Bike and running shoes for sprint

Carry your shoes in one hand, push the bike with the other and put the shoes on at the mount like (off to the side).  Or just run the 100yds in your bike shoes.  I don't find them to be that much slower than running barefoot.

Personally, I would always choose to ride 'clipped in'  (aka clipless), as that really impacts my ability to transfer power to the pedals. 

Personally, I would always choose to ride 'clipped in'  (aka clipless), as that really impacts my ability to transfer power to the pedals. 

x2.

I've been happy with my SPD pedals and the recessed cleats in the shoes.  Makes running/shuffling a lot easier. 

Sure it's not as light, flashy, or nice as other pedals but I'm not qualifying for Kona, like ever. 

I put my cycling shoes on at the bike rack, then I run in my cycling shoes- leaning on my bike for support.  May not be the very fastest- but I have yet to lose a podium spot by less than 10 seconds.

i.e. I've only been on the AG podium once- a 3rd place finish in a small tri.  I think 4th place was a minute and a half behind me.

In your scenario I would go with running shoes.  The reason I say this is because it sounds like you are leaning towards running shoes.  Yep, you'll lose power, that's a given.....

I'm going to use cages for my next sprint.  Here's why:

1. Faster T1 time. I can get my running shoes on quicker than my cycling shoes.  I don't wear sox for the bike leg, and I'll go sockless for the entire race in the cage scenario.  I currently do not employ the tactic of having my cycling shoes already clipped in.  Also, regardless of distance to mount line I think I'll be able to run faster to that point in running shoes.

2. Faster T2 time.  Faster run from dismount, rack bike, helmet off, hat on, run out.

I know I will lose a little power/time on the bike, but I think on a course >15 miles the transition time savings will be greater.

I understand this line of reasoning, but I think if you take a look at the data, you'll come to a different conclusion.  Using clipless pedals is supposed to increase your power output by 20-30%.  Over a 15 mile course, that translates to several minutes.  At worst, you lose 20-30 seconds switching out shoes. 

With a little bit of practice, it doesn't need to be difficult.  I did a duathlon this weekend with a 3mi/12mi/3mi format, and I probably only lost 5-10 seconds switching out shoes, but benefited an enormous amount on the bike. 

It was on the internet, so it must be true! 

A random google search brought up results anywhere from 10% to 50%.  I felt the 20-30% was about the middle, but I'd agree that it seems high.  Regardless, even 10% is a very significant amount of power output and extra speed. 

Ah yes.  Google....making everyone a genius since 1998.

My googling prowess has brought me this.  In order to increase your speed by 10%, you need to increase your power by 33%...lets call it 30 for maths sake and to align it with the your much researched stated loss.  So going from clipless to cages, I suffer a 30% loss of power which is a 10% decrease in speed.  If I avg 20mph with clipless, I would avg 18mph with cages. yadda yadda yadda carry the two, divide by nine.....WOW 45 minutes clipless versus 49.5  minutes (roughly) with cages.  Well unless I've done something wrong math wise, I'll be scratching the cage idea!!

I used a similar approach using analyticcyling.com, and got fairly similar results.  Even if you only assume a 10% increase in power from clipless pedals, the difference is enough to justify changing shoes.  Now, cages are better than just platform pedals, but not by that much.