Originally Posted by
staehpj1
I am curious... what benefit do you get from mini clips? It always seemed to me like they did absolutely nothing beyond locating your foot consistently fore and aft on the pedal. If that is the desired result for you I can see where they accomplish that but don't see them doing much else.
Duh indeed. There are a number of reasons for using a retention system. The significant reasons include, but are not limited to:
- Locating the foot in a consistent position fore and aft.
- Locating the foot in a consistent position side to side.
- Locating the foot consistently with regard to how it is rotated (heel in heel out)
- Allowing the ability to pull back on the pedal.
- Allowing the ability to pull up on the pedal.
Not everyone will agree on which are important and which are not. Some will even consider some of them disadvantages.
Originally clips were not only used with straps but also with cleats with a groove that engaged the pedal allowing the pull back advantage. Eliminating the cleat makes the system easier to exit, but loses much of the advantage. Eliminating the strap even more so.
The mini clips are fine if they are what you want but they only do a small fraction of what clips and straps with cleats or a clipless system does. That may be what you want. If so great, but if mini clips were the only option I probably wouldn't bother.