Ok lets be real…I can see where riding barefoot and slipping out of your shoes barefoot before going into T2 will save you time and save the bottoms of your shoe. But, lets talk about T!. How can that save you time (leaving with your shoes connected to your bike). First of all, if you have a one-strap tri shoe it might be faster to leave T1 with your shoes on your feet. Think about it…most of the people that leave them on their bike before the bike portion, have to go slow to get in to their shoe and then have to spend time reaching down to strap. I think you can generate more power from the beginning with the shoes on your feet rather than clipped into the pedal. I have a race saturday and was thinking about trying the way the pros do. But, do you think I would actually lose time without the experience doing that? What about timewise…is their a savings?
Yes i didn’t believe it until i started doing it either.
First you can run faster barefoot. No one in trishoes is gonna outrun someone who is barefoot if they are both trying.
You don’t need to generate more power per se’. I normally speed up to my race pace and once i’m there put on foot in and keep pedeling. Then get pedal for a few seconds and put my other foot in and im done. It takes me as much time to put them on, while bike as it does for someone to put them on in transition and im moving down the road.
However… please practice doing it. Trying to dodge people while they are putting shoes on because they can’t hold a line isnt that fun.
Grant
Grant
During T1, I actually run barefoot carrying my bike shoes in one hand. Then just before the mount point, I put them on and hop on the bike.
To me it seems the best of both worlds…
Cheers,
Fred.
Depends on where you are racked in transition, and what shoes you use. My old SPD’s were great for running through transitions. In a smaller tri with a short distance between your rack and the bike mount line, I usually just put the tri shoes on in the transition area. They always stay on the bike going into T2 though.
I normally speed up to my race pace and once i’m there put on foot in and keep pedeling. Then get pedal for a few seconds and put my other foot in and im done.
Like Grant said, the key is pedaling on the shoes until you get up to speed before putting your feet in. There’s nothing worse than someone (or more than one person) weaving back and forth at 2mph just past the mount line trying to get their feet in their shoes, blocking the entire road and potentially causing a logjam or a wreck…
I normally speed up to my race pace and once i’m there put on foot in and keep pedeling. Then get pedal for a few seconds and put my other foot in and im done.
Like Grant said, the key is pedaling on the shoes until you get up to speed before putting your feet in. There’s nothing worse than someone (or more than one person) weaving back and forth at 2mph just past the mount line trying to get their feet in their shoes, blocking the entire road and potentially causing a logjam or a wreck…
I dunno 5 people at the mount line stoped thinking they have to get on the bike right there is just about as bad.
Grant
I dunno 5 people at the mount line stoped thinking they have to get on the bike right there is just about as bad.
How does that change whether you put your shoes on in T1 or on the bike. I can do a pretty fast cross-style mount at the line, without worrying about whether I’ll lose a shoe.
In addition to running faster barefoot, if you can get the shoes on in the same time on the bike than you would in transition, you get the “free” distance of coasting while you’re fastening them. I’d much rather be coasting than standing or sitting!
Andrew said nothing is worse then having someone going two miles an hour back and forth trying to put their feet in their shoes. I said 5 people standing at the mount line blocking it is pretty bad also.
I’ve never lost a shoe since i started doing it. I don’t even know how i would lose a shoe i’d have to hit someone with my bike.
Grant
“However… please practice doing it. Trying to dodge people while they are putting shoes on because they can’t hold a line isnt that fun.”
The mount line is definitely the place to watch a triathlon. I agree that it is faster if you pratice it, but @ a race last weekend (Mooseman Int’l) the 3rd guy out of the water hopped on his bike and the toe of his shoe hit the ground and unclipped and went off the road. He had to dismount, go back and get the shoe put it on, etc etc. Definitely not faster.
Thankfully nobody was near this guy:
I have lost a shoe at least once, maybe twice. The heel hits the ground and it pops out. I don’t think it was while I ws actually on the bike, rather during the run up.
I think it really depends on the cleats you are using too i have speed play and they don’t come unclipped from getting hit they will only come out to the side.
So much so that last year they did what you said happened except this was coming back into transition at lifetime fitness. They hit the ground but instead of coming off the bike they ended up hit the ground enough times that the chain bounced off crank. So needless to say i am not worried about them coming off hitting the ground.
Grant
The theory is that if you are putting your shoes on at the rack, you are going 0 miles/hr.
If you slip in your shoes while riding, you are already ahead up the road on the guy still at the rack and you probably ran a little faster to the mount line.
Now, if you practice and can slip into your shoes at say 12 miles/hour, that is still moving compared to the guy at the rack.
Of course, if you fiddle around and it takes you 2 minutes to get sorted out, and you crash into other cyclist, well, maybe it’s not for you.
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~kwelch/MOV00231.MPG
Haha thats a funny video if he would have fallen off his bike when he almost went off the raod it would have been better though 
Grant
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I used to have speedplays many years ago, and they self-unclipped easily due to the very free float. Running your bike out of a grassy/bumpy transition area would be enough to get the shoe swinging on the pedal so that it would unclip itself. Don’t know if the current models are as free floating.
don’t you guys use rubber bands to keep the shoes fixed?
Running your bike out of a grassy/bumpy transition area would be enough to get the shoe swinging on the pedal so that it would unclip itself.
The easy solution for this in T1 is to use thin rubber bands to anchor the heel of the tri shoe in a level position. I use one band through the loop of one shoe and attached to the rear QR and another band through the other shoe’s loop and around the water bottle holde on my seat tube. The bands are strong enough to hold the shoes level and in place while running with the bike, stretchy enough to allow me to pedal with them still on if need be (not often), and thin enough that I can break them easily once my foot is in the shoe.
(Edited to fix my spelling mistakes and lament that I’m just not fast enough with the reply button!)
I rubberband both shoes to my rear brake (on my bike it’s just above the chainstays). That keeps the front shoe (left) parallel with the ground while running, then when I jump onto the left shoe the right one tips to the perfect angle to slip my foot in right away. Then I’ve only got to deal with getting my foot into one mashed shoe rather than two. I think using a seat tube bottle cage would accomplish the same.
Dont forget that when your strapping your shoes while on your bike that your actually moving, your not moving while strapping your shoes on in transition.
My observation from watching this past weekend:
- You can have a very fast/slow transition whether you go shoes on or not, but you need to practice. If both techniques are executed well, shoes on the pedal is faster. I saw very few examples of “executed well.” from either camp.
- The potential for catostrophic failure is much higher with shoes on the pedals.
- Whichever you choose, a well executed cyclocross mount will save you more time than whether you go shoes on/off.
- If you are in the shoes-on-pedals team, you defeat the purpose if you hop on and then try to deal with your straps while teetering down the road. Get the heck out of dodge and then deal with them.