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using clipless in sprints...

risris Posts: 1,002
i'm a happy clipless rider, using either spuds or spd-sl's depending on the bike. i wondered whether for a short event like a sprint clipless is going to waste more time faffing about in t2 than it saves with reliable foot positioning and power transfer.

i have this memory of a bloke coming into t2 behind me at my first event and even though i had left the shoes on the pedals at the dismount zone he was gone into the run before i could get my runners on.

so... anyone tempted to ditch the clipless for the short events or stick with a successful formula of right kit for the right disciplines?

Comments

  • julesojuleso Posts: 279
    I'm not going to keep swopping my pedals over every time I do an event!

    Also my bike would look rubbish with flat pedals. He'd be grumpy for a month afterwards.
  • nivaghnivagh Posts: 595
    Using clipless pedals gives you a big advantage compared to platform pedals in terms of translating much more of your work into useful forward motion. Even losing some time skating around in transition would be regained on the course, is my guess.
  • md6md6 Posts: 969
    i think the advantage of saving 5 or 10 seconds in T2 would be lost on the course many times over. I have elastic laces in my runners, and leave the shoes on the bike as i leap off (takes some practise not removing all the skin from your feet on concrete but otherwise is great), so the time difference in a sprint for me is between racking my bike and pulling on 2 trainers which must only be 5 seconds. in short, if you can get out of the bike shoes quickly (preferably leaving on the bike), then go clipless.
  • MowfMowf Posts: 272
    If you practice T1, the time loss will be seconds. You'll more than make this up through the power transfer etc.

    Then practice jumping out of your shoes coming into T2 and you'll be laughing all the way to the finish line. Unless, like me, you get stomach cramps every time you run off the bike. In which case you'll have to make do with a kind of self satisfied grimace.
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