Louis Garneau 2010 Women’s Liberty Mountain Bike Shorts – Black – 1054068-020 (XXL)
MXC, LT-Stretch. Mesh innershorts sewn inside with gripper –> Breathability, ventilation, and better fit in motion. 2 f… More >>

Many new bicycle riders start off with a decent mountain bike. They wear ordinary sports clothing, and start cycling right away. Unfortunately, they didn’t know that they can save energy and ride quicker and faster just by making a small adjustment to their clothing – and that is by wearing mountain bike shoes such as those provided by Shimano.

Shimano is a well trusted brand in the bicycling community. They have been around for years and the engineers know all the ins and outs of bicycle engineering. They have also been able to stay on top of technology developments and managed to design some great products. The Shimano pedaling system (also known as SPD) is just one such example.

Why your pedaling is so important in your riding.

Your mountain bike, in the simplest sense, is a machine that helps to transfer power from your legs to speed on the trail. The component that is responsible for power transfer? The pedals. On normal flat pedals, most of the power that is used comes from the down stroke – i.e. you are pushing down as your pedal. Unfortunately, most of the power on the up stroke (pulling up) is lost.

So a new pedaling system is invented to overcome this problem – the clipless pedals. The clipless pedaling system is known as “clipless” because there is a need to differentiate between the new clipping system and the older toe clip system. So if you see “clipless”, it refers to the new pedaling technology.

How the clipless system works.

The pedaling system works by having special pedals and cycling shoes that are able to click together. When attached, the rider is able to transfer energy on the up stroke to the bike so little energy is lost during the process.

Clipless shoes and pedals are all about energy efficiency. Many riders swear that when they ride with clipless shoes, they can improve their overall speed by 5% or more. In other words, there is a 5% energy efficiency. If you rider short distances (e.g. 5km), a 5% reduction probably doesn’t amount to much. However, if you are joining races or running distances as long as 100km, 5% can mean a huge difference.

Note that both road and mountain bikes have bicycling shoes, but they are different in terms of design. Mountain bike shoes have recessed clips, wheres road shoes have protruding clips. Many riders who own both a mountain and road bike prefer to wear mountain bike shoes because they can also walk in them. Besides, mountain bike shoes look more normal if you are just out cycling casually with a group of friends.

For new cyclists, a good pedaling system is a must. With the feet attached to the pedals, new riders can get a better feel of how it is like to pedal efficiently.

Louis Garneau 2010 Women’s Liberty Mountain Bike Shorts – Black – 1054068-020 (XXL)
MXC, LT-Stretch. Mesh innershorts sewn inside with gripper –> Breathability, ventilation, and better fit in motion. 2 f… More >>

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