Originally Posted by
RyanTheRobot
Oh about to go for a ride to grab some dinner on my crap bike and was reminded of one other thing I am had a question about... the pedals. I read this thing a while ago
http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html and he talks about not using regular pedals. A lot of photos I see seem to though and my friends bike has regular pedals. I've never worn cleats and am kinda intimidated by something that is difficult to pull out of quickly. For a beginner is it best to use regular pedals despite that guide or maybe a harness type thing that I see a lot of fixed bikes use?
Think of "clipless" pedals like the binding on a ski/boot system.
If you were going to be skiing with a strap ("clip") system you'd be totally screwed if you had to fall.
As an avid road AND MTB cyclist that rides competitively for a team, I use clipless on all of my "racing" bicycles. On my fixed gear, I use "clips" because I commute to school and have the desire to wear sneakers. (plus, you can't fly an airplane in clipless shoes... trust me
) I would consider clipless pedal systems (the ones you're thinking of as being intimidating) to be FAR FAR safer than a clip system when both are properly used.
The ONLY trouble with either is remembering to unclip when you come to a stop. With a clip system you can "panic" and yank ur foot and it usually works out ok. With clipless, the "yank method" might not work as well.