Well if you look at SPD pedals the metal cleat is in contact with metal of the pedal. Not flex there. The top of the cleat is clamping the metal plate above with a layer of the bottom of the shoe in between. Even when holding a pedal with a foot long wrench, no flex their either. If yours is actually flexing as you claim if you are a very vigorous peddler you would be getting hot foot.

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For certain parts stiffer is more important than lighter.

there are very few things that are revolutionary now on bikes. We are chasing fractional gains, no matter what the part etc.

That said, lower stack heights will produce a lower CG, and lower rocking torque at the pedals. Can it be measured? Maybe, with lab grade equipment. I chose Shimano Dura Ace over Look for partly that reason, along with a stainless wear plate that Look did not offer at the time.

I think the wider platform does offer benefits. I tested wattage in hyper RPM sprints on the trainer in both Speedplay and Shimano. I pulled 20 more watts peak, later in the test, on the Shimano set up. It may well be statistically non significant, but I feel better about the Shimano, so who cares.

Regarding riding MTB pedals on the road, you give up some weight and stability, probably also efficiency from rocking torque, but if you don't take riding that seriously, who cares? Your stuff works and you like it. And you gain a ton in practicality. If you start having knee problems, maybe re evaluate.

with the shoe engaged, the tread of the shoe SHOULD contact the pedal body. if it doesnt, you need these

then the tread will contact the pedal, your foot will be more stable, and the retention bars will not touch the sole.
before these tread sleeves, people were wrapping the pedal body ends with duct tape, gluing sand and dirt to the ends, etc. i used loctite "black max" rubber toughened superglue.

Can anyone tell me, if there have been any studies to measure the effectiveness of pedal types ?

The marketing departments of most pedal manufacturers have all kinds of data supporting their pedals.

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For certain parts stiffer is more important than lighter.

Thanks to those above for making me feel less like an outlaw. I switched after years of riding speedplay zeros on my road bike to xtr with sidi shoes for the reasons listed by others above. I kept waiting for the hot spots on long rides but they never appeared. Float is good enough for me on the xtrs too.

i wish i didnt, but i sometimes have a bit of slop with atacs. never with spdsl.

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All I have ever used (since I started riding again 7-8 years ago) are SPD so I can't compare with anything else. I guess ignorance is bliss. Never felt the need to change. Weight wise, when the cleat is included they are fairly competitive and I never had a problem with "hot foot" my longest ride being 106 miles. Average 50-60 mile rides. On my club rides we often stop at red lights and stop signs and I find I can clip into them much faster than most of my fellow riders and wind up 100 yards ahead.

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"Really fast people are frustrating, but they make you faster. When you get faster, you might frustrate someone else."

2009 Trek Madone 5.5 Project One SRAM Force 16.4 lbs w/pedals and cages.
2007 Bianchi 928 Carbon Lugged- SRAM Rival-17 lbs.

I use SPDs on my bikes, when I get off for a bite to eat I can walk about with ease

Barrie

I used the latest XTR pedals on all my bikes.

I wont use road shoes or pedals again.

LOVE the comfort when walking factor and have done all my strava KOM with xtr pedals and custom xc shoes.

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Oh great another pedal platform vs shoe sole discussion.
Personally, I can't stand riding on SPDs on the road. The engagement seems loose and super vague. The float is waaay more than I like. Look pedals seem far more secure of an interface. Efficient or not, SPD just doesn't work for me.

I've got Dura Ace road pedals, have spent many years in Speedplays, and have Candy-3 on my mountain bike, which is set up as a "bad weather winter bike" with slick tires and fenders.

I don't really think there would be a measureable difference in efficiency among any of them. The DA do feel a little more "solid" in attachment, while the candy's have a little "mushiness" as you can feel the spring bars moving slightly. But I am talking microscopic motions that would no affect efficiency.

As the original author of this thread...

I ended up switching to road pedals, and I do think there is a difference.

http://ridingagainstthegrain.com/2012/06/18/time-iclic-carbon-pedal-review/

The road pedals feel more direct when under full exertion efforts. Tooling around town...not so much.

Nice write-up.

I've been using Speedplay Frogs for ~15 years, and am considering trying something different. Your comments about the CB pedals echo my thoughts on the Frogs (fine for tooling around, not so great when standing/sprinting).

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