Why I’ve never used clipless pedals and probably never will

I grew up racing BMX in the ’80s. The closest thing to clipless pedals in those days were toe-straps. And no one in the BMX scene was using those.

Hops sans clips

The biggest argument I hear for clipless is that you can bunnyhop with them.They help just about anyone do that ugly, hopping thing where both wheels come off the ground at the same time. As long as you don’t have to hop anything higher than a curb, you’re good.

But I learned to bunnyhop before clipless pedals were a thing. I first saw someone bunnyhop in 1982. I still remember it. It looked like magic. It was my neighbour on his Redline MX-II. He must have hopped a whole two inches. It was incredible. And I spent the rest of the day trying to figure it out. I don’t know if I got it that day, but eventually I did. And by the time I was 16 I could bunnyhop onto a picnic table. Without clipless.

Bloody shins

I suppose another argument is that you won’t slip your pedals. And I’ll give you that. For sure that’s true. But with today’s biking shoes, with purpose-built rubber compounds, I feel like it’s less of an issue than ever. Back in the day we had waffle shoe vans and we’d sharpen our pedal cages. Those things were painful.

Keeping pace

Since then I’ve done a ton of riding. Mostly mountain biking. I’ve raced DH, dual slalom and suffered through the occasional XC race. I have buddies that are addicted to Strava KOMs and I ride with them regularly. The fact that I’m on flats and they’re on clipless pedals has never been an issue.

I always thought that if there was a time when I simply couldn’t keep up to someone on clipless pedals, then I’d learn something new and give them a try. I couldn’t keep up to Niels Bensink and Curtis Robinson on Kamloops’ Rio trail, but clipless wouldn’t have helped me there. Those guys are maniacs. But they were also on flats. I can’t keep up to Stephanie Martinek on an XC trail, but that’s not a big deal; she’s also a maniac. I have no problem saying I’m not as fit as her and probably never will be.

The only time I thought that maybe I should give them a try was during a dash for cash BMX race when I felt everyone pull away from me after the first jump. I’m pretty sure that was because of clipless. But I haven’t raced BMX since and honestly I’m not sure I’d ever race with clipless anyway. How would you put your leg out on a corner to guard the inside line? And what about doing a can-can mid race?