I am doing a very short tri this weekend. 400m swim/ 10mi bike/ 3 mile run. While normally in a tri I would wear a wetsuit (temp permitting) and use clipless pedals, I am thinking that going without the wetsuit and pedals should probably save me more time in transition than I will lose do to the performance benefit. Does anybody have any information on the potential time gain of clipless pedals vs. running shoes in a cage pedals so that I can determine what distance justifies changing into bike shoes and running shoes?
This is something that really is impossible to quantify. Everyone has an opinion, but I don’t think any relevant scientific data can be develop. I think the answer to your question really depends on how you ride your bike in running shoes. Do you feel like you lose very little speed? Do you plan to use platform pedals and how do they work for you.
I have tried the platform shoes and didn’t really like them. I felt like there was significant speed loss. However, I know some that love them. Personally, I would wear cycling shoes for any normal tri. If you are doing a duathlon with this type of bike leg, it might be a very good idea to skip the cycling shoes.
I bet you’d be faster overall with the running shoes and cages. However, that’s assuming that you’ll be comfortable cycling in the running shoes. In PT last winter I had to ride a stationary bike. I looked like a jackass trying to keep my feet on the pedals. Better ride the cages for a few days to get used to it again.
Practical advice first: Be sure your heel wedge on your running shoes don’t hit the chain-stay.
Riding technique advice: Learn to pull up with your rising leg (which requires your feet to be securely fixed to the pedal), and not only will you be faster with cycling shoes on, you’ll run faster too. Because in order to actually lift that rising leg, you need effective hip flexor firing, and improved hip flexor firing will improve your run times. This is true whether you run a 30 minute 5K or a 17 minute 5K.
Smiley, I think the answer is to become so efficient getting in and out of your bike shoes that the time to do so is minimal (not that I have gotten to that point myself).
Lets compare the two options: clipless pedals or cages.
Either method you choose will require you to put on running shoes at some point, either after the swim or bike, so no time lost or gained there. If you go with clipless pedals AND have your bike shoes already clipped in on the bike in transition, you will have to slip your foot into the shoes while pedalling. I would guess with practice you could get this down to about 10 seconds lost maybe less. Then when coming into T2, slip your feet out and pedal bare footed on top of your shoes before dismount. I do this every race. I doubt you lose more than 5 seconds here.
Cages require you to slip your shoe in then tighten the straps once you are up to speed. This is very fast of course, lets say 3 seconds to tighten the straps.
So assuming you can be efficient with your bike shoes, I would guess the time penalty to be 15-3 = 12 seconds. Personally, I believe the clipess pedals/stiff bike shoe combo is at least 12 seconds faster even at only 10 miles.
If you put on your bike shoes in transition and then run in them before mounting out of T1, you could probably add a good 15-30 seconds to that. At that point, the cages may be a better option.
dave judice