a student to graduate with M.Sc. writes a thesis, which is not published but put in a record. The funny thing about my graduation was this:

I understand that. I was referring to refereed papers originating from the thesis, not the thesis itself.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

 

[jabberwocky]

I've been back and forth between flats and clipless my whole time cycling. Started on flats, switched to clipless after about a year (mtb), then ran flats on my DH bike when I started riding that. Also did flats on my dirt jumper/urban bike, but have stuck with clipless on mtb/road/gravel.

I like that clipless give you extra oomph on a steep hill, but mainly its that it puts your foot in the perfect spot every time you clip in and keeps it there even when the terrain is rough and you're bouncing around. I also find rigid sole cycling shoes more comfortable on long rides than rubber soled skate shoes or 5-10s. After a few decades clipping in and out is second nature (I have even clipped out midair without thinking about it when I realized a jump was going wrong and needed to bail). In my dh days I definitely mashed my shins a few times on the pedals. Not pleasant on the old straitline pedals with the hardened pins. I've hurt myself bashing my shins on flat pedals way more than I ever have tipping over with clipless, and my time on clipless is probably 20:1 compared to flats.

Having experience with both though, I'm skeptical of the "theres no real benefit" theory. I definitely notice a benifit in pedaling efficiency and power. Maybe not a huge one, but pedaling with clipless just feels smoother and more consistent and doesn't wear me out quite as much. It could be just that your foot is always in the optimum position on the pedal. If you're running flats with pins and grippy shoes it can be really hard to adjust your foot once you put it down.

Run what you're comfortable with. I've seen the fashion come and go (flats are definitely back in style now in mtb land). I wouldn't run clipless if I was still doing big jumps and drops like my DH days but the more moderate stuff it doesn't really bother me.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Quite obvious that the only religion here that warrants mocking is the Church of the Specialized Know_it_all.

 

[Aushiker]

Quite obvious that the only religion here that warrants mocking is the Church of the Specialized Know_it_all.

Really? Was that comment necessary? If you do not like the discusison you can move on you know.