Originally Posted by
PaulRivers
Yeah.
There's 2 popular choices...
1. Clipless pedals + shoes
2. Flat pedals with pins + flat shoes with grippy rubber (five tens are the most common)
Toeclips have drawbacks worse than the other options and lack advantages to make up for it.
- For getting your foot out in a emergency it's worse than either clipless or flats
- Getting in and out of the pedal every time your stop is a pain as you have to flip the pedal right side up.
- For convenience you can't beat flats
- The "look"...well...it just sortalost it's "cool" appeal when they stopped using it in racing if you want the racer look it's clipless
...
But, if you are riding the street (and hills) fix gear, those Shimanos have real value especially because of their toestraps . Point by point:
- For getting your foot out in a emergency it's worse than either clipless or flats - pedaling 200 rpm and having one foot come off the pedal and getting your ankle struck from behind by that pedal is an emergency that dwarfs the consequences of going down strapped in. I haven't done it yet but that remains one of my nightmares and keeps me on toeclips with quality straps.
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Getting in and out of the pedal every time your stop is a pain as you have to flip the pedal right side up. - yeah, but you get over it.
- For convenience you can't beat flats - see the 1st response, Theat lifelong injury wouldn't be "convenient".
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The "look"...well...it just sortalost it's "cool" appeal when they stopped using it in racing if you want the racer look it's clipless - they are still considered a good track pedal and still show up at velodromes.
I don't have those pedals for their looks. I put big steel tabs on them for quick pickup, then add heavy washers to the toeclip bolts to pull the toe down, offset the tab weight and add a touch of inertia to the pedal rotation. All this makes for an easy pickup.