I am primarily a runner. I have a TREK mountain bike for crosstraining. I do not plan on bike racing or triathalons. I read a lot about how I should have those clip pedals\shoes though to more evenly work my legs. I probably use the bike once a week or so.What do you experienced cyclists think?
first answer makes me think, those spinning classes are probably doing the job, my bike is just for fooling around on, recovery workouts….
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On stationary bikes, the shoe clips are definitely helpful for getting the maximum benefit from the workout. You can put more forward force on the downward stroke and not have to worry about your foot slipping off the pedal.
no you dont need clip pedals. although thay do place your feet in the proper position as long as you keep the balls of your feet on regular pedals you will be fine and get the same results.
Shoes clips can be dangerous if you are not experienced….
I wouldn’t invest in them if you are not interested in tri’s
The best bet would be to get straps to hold your feet down. Any sport/cycling store will have those…
My shoes and pedals came to 700$ so if you are willing to shell out that kind of money, then go for it…. Just have someone train you on them before you hit the road….
Or when you go to spinning classes try them there… Most places allow you to remove their pedals and put yours on.
Just becareful… My friend tore her MCL because the clip didn’t release…
You do not have to go clipless. Advantage of clipless is that you are up to 60% more efficient. think of your pedaling like a clock. With standard pedals and even toe clips you are only pedaling the bike forward from about 1 o’clock to 4 o’clock.
the rest of your effort is not moving the bike forward.
With clipless your entire motion, even pulling upwards on return is moving you forward. Personally after years of riding I don’t feel “attached” to the bike without clipless. So that’s the good thing, faster acceleration, easier i think.
Now the bad thing
There’s a learning curve. and riding once a week it is important that clipping in and out be automatic and something you don’t even think about.
Find a local bike shop and or local club to show you how to start, stop, clip in and clip out safely. Have them adjust your pedals at the loosest setting. Practice practice practice till you can do it in your sleep. Spin classes are a good setting to learn this too.
Definitely, use clips–not only do they save your shins from painful scrapes by pedal slippage in wet weather but also they enable you to exercise both the quadriceps (muscles on the front of the thigh) and gastrocnemius (calf muscles) for most efficient riding.
You will be able to increase speed and endurance because power is transferred to the gears on _both_ the up _and_ the down motion of the pedaling. That makes training much more enjoyable.
Even if you don’t ever go off-road, you will encounter obstacles; clips are essential for jumping–pulling the front tire up into the air in order to avoid obstacles in the road such as railroad-track crossings, metal rods, potholes, and so-forth.
Clips do get take getting used to–especially “clipping out” if a fall is inevitable. It takes a while to adjust the clip properly–an experienced rider or bike shop can help with the adjustment.
Do not fear them–if you want to bike effectively, you’ll want clips. If you want to exert the proper force, clips will keep your feet in the proper position.
Once you are used to the clips–about a week or so–I feel confident you will never go back to clipless riding.
Get clipless pedals. I think it’s safer as you have moe control of your bike. I’ve pedaled fast enough that it threw my foot off the pedal and almost caused a crash. The learning curve is not steep. It’ll become second nature once you learn to use it.
As far as workouts go, they do work the muscles that “pull up” on the pedals. They make you learn to pedal in circles, making your strokes smoother which make you faster. I don’t always pull up but rather unweigh on the upstroke.
An extra thing to consider:
Since you say you’re mainly a runner that bikes as cross-training, I’ve noticed after riding a stationary bike with just the straps I have to use my hamstrings a ton more to get a stable pedal stroke. This means when I run later, I am extra sore. Clips on the pedals allow you to balance the workout between the hamstrings and quads and it doesn’t affect my running muscles at all.
If you were going to get into racing or many miles of riding, then they would probably be a good thing to be more efficient. But for what you want to do, I don’t think that you really need them and you will still get a good workout.