Originally Posted by
Maelochs
The biggest difference between really tight toe straps and clipless is safety. Being able to twist and escape versus having to really struggle to pull your foot out ... got my leg run over by a truck. No joke.
The other big difference is that it can be a real pain to get your foot into a tight towe-strap set-up. I sometimes find myself using my toe-clip pedals as flats across intersections, because I don't have to time and concentration to work my foot into the straps before the light changes.
Yes. Clipless has all the benefits of toeclips used "properly" with cleated shoes and tightened straps
but none of the disadvantages of toeclips.
With cleated shoes, you had to reach down and loosen the straps before stopping. After starting and putting your foot into the cage, you had to reach down and tighten the strap. Clipless eliminates all that.
Originally Posted by
Maelochs
The small downsides I see to clipless are less adjustability (I can twist my foot any way I want inside my toe-clips) and the occasional difficult dismount---I have seen experienced riders go down because of a sticky cleat. (On the other hand, I have fallen because my toes got hung up in the straps.)
Toeclips
with cleated shoes are not adjustable. There isn't any "float".
You get some of the benefits of clipless and toeclips with cleated shoes by using toeclips with normal shoes. But what clipless is supplanting is toeclips with cleated shoes.