The biggest advantage is that it allows you to not just push down on the pedal, but also pull up on the back stroke. Instead of just stroking down, you move your foot in a controlled circular motion. It's a more efficient means of transferring power from your legs to the pedal system. Because you use the muscles on both the front and the back of your legs, you don't get as tired as fast.
It also ensures that your foot doesn't slip off the pedal at higher speeds. This, uh, has not been a concern for me, but for a cyclist moving at any kind of road race speed to have a foot slip off a pedal would be...bad. To say the least. It would be ankle in the spokes, veer into the traffic, break your neck and die bad.
Mountain bikes, for obvious reasons, don't tend to have clipless pedals (a confusing term that refers to the pedals that work like ski bindings, snapping onto a bracket on the bottom of your cycling shoe). When you're riding rough trails through the woods, you don't want to have to twist out of a binding to get your foot down. However, mountain bikes may, for the same reasons of pedaling efficiency, have clip pedals (pedals that have some kind of strap or toe notch into which you fit your foot).
It's a little freaky at first to make the switch from the basic, mash your foot down pedal to something that holds your foot in place. After I got the hang of it, though, I loved it. Sure, the backs of my legs are burning like all hell now, but during the ride, my legs didn't feel anywhere near as tired as they usuall do.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 16 August 2005 01:42 am (UTC)It also ensures that your foot doesn't slip off the pedal at higher speeds. This, uh, has not been a concern for me, but for a cyclist moving at any kind of road race speed to have a foot slip off a pedal would be...bad. To say the least. It would be ankle in the spokes, veer into the traffic, break your neck and die bad.
Mountain bikes, for obvious reasons, don't tend to have clipless pedals (a confusing term that refers to the pedals that work like ski bindings, snapping onto a bracket on the bottom of your cycling shoe). When you're riding rough trails through the woods, you don't want to have to twist out of a binding to get your foot down. However, mountain bikes may, for the same reasons of pedaling efficiency, have clip pedals (pedals that have some kind of strap or toe notch into which you fit your foot).
It's a little freaky at first to make the switch from the basic, mash your foot down pedal to something that holds your foot in place. After I got the hang of it, though, I loved it. Sure, the backs of my legs are burning like all hell now, but during the ride, my legs didn't feel anywhere near as tired as they usuall do.