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>For whatever benefits people get from them, clipless pedals and padded shorts are a quick way for an inexperienced cyclist to gain credibility among his/her peers as a "serious" cyclist. After all, every pro cyclist uses these products, and if you show up on a "road bike" without them to almost any group ride, people will comment or criticize or write you off as completely eccentric. Of course, people who use the pedals and shorts believe in these products, it's no lie, but I'd point out that most people get their first clipless pedals and padded shorts the same day they get their first nice road bike and start riding more - of course performance improves.
>If I had to estimate from my personal experience in bike shops, 75-90% of the customers who ask about clipless pedals have never used them, and have fears about having their feet firmly attached to the pedals (and falling over), but they also have fears about looking like a novice dork in front of other cyclists (protip: all cyclists look like dorks to somebody).
