Clipless Pedals - How Much Improvement?



I'm thinking about getting some clipless pedals. The guys at the lbs say I'll be "20%-30% more efficient." I'm not sure how that relates to speed. Can you folks quantify that a little better / differently for me? How much difference will it make to my average speed? For instance, last night I averaged right at 18.0 mph for an hour. How much faster (roughly) would I be with clipless pedals? I'm just looking for a ballpark figure. Anecdotal stories would be great also.

Thanks,

Jim Moore
Jax, FL


You probably got it figured out already. There are not many studies available. On a normal tour I think you gain 5-10 %, only for short distances you can use active pull pedaling, good for us uphill. The gain is then 86% for professionals, 51% for non cyklists.