In the past, I never considered clipping my shoes into the pedals prior to T1. Mainly because I only use (non tri) shoes with a ratchet buckle, plus I liked to put socks on. However, I’m doing the training so figured every second counts (in the life of a non pro), but am/would I really be gaining much by practicing/utilizing this method?
So far, my shortest tri scheduled this year is an Olympic distance (up to a full IM). I could see seconds mattering with a sprint tri, but for a little longer distances are the advantages really there?
Other than the concern of falling due to the shoes being slippery while transitioning, what’s the other purposes of this?
Saving time. How much? Seconds to minutes. If that matters to you, practice makes perfect. If not, then just put on your road shoes in T1. Distance is irrelevant. You save the same amount of time.
I’ve done it a few times, the shoe in the pedal thingy, didn’t like it and didn’t feel as though it saved any time in the type of racing we do. If you do it right, shoes in pedals, make the main pack or a large pack of riders, in a draft legal race, cycle the first 2-3 miles in a draft pack then reach down and put your feet into the shoes at speed with the draft pack, then yes, it may save some time, maybe. The time saved is not really the shoes in the pedal but the running to the mount line with bare feet not slippery cleats.
99% of all people that use the shoes on the pedals save ZERO time and may even lose time as they weave and fumble to get their feet into the shoes. Just watch the exit of T1 for proof of this. Its a mass of people and an accident waiting to happen.
I think you save more time when entering T2 and having your feet out of the shoes and are able to run barefoot to your T spot.
I’m a total believer in clipping in the shoes ahead of time - I run faster to the mount line, and can get some speed up on the bike before slipping my feet in. I also use an elastic from the back shoe loop to the back skewer so that the shoe is parallet to the ground and I merely need to step on top of the shoe to mount (I’ve not tried a flying mount, I ain’t that athletic).
I also leave the shoes clipped in at T2 and have my feet resting on top for the last couple hundred meters - again, faster run to my running shoes and only need to slip them on - no need to take off bike shoes.
I almost always gain a spot or two by having quick transitions - as just one example, this past summer I got 3rd, instead of 5th, by being quick in transition in a half-IM.
You save time not just running, but also the time it takes to put your shoes on. Even if you have to slow down from 25 to 22 to get the shoes on - you’re still moving at that point which is less time in transition than getting shoes on. I usually hammer for a few minutes, drop the people I’m leaving t1 with, and wait for a slight downhill to get my feet in.
It’s a good idea to practice it though - probably on grass several times - you don’t want to end up like this:
I practiced this some and after a while it doesn’t seem hard to do. So why not save the 20-30 seconds? In long races it doesn’t make much difference. One of the main advantages is being able to go through transition barefoot rather than in bike cleats. You’ll have to weight the benefit of the time saving versus the risk of crashing while you’re doing it and decide.
If you’ve ever seen the pros do it, it’s really clear that the racing is so close that 5 seconds slipping their foot in might cost them heavily. Especially in ITU where drafting is legal. Most don’t seem able to recover if they miss the draft pack as it’s leaving. I saw one ITU race where the peleton raced for about 2km before they felt secure enough to slip their shoes on. Those guys are moving fast!
I’ve done both, and I have to admit that for me it’s slightly faster. However, I think it’s highly dependent upon the course. I raced one sprint where T1 exit/mount was a steep incline. I had thought about it beforehand and had my bike in a lower gear, and intended to put my shoes on inside T1. During the race, I simply ran in cleats(carefully) past the mount point to the top of the hill about 10 meters further up, mounted and took off. I must have passed 6 much faster guys who had their shoes clipped in and had the bike in a higher road gear. They were struggling to get moving; a couple even fell over. It was really a lesson for me about proper choice of setup.
I did some practice transitions last summer, and once I got comfortable doing them with the shoes on the pedals I was out of the water, on the bike, and 1 mile down the road ~30 seconds faster than if I put them on in transition. The first few tries were slower, but once I got it down I decided to never go back.
Of course the first few times were comically bad and probably would have caused a few crashes in a real mount zone, but that’s why I practiced.
As others have said, it makes sense. But it does depend a little bit on the race, what exit from T-1 looks like, what the first 1/4 mile or so of the bike course looks like, etc…
Case in point, a couple years ago I did a sprint where there was a short steep climb immediately out of transition, then a hard right, a fast descent then another climb, another turn and so on. It seemed like forever until I could get a flat enough part where I was either not climbing or not descending at a high rate that I could get my feet in my shoes. The next year I went back and put my shoes on in Transition and had a much better race.
Another race I do every year is dead flat. So of course it makes sense to leave shoes clipped in as you can run through T-1 faster, hop on your bike, get up to speed then when there’s not too much traffic buckle in, maybe losing 2-4 mph while doing so but it’s better than standing still in transition.
So while 9/10 times I will leave shoes on occassionally there’s a race where the lay of the land/course makes sense not to.
I’m not a “shoes already clipped in” person, BUT I think it is a good thing to practice and be proficient at. I use speedplay pedals and have on seldom occasion had to exit T1 in an area that can foul the cleats. In those circumstances, being able to pre-assess that as a problem and keep my shoes clipped in, is a huge advantage. Pedal types other than Speedplay do not really suffer the same disadvantage, nor will many races have a T1 exit that can foul your cleats.
I do like to pull my feet out of my shoes prior to entering T2 instead of entering wearing my cycling shoes. I slipped coming off the bike once wearing my shoes. Didn’t go down or pull/tear a muscle, but it woke me up to the possibility of slipping on cycling shoes and possibly hurting myself or becoming the next big youtube doofus.
I find it just to be a more pleasant experience overall, and it will save some time. You just have to practice it until it is second nature. Beats running in bike shoes though
I do a flying mount and dismount. Time is a small part of it.
I don’t wear socks anyway, no change there.
I know where my shoes are in T1. No one screwed with them after I left to go warm up.
I run a lot better (and faster and safer) bare foot compared to in cycling shoes.
I am a very good cyclist when it comes to handling a bike (comes from having a Crit background) so doing a flying mount is second nature. I don’t even practice it anymore.
Someone is going to jump into this thread and same something stupid like “you save nothing and risk wrecking” and “flying mounts should not be allowed for AGr’s.” I have been in races were people had problems, but I have also seen people stop and tread water at the first bouy (direcly in my path), throwup on the run (and it splatter on my shoes), crash their bike at the turn around (just about bit the big one that day), and drop their water bottle (into my front wheel) putting it back in the holder, and no one would suggest that any of that be banned.
Man, you must have been in some wild-assed crits in your day…
LOL! Not quite what I meant, but…
Unlike so many of my multi-sport buddies, I don’t take a dive into traffic or the curb when I put my water bottle back in the holder, I can track stand at stop lights, and I don’t crash into things on a regular basis. I can also clip in without looking at my shoe (and riding into the curb/parked car/other riders). All things that experienced roadies (and Crit riders) do without thinking.
I watch T1 sometimes and wonder what some of these people must be like on a training ride in traffic. If you can’t roll your bike to mount, step on the inside pedal and clip in, then push off and smoothly swing your leg over the seat and clip in the outside pedal and pedal off, then how much training on a bike do you have.
BTW, that set of skills is all that is needed to do a semi-flying mount. Step on the inside shoe, push off and swing over the seat and step down on the outside shoe and pedal off. Once up to speed reach down, grab the loop, slip in your toe and pull. Pedal a few times and do it again on the other side. Don’t look down and don’t lose your line. It is not rocket science.
You probably save time but not much. No matter what, you have to slip your foot in and pull the strap over, either standing in T1 or coasting along on the bike. And, coasting is at least moving, whereas standing in T1 is completely wasted time. On the other hand, to get the real time savings you have to subtract: A) the extra time it takes to put them on with one hand while moving and looking where you’re going vs. sliding them on quickly while standing there, and B) the lost speed coasting vs. pedaling through as you would if you had shoes on in T1.
Net this out, and it’s not much. Probably more important is the time saved running through the transition area barefoot vs. shod in stiff-soled shoes with no traction. Add them up and you might save a handful of seconds.
For me, the minimal time savings are worth it–why not? But there are some situations when I will put on my shoes in T1: first, when I get a rack spot ridiculously close to the mount line; second, when it’s a chilly day and the ground is damp and I want to wear (dry) socks for the bike leg.
Would it even be feasible do have them clipped in if you have standard cycling shoes (like OP) w/out the loop that’s standard on tri shoes? It seems those that have shoes pre-clipped in are rocking shoes with loops so it makes perfect sense, but I shudder at the thought of spending a minute trying to get my foot completely in because i have no lever to pull it up over my heel…
I still can’t buy that it’s “faster” unless “maybe” the distance from T1 to the course is significant and running in cleats would make that much of a difference…and maybe cleat type makes a difference as well. I run in Shimano cleats and as long as I have a bike to hold on to while I’m running - I’m ok. Of course not as fast as without shoes, but fast enough.
Also, NO WAY anyone can get up to speed with your feet on top of your shoes anywhere close to as fast as someone with their feet alread in their shoes - just not going to happen…so your bike “start” will be a heck of a lot slower. Kind of like racing someone and your starting in 3rd gear while they get to start in 1st. Also, it probably takes 5-6 seconds to put a pair of shoes on in T1 and guessing it probably takes 10-15 seconds to do it while on the bike.
I have no factual evidence, but I’d have to bet that for the most part the times are pretty much equal unless as I said above your T1 to bike start is long.
I can’t believe that this is not something that hasn’t been done and posted on YouTube already. Timing the difference between shoes on in T1 vs shoes on the bike. Timing starts from the time you reach your bike until say 1/4-1/2 mile into the bike course.
You are discounting how large an effect zeros have on your average speed. Even if you just creep along at 10 mph for 20 sec while you put on your shoes (which is quite poor execution) that’s 90 meters farther than someone putting their shoes on in transition will have gotten. It’s about minimizing the amount of time you spend at ZERO speed, beside that acceleration rates are irrelevant.
Would it even be feasible do have them clipped in if you have standard cycling shoes (like OP) w/out the loop that’s standard on tri shoes? It seems those that have shoes pre-clipped in are rocking shoes with loops so it makes perfect sense, but I shudder at the thought of spending a minute trying to get my foot completely in because i have no lever to pull it up over my heel…
No, it makes no sense to do it in regular road shoes, because the time lost putting them on while rolling vs. standing still negates any time savings elsewhere. And, it’s probably dangerous!
I’ve never used the loop on my shoes when putting them on.
plan on cutting the loop off
Would it even be feasible do have them clipped in if you have standard cycling shoes (like OP) w/out the loop that’s standard on tri shoes? It seems those that have shoes pre-clipped in are rocking shoes with loops so it makes perfect sense, but I shudder at the thought of spending a minute trying to get my foot completely in because i have no lever to pull it up over my heel…