Clipless Vs. Flat Pedals | Which Is Faster For Your Next Triathlon?
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2024
- Clipless pedals and cycling shoes are often one of the first things you are recommended to buy as a new cyclist. But as a triathlete, are they really faster?
Subscribe to GTN: gtn.io/Subscrib...
Check out the GTN Shop: gtn.io/86
It’s thought that using clipless pedals is more efficient, more comfortable and it’s more powerful than simply using flat pedals. But, is this really true? And given that we’re triathletes with transitions, is it really quicker?
Mark and Heather put both sets of pedals to the test by completing:
2 transitions
A short time trial
10s maximal sprints
If you like this video, don't forget to give it a thumbs up and share it with your cycling and triathlon friends 👍
If you'd like to contribute captions and video info in your language, here's the link - gtn.io/85
Watch more on GTN...
📹 Comfort Vs. Aero - Which Position Is Best For You? - gtn.io/ComfortV...
📹 How To Do A Flying Mount - gtn.io/FlyingMount
Photos: © Triathlon / Getty Images
The Global Triathlon Network (GTN) is the best triathlon RUclips channel, with videos for anyone who loves triathlon: from seasoned Ironman racers to first timers - and everyone in between.
With the help of our pro and Olympic medal winning team, we’re here to inform, entertain and inspire you to become a better triathlete; including videos on:
How to swim, bike, and run faster with expert knowledge
Beat your PB with record-breaking expertise
Get the best from your bike and gear with pro know-how
In-depth, entertaining features from the heart of the sport
Chat, opinion and interact with us across the channel and on social media every week
Join us on RUclips’s best triathlon channel to get closer to the sport and to become a better, faster and fitter triathlete.
Welcome to the Global Triathlon Network.
Thanks to our sponsors:
Cervelo bikes: gtn.io/cervelo
BMC Switzerland: gtn.io/bmc-bikes
ON Running: gtn.io/On-Running
Assos of Switzerland clothing: gtn.io/Assos
KASK helmets: gtn.io/kask
Park Tool: gtn.io/parktool
Profile Design: gtn.io/profiled...
Zipp wheels: gtn.io/zipp
ENVE wheels: gtn.io/ENVE-wheels
Quarq powermeters: gtn.io/quarq
Polar: gtn.io/polar
Vision wheels: gtn.io/vision
Continental: gtn.io/continental
Team Bath: gtn.io/TeamBath
RUclips Channel - gtn.io/RUclips
Facebook - gtn.io/Facebook
Instagram - gtn.io/Instagram
Twitter - gtn.io/Twitter
Google+ - gtn.io/GooglePlus
Strava Club - gtn.io/stravaclub
GMBN Tech - gmbn.tech/subsc...
GCN Tech - gcntech.co/subs...
EMBN - embn.me/subscribe
I motion that we end the debate on the name "clipless" pedals and move to rename them "snap-in" or "click-in" pedals.
Hey guys, regarding power output I think the best way to test clipless vs flat is with a smart trainer, simply because you don't have to worry about the aerodynamic drag! You can create a loop and test climbs and flat roads, at different power outputs. After that you compare the data and see if there is also a cadence difference.
Davide Sandona' we are thinking of taking this further, and heading to the lab for this. This has given us a good taste for it, but I would like to do it in a controlled environment next time
Back in the early 1980s toe clips (I called them toe cages) at the olympic distance tri and longer use to make my feet numb and totally destroy my concentration. Numb feet disappeared with clipless pedals. What a GREAT invention, it ranks right up there with aero bars. Really good videos, keep them coming!
Fortunately, I stuck with flats my whole life only getting clipless when I started racing after university (before that I rode pretty much only MTBs). Heck, I have flats even on my fixed gear cyclocross bike (no strap, nothing) and I have raced like that on the road as well. :-)
I think flats are better for training. Clipless can mask problems in your pedaling technique. And you can acquire bad habits as you can't tell. That's fine for racing, I'll take all the advantage I can get (well, not always, but yeah). Not so good for training. I train in them just enough to be comfortable and confident. Another thing to consider is aerodynamics. I guess you could make a running shoe/ flat pedal combo that has great aerodynamics, but good luck finding that on the market. I would expect clipless to have better offerings. There's also the question of health. Strapping your feet so they do the same motion over and over again is not the brightest idea. Even if you get a good fit to begin with. Again, acceptable in a race, but doing the whole training volume like that?
Because I have used flats all my life, I know what I want and I have a combination of a pedal and a shoe that's very comfortable and they stick together perfectly. As for pulling up on the pedals, AFAIK the theoretical benefit of that was based on an old notion (purely theoretical based on assumptions that didn't hold) about muscle engagement during pedaling and it has been known for a long time that it was just wrong. E.g. in the old model, hamstrings were thought to be active only in the pull-up (so you wanted to engage them to gain extra power), but the reality (when they actually measured muscle activity during pedaling) is that they're very active throughout the downstroke. The activity during pull-up is nothing in comparison. Because they're extending your hip joints (together with gluteus maximus) and stabilizing your knees (playing a big part in preventing knee injury). That's their day job. They work together with quads; pretty much the whole leg works in concert to drive the pedals down. Which is hardly surprising since legs evolved to support us against gravity.
You can train yourself to pull up, but all you'll really IMHO accomplish is then having trouble on flats because your foot will be coming off instead of staying planted. From what I heard, world class cyclists don't really pull up either, they produce their power on the downstroke. How much power you imagine you can produce anyway? You can train any muscle but our legs are simply not designed for this (they're meant to lift their own weight, compared to our body weight in the other direction). That, to me, stinks of injury. You can feel like you're doing something, but the result is questionable. I even recall a study that showed trying to pull up to be counterproductive, reducing overall power, or was it efficiency? Or both?
It's not surprising most people choose clipless when they hear from all sides how much better they are at this and that. How should they know? And, frankly, how do the others know? It's not exactly an easy thing to test. You have to get used to them, learn to use them. E.g. bunny hopping in flats is different to bunny hopping in clipless. It's in my nature to take the hard road. Where is the fun in shortcuts? Certain skills being more difficult to master on flats just made them that much more attractive to me. :-)
I'd guess the original idea behind toe clips was to prevent your foot sliding off. Which is not a problem for me with my pedals and shoes (not even in downhill, much less on the road). I'm not sure whether toe clips would give me any racing advantage. Clipless should. It would be interesting trying to quantify that. :-) But there is no way I would use them exclusively.
I used flat pedals at DL Worlds Sprint distance in Cozumel and finished 2nd. I think it's important to realize the time difference over BOTH transitions (not just T1) and the time it takes to get feet in and out while on the bike. I am a good swimmer so could afford the time to get in the run shoes in T1 and still make the lead pack on the bike. Even with run shoes on no one could drop me on the bike, and I gained significant time on bike dismount and T2. I had about a :20 sec lead onto the run and only one guy was able to run me down. If I had started the run with everyone from the lead pack I would have likely finished off the podium. Important to note the bike was very flat which is import if not wearing bike shoes.
I personally just switched back to flar pedals. I've riden on flat my for most of my life 20+ years and maybe 3-4 years on clipless and I thought I was getting comfortable but once I went back to the flat pedal I realized how uncomfortable I was. I do find that I shift gears more often on the flat pedals but feel more efficient than I did when I was riding with clipless.
Helmet only makes this test less accurate, it’s extra variable that is not necessary at all for this test.
Thanks for this video! I am really struggling with using the clipless pedals, call it claustrophobia, and I have been wanting to get flats to feel more comfortable all around. I felt like a failure for wanting flats but this video really shows that flats ain't so bad!
Seems like time and again, tests between the two (flats/clipless) show fairly small differences. We also have to account for the fact that the presenters here ride with clipless predominantly and so a lack of familiarity and importantly, training, with flat pedals surely influences the result and their impression.
I'm a one bike for everything type of cyclist, as for me its a hobby so I have a limited budget and space to store equipment, I also like to tour on my bike so currently I have flat pedals so I can wear runners and just walk around if I stop somewhere I like. I think for me toe clips are the best compromise and an upgrade I'll do, even when I do triathlons which would be very much on a casual basis its handy to just hop off the bike and head out for the run. Its some of the benefit of clipless without the drawbacks.
So really there is no penalty at all. Just like gcn found. I’d say my belief on flats was confirmed, even if the transition effect is small.
I’d also add most people are using flats, because most are just out there for fun and riding mtb’s, hybrids, and old road bikes. I guess that makes them the lucky ones to not be cursed with chasing marginal gains haha.
For sprinting or even just pulling away from a set of lights on my commuter bike, with flat pedals, I find myself trying to pull up despite being used to the flat pedals seeing as I'm not using my other bikes with clipless pedals as much because of winter so its not just a case that your just not used to flats
Brilliant video, have always wondered about this. Would be great if you could compare how much (if anything) having bike shoes attached to your bike saves you vs putting them on by your bike and running to the mount line with them on. Would be good to see if the time saved by not stopping to put your shoes on in T1 is lost again by stopping pedaling to get your feet in the shoes while on the bike.
Stephen Jones certainly. We said the same after the test. Watch this space :)
How about, and I don’t know if anyone else has thought of this idea... But just get on with what you want to wear, at the end of the day the majority of the mere mortals (General public) are not professional athletes and are not getting paid for such sports, nor are you actually enjoying what you’re doing as your concentration is just purely focused on data, performance and finishing times. What happened to the good old days of just going by how the body feels, the brain can tell you how hard it wants to go and it’ll probably do a lot more for you as you’ll learn a lot more about your own body instead of a computer telling you what the body can produce. If your having a good day push hard, if not just ease off, enjoy the adventure and go slow. The body will thank you for it in the long run.
you sir have too much common sense LOL
gcn did a indoor test where they tested the difference in output on a turbo, with and without clippy pedals. They found that there wasn’t a lot of difference if you rode a constant wattage. (if I remember correctly there was even a slight advantage for not clipping). In triathlon that would translate to not using clipps if there are no sudden surges (any non draft event). Also I wonder if it is really that great to keel over at a traffic light, when not being able to unclip.... nevertheless I still ride clippy pedals as everyone does so and I have got them now anyway.
I was hoping this would look at the running fatigue element. Flats (quads) vs. clipless (hams), which will leave you with more in the take for the run?
As we often see, the fastest rider is rarely the winner. There seems room for an argument that saving your hamstrings for the run could compensate for lost power on the bike.
I think it really depends on race distance. If you can flying mount/dismount really well then I would pick clipless for any race greater than maybe a short sprint distance. But if you can't, you'll lose a ton of time changing shoes that I don't think you'll make up for on your bike split. I raced a guy who was using toe clips and sneaker this fall in a sprint race and we finished the swim together, rode together on the bike, and then at T2, he just ran off while I had to quickly stop and change my shoes. He probably got like 20 seconds ahead of me from that and then just held that distance the entire run. So maybe I would've been with him and even beaten him had I not had to stop to spend so much time in T2
still, for people just starting out, riding flat pedals seems reasonable since it makes transitions simpler. doesn't really count as a transition when you don't put the shoes on
Great video, why do you only ever do one run on the tests though? Basic school science teaches to do 3 tests and find an average to provide a more reliable result. This would minimise the wind impact you thought you felt and you wouldn't need to show all 3 tests in the footage but just show the results. It'll never be perfect but would give a bit more confidence in the outcomes.
And to throw a curve ball, I actually have pedal axle midfoot. Both on flat pedals and clipless (and it does require a different position, it's not just cleats). I knew I preferred it on flats. After all, it's what all the kids I've ever seen did naturally (myself included). Until someone told them that is not how you pedal. Right. :-) I've fallen into that trap as well in high school. Thanks, coach. So I was curious when I got into clipless. And sure enough. I can pedal harder and for longer, even recovering faster (I'm lucky; not everyone gets as many benefits from this). Another one of those "truths" in cycling. I'll have to do some more testing now that my feet are even stronger and I have more measuring equipment. It just seems like a waste not using those muscles. Although, keeping them fresh could be beneficial for running (forefoot enjoys enough action there). Not really looking forward to months of forefoot pedaling to make sure adaptation is not an issue (i.e. I'm not getting better results with midfoot just because it's what I'm used to).
Interesting topic!
The first test should really have been a mini race (without the swim) with something like starting with bare feet, cycle 10 km, and then run 1 km or so. Or don't run at all, the relevant time is really from the start of T1 to the end of T2. Not even putting the feet in the cycling shoes takes away the biggest advantage the flat pedals would have over clipless, and it needs to be followed by a non trivial distance on the bike to give the clipless shoes a chance to show if their longer transition time is worth it.
I think flat pedals would make sense for a lot of amateurs that maybe aren't as fast and experienced as a former pro and maybe does shorter distances than Ironman.
Have you tried using mtb/cx shoes and pedals ? They are designed for a bit of running and a fast clip in, ideal for transitions.
Did they actually put the clipless pedals on for the transition test? For me it seemed that they didn't, and that is a big factor, because you can't have good riding position until the shoes are actually on.
I think you were more warmed up when you try with flat pedals. Despite that, I think you will leverage more a clip pedal in comparison with flat due to the fact that you can pull and take advantage of the 360° rotation and, that you can't do with flat pedals.
The biggest drawback to clipped flats is that if you have big feet or wear a shoe with thick padding, you might not get a very comfortable or efficient foot position, and start your run with stiff or cramped feet and calves.
Can you do a video on Tri watches ? Thanks
Good video! More like this please.
Glad you like this one Herr Absurd - was a blast to make and we're working on more like it.
In my first triathlon, I used toe-clip pedals and running shoes
I'm training for mine and plan to do the same. I hate the whole silly nerdiness around triathlon to save a minute or two instead of enjoying it all
I wonder if flats would be a good training tool to sort of handicap yourself to really build up you quads. I personally use flats but I'm a MT biker but I'm looking into training for a triathlon.
Okay well you are either going to be spending time putting your trainers/running shoes on in T1 or T2, so does it really amount to much of a difference time wise in transitions? Also you may be able to produce more power for less effort, use more leg muscle groups in cycling shoes/ Tri cycling shoes, than you perhaps could in running shoes/ trainers ?? I think a better test would be to start the test, stood at the bike rack, in a Tri-suit, as if you had just finished the swim and arrived at your bike. Then set off, do a full Sprint distance bike leg, T2, and full sprint distance run to finish line. Do this as both cycling/ triathlon cycling shoes then running shoes. The repeat with just running shoes and flat pedals. This way you can judge the effects of the two set ups and get an accurate, over all effect. You could do it as a super sprint instead. Or as well, for a comparison of how the different set up effects the different race lengths.
Statistically, comparing only sets of two samples is very inaccurate. The error margin is way bigger than a couple seconds. It would be better comparing duathlon results in the clipless vs flat variation
I would love to do the test myself and all, but it's just that clipless pedals plus shoes is 250$ and regular pedals are just 5-50$
These were the results I expected, but in many ways it was a similar comparison to the ones found on a lot of channels between new and older bikes. People always try something new and aren't that good at it. I recently saw a video where a guy was comparing an '80s bike with a new one and he had only ridden clipless and had never seen frame mounted shifter levers and cages. Not a fair comparison.
I've been riding with cages and straps since I can remember and am only just switching to clipless now for my tri bike and I still feel better with straps since I've been doing that forever. You're bound to get worse results with something you're not used to. That being said, flats are just not safe, especially in slippery conditions, and they'll never allow you to get close to your max power. Cages and straps, on the other hand, are a nice compromise, but I have to admit that clipless is the way to go, particularly on longer distances.
flats are safe, you just need the ones with good pins
Y'all should do real world stuff such as putting on the tennie shoes and then taking off for a pedal on your pedals and then going to a store to get some groceries and then pedal again. It's weird wearing clipless pedals inside the store or grocery store to get some food in your backpack and then take off back home after exercising on your bike.
Sounds like you don't want flats to better perform
I use flats with the old strap casement still on ,minus the strap ....using trainers for 3 races ..including an Olympic distance were I had 22nd fastest from 300 on bike ...and top 10 fastest transition on T1 and T2 ...
Perhaps the reason everyone sticks to the standard setup with clipless pedals is also that if you are in a draft-legal race, you don't want to be seeing people around you running off with their bikes barefoot while you are losing a second or two putting on your running shoes?
Question to Heather: I see a guy raising his hand in the background (around 10:52 in the video). Was he cheering or just not happy about the bike-shoe combination? :)
Great video very very interesting I love the concept of this idea without having to transfer from cycling shoes to running shoes the only reason why I say this a part of my fitness plan is cycling on my road bike then off-road running but I actually use Salomon speedcross 4 so normal pedals or flat pedals I should say then off my bike and then go for a run it's so much easier.
I use flats and running shoes on my mountain bike when it's an off road Tri. Never thought about the same setup for the road, but I am now.
Training shoes, flats and toe clips. 🤔🤔🤔.
What would my bike fitter say?
I thought toe clips in increase the chance of breaking legs in a crash...
What about mtb shoes and pedals? There might be combo that you could cycle and run without chancing shoes and still clip in.
Luka I have seen someone use them for a quicker transition...and get the dismount completely wrong because of the twisting to unclip. They didn’t sell them to me haha!
Luka - no
You ignored the aero difference between shoes, the foot area is quite sensitive aerodynamically and could make quite a bit of difference
Good Video. Kids doing short distances use flat pedals on grass but graduate to clipless once they move up to super sprint distance on Road
By learning early to use clipless early they become very fast at getting their feet in their shoes
For me it was not about extra power (GCN say not much difference) but about safety - cllipped in is safer. When using flats, I always used cages to prevent foot slipping off
Personally, I'm 10% faster when clipped in, so it was an easy decision. The benefits I find are being able to apply power during the full pedal stroke, which saves the quads a bit better for the run. And, I am able to pedal over rough terrain (there's a memorable section of broken tarmac on a downhill where my feet came off flat pedals when pedaling).
what about toes clips and straps with running shoes???
If you have the same power output of course the covered distance and speed is the same...
I use toe clips/straps on the road bike I use for triathlon.
Haven't watched the whole video yet. But the one time I rode in running shoes on my computer bike I got terrible hot spots. Those shoes just aren't made for moving pedals comfortably.
Love the video (as always) though.
Try comparing clipless and flats pedal on steep climb. I think it might show a bigger difference
for a supersprint i would recomend flat Pedals. for longer thank 10km bike i take clipless
Hate to do this, but the power measurement science in this video is really questionable (ok, fundamentally wrong). Looking at the bikes, you are measuring power at the cranks. This is after the point of variability (the shoe / pedal interface). Thus, to measure the difference in power transmission, you should measure the power before the shoe/pedal interface (at the sole of shoe). After the point of variability, the systems are identical and, of course, the same amount of power should propel the bike forward at the same speed (assuming same environmental conditions). You mentioned that it "felt harder" to use the trainers, that is because, most likely, there was more unmeasured power loss at the interface. And this could account for the heart rate deltas. Now that you have a Engineering PhD on staff, maybe she can help with the design of experiments to ensure valid results.
wow you really live up to your name, pratt, its just a fun video don't over complicated it. If you could keep your obviously vastly superior IQ to yourself rather than flaunting that'd be great :)
Heather, you need to practice your flying mount.
You need to try mountain bike shoes!
John, I am fully aware of this and agree. Haven't yet done a shorter distance triathlon but think it's time I learnt!!
Why dont use both.
You need to put the cycling shoes on for this to be fair... not just rest feet
I just want to point out...Flats are actually clipless and clipless you are clipped in...yeah, whoever came up with that needs help.
TheStroBro
Have you seen clipped pedals?
They are called clipless pedals because toe clips are actually those cage pedals cyclists used back in the seventies and for getting around town. To differentiate these are called clipless.
Tee M
Exectly
those pedals are called clipless because they dont have a strap like toe clips -_-
those pedals are called clipless because they dont have a strap like toe clips.
I can’t even imagine going back to flats.
Surely if it is the same power the speed will be the same no whether it is flat or clipless(the wind most likely did the rest)
Excellent point. The test should have been based on some fixed effort. Easier said than done. But power was a stupid metric
Mr Weasel I have to agree, but we wanted to keep one variable of effort the same so that results were fair and comparable. I wasn’t entirely sure what the findings would be, so we just recorded everything. Regardless of our distances and speeds, I think the most notable thing was the feeling. It’s definitely something I’d like to investigate further now that we’ve tried it
Exactly. The best test of the GxN channels IMHO did GMBN where he raced a set course (even split into timed sections with different terrain) with both pedals. Flats won, BTW (not by much and I think they lost in one section out of IIRC three). ;-) Far from perfect, but this approach is IMHO much better than constant power where you'll struggle to measure anything. The difference in HR might just as well be a bit of stress because your feet are coming of the pedals. Perhaps not as good pedaling technique (no offence but clipless force your feet to comply limiting the potential for mistakes - you know, feet coming of your pedals won't improve your efficiency). Even in a lab, it'll probably be so close (especially after proper adaptation) you'll struggle with conclusions. And you have the noise from the different techniques as Mark is from the pull-up camp which is impossible on flats.
Frankly, my first attack vector would be aerodynamics. Something completely overlooked in this video. I'm really expecting top clipless to be better. But how big is the difference? Trying to measure power transmission efficiency from the foot to the pedal... hmm, good luck with that. I'm not really expecting significant differences assuming one can pedal without a crutch.
It's quite surprising how well flats do in these tests as all I have ever seen were by people that use clipless exclusively and have done so for many, many years, more than a couple of decades in some cases. With just some odd flats and odd shoes they have around. Not adjusted to them, feeling weird. Being the pulling up types that are not sure how could this work. And the flats are still kicking butts. That's pretty hilarious.
You miss the effect riding with flats will have on your run. Power is power, so it is no surprise that keeping the power constant will make you ride at the same speed. But using fewer muscles will have them burn out.
Christian Clausen I agree. We wanted to keep one variable of effort the same though, to make results fair. I’ll be honest, we weren’t sure what we would find. So we just recorded everything to see any notable differences. For instance, the HR being slightly higher. I fully agree about using one muscle group too
That isn't shown through actual studies on the matter, the pull up is inefficient and it's effects overrated.
I wonder if anyone has used mtb pedals like Shimano xt/xtr with shoes that have the cleats recessed. That would be the best of both worlds.
They are shit to run in ;)
Freddy3792 oh I see why they weren't even an option then.
I don't think running with cleats recessed into your soles is very comfortable...
Maybe some enterprising company could make triathlon specific SPD shoes that can be used to run in?
Yeah. I use them on my road bike, which use to race. I do this because they are easier to walk in. I don't do flying mounts, and I can run in them on T1. However I would not run in them after T2 as they way too stiff and would likely get injured. I'm still at the point in triathlon where I use what I own, but I find them great for everything. The only downside, is the platform is small on mine, but you can get bigger platforms. They can be heavier (not always by much though) than road clipless pedals.
Your mounts and dismounts need a lot of work....get the boys from GCN to introduce you to CX training!
I'm beginning to think Mark has done the flying squirrel before
At 10:52 ... what did that guy in the background do ? 😂😂
I wouldnt mind riding on flats.. if they were attached to a P5X :p
Without actually getting in and out of clipless pedals in transition I have to say this info is unfortunately useless. Enjoy your work in general though!
Yeah I sadly agree, this Video makes zero sense.
The first part of the video is completely useless. Bike and run part were very short compared to transition time. Clipless pedals are not showing any benefits on those short distances. There is no way one will ride with flat pedals as good and as efficient as with clipless pedals. Pro triathletes would use flats if they are better than clipless pedals.
And toe clip on flats.... Sounds like disaster if you need to dismount quickly.
I understand your point, and we said the same after the test. This has given us a really good taste for it, so we will be investigating further. The results still showed that flats quicker through transition, so they’ll only be quicker when compared with putting feet in bike shoes. But I’d like to break it down and see where the time is gained and lost through T1-T2. Thanks for you support :)
Lol this comparison is totally flawed! ;)
You did not even put the cycling shoes on! Of course the difference is gonna be slim! Also I think the real benefit is on the bike-run transition where you don’t have to change shoes at all with running shoes.
Now overall, I don’t know if the benefit during the transition compensate potential loss of power but it looks like the whole test was just a way to justify clipless ;)
Anyway it gets us talking, even 3 years later!
Might as well use some straps on those flat pedals... why not
Tri bike party?
I only feel comfortable with clipless pedals.
lmao at the desperate justifications to try and justify clipless
I'm just not seeing anything that justifies the cost of these and the price of getting not only pedals but different shoes as well.
Deliberately skewed results.
Trevor Weimer genuine results. As we say, we were slightly surprised by the 10min effort. I didn’t expect that at all. Whether it was due to increased wind or not, we gave the actual findings
Mark Threlfall ok. But I was really surprised by the results between you both, not between clips or no clips. In a sprint using flats and trainers will definitely gain you T2 time.
Yes, that's exactly what we proved. T1 and T2 were quicker with flats
Mark Threlfall mark I’ll try to be more focused next time....I was near the end of a few beers.
This "Scientifically" proves that flats are as good as clip-less pedals. I was advised as well, I have not done it. Just raced my first HALF-Ironman race on just trainers. So Yes you do not need them, admittedly bit stupid. Wonder how I would do with proper pedals and shoes. I guess I did not want to invest yet other money into that. Best investment was elastic shoe laces and tri shorts, next time it will be trisuit since putting on cycling jersey lost me lots of time. I do train like that, accually I use IKEA slippers on bike trainer at home LOL.