Originally Posted by
timmy29er
I test rode a bike at my LBS one time that had the straps on it. I didn't like them one bit. I had the hardest time getting my 2nd foot in for some reason. If you're doing a lot of stop and go riding I'd say they'd be horrible.
I used toe clips (eg straps) for years, actually I'm sure it was more than a decade, before I went clipless. You get used to this very quickly, just like you do with road shoes.
Clipless pedals are much better for any number of reasons.
Sometimes you just want to tool around. With the toe cages and straps, people will just use the flat side of the pedal, and leave the cage hanging down below it. Even when they don't want to ride slowly, this tends to happen when people start from a stop, until they get the foot into the cage. So you have this thing hanging down, about an inch from the road surface. Forget it, and you're likely to hit the ground in a turn. Won't crash you, but it'll startle the hell out of you. (This has been my experience.)
To get the best performance out of clips, you want to cinch the straps down tight. And you want to do it after you get your foot in them, which means you're going forward, you lean down, and you pull a strap next to your foot. But not too tight that you won't be able to get out at the next red light. (People fall from clips/straps, too.)
Clipless pedals are safer. And they're more comfortable. And people tend to perform just a little bit better in them.