Conference noted::bicycle

    I would recommend the clipless pedals because they are easier to
    get your foot out of and therefore safer. As you may know, you snap
    your shoe into them, like ski bindings, and rotate your heel outwards
    to get your foot out: this is a lot quicker than having to bend
    and loosen a strap, especially if you are in the process of falling
    off the bike and time is of the essence.
    
    There is probably a weight advantage as well. There is a price
    _disadvantage_, though. Also the clipless shoes are even more difficult
    to walk in than cleated shoes - a minor consideration. 

    
    	I like to be able to walk too, therefore I don't wear cleats.
    I commute to work and its about 300 meters from the bike rack to
    my office, another 200 to the showers, so for everyday use cleats
    are out anyway.  Whatever  "performance advantage"  they may have
    seems to be more than offset by the time it takes to pick chunks of
    gravel out of the slots.  For late_autumn/winter/early_spring and
    summer rain riding (is there any that I left out ?:-^) conventional toe
    clips also offer the advantage of toe clip covers.  With conventional
    pedals I can/could_if_I_wanted_to just hop on the bike with regular
    sneakers if I need to take a quick trip to the corner store {Yeah,
    I'm lazy, never walk if I can ride}
    
    	Reg
    

I would recommend clipless.  The major reason is COMFORT.  

I guess that they are safer as well but that's not as big a deal as people make
it out to be.  Under normal circumstances, such as stop lights, it is easy to
release toe straps, about 1/2 second.  Unless you're climbing a hill and have
the straps as tight as they will go (or as tight as you can stand) you can
usually find enough strength to jerk your foot out. 

On long rides different people hurt in different places, some it's the hands,
others the seat.  With me it was the feet.  The toe strap would cut off
circulation or the clips would cut into the top of my toe.  With Looks I don't
have the problem.

It is true that with clipless peddles you can't just hop on with street
shoes.  If that is a requirement then forget it.  As far as toe covers go
I use full shoe covers.  The same pair on both types of cleats (Looks on
the road bike and normal cleats on the mountain bike).  Also I would say
that it is easier to walk on Look cleats than on normal cleats.

    	Cleats have never presented enough problems to offset the
    advantages for me.  Walking was hard on old style nail-in cleats,
    but my nylon Sidi cleats haven't been damaged by 4 years of occasional
    walking.  As for the clipless alternative and walking, Look has
    come out with touring shoes which have the cleat relatively protected
    by the rest of the sole.  Its in the latest Nashbar catalog.  
    
    	The power advantage of cleated vs non-cleated shoes is
    significant, especially if you pull up on the backside of the stroke.  
    When I lived in Boulder, this was a very big deal for laps around the 
    Morgul-Bismark, rides up Flagstaff, and more sustained climbing. 
    
    	I got a set of Look pedals last year and like them.  The biggest
    advantage that I have found is that my toes don't fall asleep.  The
    ability to get in and out quickly seems to be mostly a matter of
    convenience in traffic.  They weigh more than most conventional
    pedals, if that matters to you.  To answer the original question,
    clipless is nice to have, but not necessary.

    	I just noticed from your node that you're in Cupertino.  Go
    over to finance to see Gary Shroyer.  He got a pair of Looks a 
    few weeks ago.  

I have a set of the white "sport" Look pedals and I have ridden them with 
running shoes...no problem.  I'm surprised everyone else seems to think that 
is impossible.  The front and back edges of the top of the pedal provide a 
resonably flat surface and supports the foot ok.  I wouldn't recommend 
extended trips this way, but it will work.

I recently picked up a pair of the blank nylon Look pedals marketed as 
"recreational" or "ATB".  They have the Look mechanism on one side and a flat 
surface for using any non-cleated shoe on the other.  I've mounted them on my 
ATB and I can't really tell the difference between them and the 'sport' 
pedals.  I have heard rumors that they're not being made anymore.  They're a 
lot cheaper than the other Looks, so if versatitily is your main requirement, 
then they seem to be the answer.  You could even mount toe clips on these for 
use with non-Look shoes (touring, hiking, running, etc).

There's also an insert the just came out that is a flat platform and toeclip 
with a Look cleat on the bottom.  You snap these into your Look pedals and now 
you have a completely flat platform with a toeclip.  Seems great for short 
triathlons when you don't want to take the time to change shoes.

So, there's no need to stay with obsolete technology.  I wouldn't ride with 
anything else but Look pedals.

Kevin

>So, there's no need to stay with obsolete technology.  I wouldn't ride with 
>anything else but Look pedals.

    Assuming you have plenty of money to spend....
    
    Meanwhile, I'm having fun shopping for obsolete technology.  I bought
    a pair of wooden-soled Duegis for $12.10 two weekends ago, and a
    set of MKS pedals with heavy-duty Christophe straps for under $50 
    a few months back. 
    
    The MKS pedals are superb--they're lighter and have smoother bearings 
    than any of the other pedals I looked at, clipped or clipless. 
    The foot support is better than traditional pedals--my feet haven't
    been falling asleep anymore.  And, I can still use my old shoes!
        
    I always wondered what you were supposed to pull up against when
    climbing in clipless pedals: the shoe upper?  How efficient is that
    compared with an adjustable leather/nylon strap?  
    
    Finally, I've never had my foot pop out of my pedals.  I've heard
    that this can happen on the Looks, under funny conditions (standing
    up coming out of a sharp corner on a criterium, for instance).
    If that happened to me even once, all the convenience would be 
    rendered worthless....

    	I just got a set of the Instep toe-clip-adapters for Look pedals.
    They look like the way to go for those times when you don't want
    to wear bike shoes with Look cleats. (I got them for winter use
    so I can use Wintours or Booties without cleat cut-outs.)  You can
    use the Insteps as either a toe-clip pedal (the adapter stays with
    the Look pedal) or as strap-on Look cleats (the adapter stays with
    your shoes.  Neat!
    	Alas, the light, cheap, Look ATBs are no more.  They were so
    darn good that I wouldn't be surprised to see them resurected is
    some form or other.  
    	PS.  Some people find it easier to get out of Looks by swinging
    their heels IN, not out.  You may have to bring the pedal to a high
    forward position to do this and have heel clearance.  - Chris
      [Look-ing since August of '85]

"Swinging heel in" to get out of Looks can be disastrous.  I don't think
it's a problem for singles but on tandems there seems to be more of
a tendency for the captain to have the pedals at an angle where the
stoker's heel will hit the spokes especially on sudden stops.  Two of
the tandems in Paris-Brest-Paris had spoke damage because of this.

ed