Run Run Away

Question:

Hello, I literally just got home from my first triathlon and I have to say that I had a blast and plan to do more.  I have a question though.   The tri was a short sprint distance, so I was surprised when I was the only one who showed up with old style pedals with cages.  Everyone else went clipless and had to change shoes twice.  One guy told me that even at that short of a distance he felt as though the trasition time was made up by having his biking shoes.  What do people think?  I was psyched when I got off my bike, removed my helmet, and started running without having to change shoes. Also, does anyone have experience with pedal adapters. They go for between $20 and $60 in the catalogs.  Do they work?  Are they any better than old style pedals with cages?  I also have clipless pedals and it’s not a big deal to change them over the night before a race. Thanks for the advice, Chris

Response:

Time yourself on 10 miles clipless and 10 miles clipped.  You be the judge. (Don’t forget to figure sav’d transition time.) Don’t waste your money on adapters.  Cages are just as effective. I personally like to do the transition on shorties and ride clipless.  It only adds 20 sec. to a transition. -Mark

Response:

I never win anything so you need to put the proper filter on this information, but for what it’s worth, I go with your thinking. I’ve tried the pedal adapters and didn’t find any that I thought were as good as just using the old style cages.  My bike times are not that different between using the cages with running shoes vs. using the bike shoes and clipless pedals.  But I do save a lot of time in the transition area. So at least for the sprint distances (for ‘olympic distance’ and longer I do switch shoes and use clipless pedals) I do as you do. Best of luck in future events. Cary — Cary Purdy http://members.tripod.com/~ccpurdy/ – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello, I literally just got home from my first triathlon and I have to say that I had a blast and plan to do more.  I have a question though. The tri was a short sprint distance, so I was surprised when I was the only one who showed up with old style pedals with cages.  Everyone else went clipless and had to change shoes twice.  One guy told me that even at that short of a distance he felt as though the trasition time was made up by having his biking shoes.  What do people think?  I was psyched when I got off my bike, removed my helmet, and started running without having to change shoes. Also, does anyone have experience with pedal adapters. They go for between $20 and $60 in the catalogs.  Do they work?  Are they any better than old style pedals with cages?  I also have clipless pedals and it’s not a big deal to change them over the night before a race. Thanks for the advice, Chris

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello, I literally just got home from my first triathlon and I have to say that I had a blast and plan to do more.  I have a question though. The tri was a short sprint distance, so I was surprised when I was the only one who showed up with old style pedals with cages.  Everyone else went clipless and had to change shoes twice.  One guy told me that even at that short of a distance he felt as though the trasition time was made up by having his biking shoes.  What do people think?  I was psyched when I got off my bike, removed my helmet, and started running without having to change shoes. Also, does anyone have experience with pedal adapters. They go for between $20 and $60 in the catalogs.  Do they work?  Are they any better than old style pedals with cages?  I also have clipless pedals and it’s not a big deal to change them over the night before a race. Thanks for the advice, Chris

That makes two of us.  That morning I decided not to clip in and I figure is saved me close to a minute in the transitions.  I have the adapters for my Time pedals (soon to be Speedplay).  Let me know if you’re going to be in Marlboro and I’ll show you what I have. Doug

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