Some of you saw my question last week about using clips vs. non-clip pedals on a flat duathlon course (one short steep hill, fairly long, gradual downhill immediately following that) to reduce transition times. The duathlon was a 2-10-2... Well, here is the facts first, my conclusion at the bottom:

My bike split, with clip in pedals, (unofficially, as the mat didn't pick up my chip) was 27:45 over 10 miles, which included T2 and a minor bike mishap (cost approx a minute) due to race volunteers not giving clear instructions on where to turn. T1 was 45 seconds. Finished first in my age group (20-24) with an overall time of 53:36

My father's bike split (no clip in pedals) was a 27:43 (he is 52 yrs old) with both T1 and T2 being 28 seconds. Combined, he had second lowest transition times in the field, and fastest T1. He finished first in his age group. (50-54), with an overall time of 57:20.

Thus, my conclusion is... the experiment was inconclusive. I figure that my bike split would have been about 45 seconds faster had it not been for the minor wreck, but he was obviously able to gain about 45 seconds on me through transitions. The Pops is of the belief that you should not use bike shoes

Thoughts from the rest of trifuel?