Originally Posted by Momentum
Clipless pedals were designed as a solution to a problem and they work very well. Get mountain bike shoes and you can hop, skip and jump around all day on and off the bike. Otherwise keep riding the cool looking old stuff and deal with the the inherent faults.
Um, you can still unclip at inopportune times with clipless so they aren't perfect. Nothing is.
Johnandoff: Dude I say just replace the toe straps. If they held up for three months of hard riding that's not bad at all. Straps will wear out. When you see the wear getting to the point that you aren't sure just replace them. They aren't THAT expensive unless you get the really really fancy stuff. One a fixed gear bike, they are part of your braking system. On a road bike, after a full day in heavy rain, you can go through a set of brake pads. That sucks but it happens. I wouldn't call your straps defective by any means if they lasted three months on a fixed gear bike.
I am currently riding a pair of Silvas right now but they will most likely be my last. I am one of the three people Shiznaz mentioned who has had the problems with disintegrating straps. My first pair began to delam after 5 days!! I still rode them for a bit, then I tried to glue them and screwed up the job. I got another pair because I got them cheap and I needed something right away but I would not recommend them.