I am relatively new to road cycling, and have a two-day, 150 mile charity ride coming up in mid-September. I got a new bike about 3 weeks ago, and now am trying to decide if I should try out clipless pedals at this point or just stick with my flat pedals and gym sneakers and focus more on the training rather than adapting to something new. My husband insists that clipless pedals make a huge difference in preserving your energy because you can use more muscle groups, but the bike salesman (who does a lot of touring riding) told me he went back to regular pedals so he didn't have to deal with lots of different shoes and didn't find it to be a problem.

I just joined this forum and am very appreciative of all the questions and answers I have been reading!