Clipless Pedals

[zoom-zoom]

I still have yet to plug myself into my ipod while cycling on my new bike.

No one picked up on this, so I will.

Don't get in the habit of riding with music. I tried it a couple of times with just 1 earbud, out of curiosity, but I didn't like it (and my hubby really tsk tsk'd). While running I will have sport headphones that allow ambient noise and keep the volume low, but then I am facing traffic, not going at high speeds, and the wind doesn't distort the speakers and make me have to have the volume too high for safety or for the health of my hearing.

To the OP, I would ditch the tri bars for now. I'm a relative noob, though I've put close to 5k miles on my road bikes in less than 18 months -- I still don't feel comfortable with the thought of tri bars. I may get some clip on ones for future time trials or duathlons, but I wouldn't use them much otherwise. Definitely not while riding with others.

[trista]

I don't ride clipless. I did for awhile on my road bike, but I decided over time that I just didn't care for it and didn't see any benefit, so I went back to regular shoes on flat pedals. I'm very happy riding free and wouldn't have it any other way.

I've discovered that I can get power to nearly all of my pedal stroke when riding free that doesn't involve mashing. It's just all about technique.

Regarding the iPod, I used mine a lot on the bike when I was riding on my slower hybrid. But when i switched to the road bike, I had to stop, because at higher speeds the wind whooshed in my headphones and it was too loud.

[teawoman]

I went clipless after a couple of years in toeclips. Nothing says you have to do it; if you want to try it, wait until you feel you're ready. Even after a year I still unclip waaaaaaaaaay before lights and stopsigns.