What do you guys recommend for beginners, shoe clips or straps?

If you're just a fitness rider, then plain old MKS pedals are fine. You can always add straps to them later.

I've been riding with clips and straps for 40 years so I'm the wrong person to ask. But back when I first installed them I found they were no trouble to get used to.

Started riding with toeclips and straps when I was 15. Went to clip on pedals when they came about when they came out in my early 30's, which I loved because they didn't cut off the circulation in my foot like straps did.

Having said that, I'd recommend that a person taking up cycling would be to get some of the bigger platform pedals that Grant Petersen espouses, and wear some shoes that don't much tread on them. You'll never get knee injuries from having your feet locked in at a bad angle, and you can pedal off the balls of our foot, or move to our heels, or somewhere in between. Last winter I converted my commuter bike to platform pedlas so I could wear some waterproof high tops (Portland consideration to keep my feet dry). It tooks some getting used to, but I didn't notice much of a difference, and stopping at intersections was a lot easier.

My wife absolutely loves these:


Clipless on one side, platform on the other. She can use whichever she is confident with at any particular moment (eg - deep gravel vs long straightaways, urban traffic vs climbing hills).

I like MKS Urban Platforms and they have a nice large platform but you need toe clips since their single sided. But very comfy and reasonable in price.

What type of "beginners"? Adult, or child?
And why in the heck is this in the Classic/Vintage section?
No doubt you could ask the same question in an MTB forum, Road forum, or commuter forum, and get completely different answers.

Anyway, I started with toeclips at about age 10. I did try leather cycling shoes and toestrap cleats for a while, but gave them up when my riding became commuting dominated. I rode with toeclips until just last year when I started doing 100+ mile rides again, and found the toeclips and street shoes just didn't do it for me anymore.

It all depends on your riding.
For 1-2 mile commutes/errands... FLATS???
5-10+ mile commuting, toeclips?? Especially if you're spending a few minutes on the bike, and long days at work.
20 mile errands, etc... SPDs
Road Riding... Whatever clipless you choose.

It might not hurt to get practice with the toeclips. Just so you'll have the experience.

I'd also start with toeclips for kids.

You can also use "half clips", or toeclips without straps.

I also like double-sided pedals such as the Shimano A530: platform on one side, SPD cleat on the other. For years I rode with toe clips and wondered why my feet always hurt on long rides. I went to SPDs and haven't looked back.

I use BMX style platform pedals. I have a 40$ pair of wellgo magnesium pedals I like a lot and they aren't really much heavier than most SPD pedals + cleats but they are versatile; I can ride in work boots or keen sandals and not have any foot pain. No more trying to flip the pedals and slip my giant clown feet into tiny cages. There's also smaller road platforms that wellgo makes out of magnesium, the R146, that are under 300g for the pair. Removeable pins are nice if you ride in soft soles. VO and a few other companies are making platorms without the sharper pins too.

Please don't be snarky to a noob, it is not the C&V way.

The OP probably just wants the wisdom of this experienced crowd.

Indeed. Even further, if you (generic) did ask in the Roadie or MTB forums you'd likely not get clips/straps for an answer.
RAMJ, what kind of shoes do you intend to wear? MTB clips may accommodate big-toed shoes better than old-style steel road clips. If you intend to ride in sneaker or running shoes, clips/straps work well. If you don't like your feet tied down at all (yet) then just about any old-style platform, road, touring, or track pedal will work.

I would probably recommend something like this Shimano pedal. SPD on one side, platform on the other. https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-PD-M32.../dp/B00AZ2OID8

The answer is dependent on a number of factors with the most significant being what you or the rider are willing to learn to use. Platforms are great for fast mounting and dismount. I don't use them hardly at all. The only time is when we decide to ride around the neighborhood. What that means to me is that I am on the bike but don't exercise and do frequent stops.

For serious rides I clip on or strap in, dependent on the bike. My preference is "clipless" of some type. The beginner might do a "Artie Johnson" at the stop sign with clipless. Removing feet from either straps or clipless takes some forethought in learning and understanding what you can and cannot do. Adjustments are key. Set them loose to begin with and tighten as you get use to them. This applies to traps and straps too.

Learning to rotate the pedal with your toe is the most challenging when you are trying not to scrape them on the pavement during launch. this take some practice with the recommendation that you learn in a parking lot that is not used. Looking down can cause a collision with some object so leave lots of room. This is an argument against traps and straps, but hey, this is C&V and so you get this view so you can understand the challenges of riding C&V. It comes with the territory that includes friction shifting on down tube! Be happy that you can use levers on the down tube instead of leavers on the seat stay or seat tube!

If the looks don't bother you, bear trap pedals are fantastic for beginners (they look better on a mtb than a road bike). They are super grippy, even without clips. And clips can be easily added later. I find they are about as grippy without clips as quill pedals with clips.

Available on eBay for about $20. They come in many colors if you are into that kind of thing. I have green ones on my green Cimarron, and red ones on my red Cimarron. So I guess you can say I am into that kind of thing....

My wife still uses these without toe clips on her bike.


These are the green ones I bought (from this seller) on eBay:


https://www.ebay.com/itm/VP-DH-Bear-T...item2c912105de

I asked in the C&V section because my bike is a 73 Motobecane Super Mirage. It came with toe clips, but I wasn't sure if they were for me since I'm a beginner.

Perfect! They aren't hard to use or get used to. You can ride in running shoes or anything else that fits into the clips. You don't need to tighten the straps, just leave them almost tight, loose enough that you can get your foot in and out without futzing with them. Experiment if you want and you'll probably find that even if you tighten them by pulling up on the strap you can still yank your foot out if you forget to loosen them when coming to a stop. The hardest part is learning to flip the pedal over with your toe to grab the clip with your shoe, but a bit of practice makes it pretty easy. If you don't catch the pedal right away you can always just pedal on the bottom of the pedal for a few strokes until you have gained some speed. The clips can even scrape the ground as long as they aren't so tall that they catch the pavement hard and bend backwards. (I've had one set of cages that did that.)

I've used toe clips and clip-in cleats extensively. I believe SPD cleats are easier to use for a beginner than toe clips. Getting in is a little tricky but slightly easier than getting into toe clips. Of course, you do have to remember to clip out before reaching a complete stop. It is normal to forget once or twice, which usually leads you to fall over to the side. But this happens at low speed or no speed, so you probably won't hit hard. Clip out by twisting your ankle out.

If you get dual purpose pedals (that are SPD on only one side) that [MENTION=131041]mountaindave[/MENTION]'s wife loves, you may have to flip the pedal with your foot to get the cleated side. If it's weighted, then you'll have to flip it to get the non-cleated side. This isn't terribly inconvenient, and it allows you to ride with an uncleated shoe, which might be a consideration. On the other hand, if you get the kind that have SPD on both sides, you can clip in without flipping or looking. You just have to aim your foot for the right part of the pedal and press down. It's quicker and easier. But, of course, it limits you to cleated shoes. Riding those pedals without cleats is uncomfortable; it feels like pedaling on a golf ball.

I like my toe clips. My riding ranges from short 1-3 mile commutes that go through downtown where I'm constantly stopping and starting with traffic to 15 mile commutes to work where I'm in the saddle for 10+ miles at a time. I'll ride with the clip down through an entire intersection just because I don't want to have to deal with a fumbled entry while I'm trying to get out of the way as quick as possible, and they only slightly drag when I'm cornering. I'm running tires 6mm larger than what came from the factory, but I don't know if that really helps so much with ground clearance.

I didn't mean it that way.

The point is that many of the C&V riders began with toeclips, although they may now ride either toeclips or cleats depending on what the situation calls for.

But asking the question in the C&V section would certainly weight the answer to a C&V response.

Using casual shoes, I can get the toes out easy enough with the straps loose or tight. Even with cleats & toeclips, the feet can be extracted in an emergency.

But... one needs the straps loose to get the feet back in. I always hate to flip the clip up and find clip squished down so one can only get the toe halfway in. So, I just got in the habit of reaching down to loosen the clip before stopping so that starting would be easier.

My Brompton got my old 80's Campagnolo BMX Pedals , similar .. MKS pedals have the BM-7 MIKASHIMA INDUSTRIAL CO.,LTD.-Catalog
See MTB page.

I think it was here, the best advice I got about straps/clips/toe cages... "you're going to fall down. After that, you figure it out and you'll wonder why you fussed about it." Or something to that extent.

Toe cages/straps are great for me. I don't like the idea of having to put on special shoes to ride a bike. Or having to walk goofy after putting on those special shoes.

You can get some inexpensive 'cyclist's choice MTB pedals with resin toe cages, less than $20 and they're decent quality. Figure out if you like it for what you're doing, if not you can either go to old rat trap style pedals or invest in clipless.

LOOK does make clipless pedals for "beginners". Look up "Keo Easy Pedals"
IIRC, these pedals are designed with less release spring tension so that the user can easy get off the pedals (by twisting your foot to the side) easier than with their other model pedals, but still have enough tension so that pedal retention while riding is maintained.
IMO,we have had clipless pedals available to us for so many years now that there isn't any real good reason why a beginner cyclist should still start out with older tech pedals systems. It's like if you have a kid that's just starting to ski these days, you would not really want to give him skis and bindings that Grampaw used back in the days......

Lot of the same advice given. I got one to watch out for. There is the problem of a cage being bent so you only get your toe in but there is also the situation where, if you are wearing lace up shoes, the laces get caught on the strap loop of the cage when trying to slide your shoe in the cage. Trying to pedal with your big toe over the pedal axle is not very effective!

Like so many things, with a lot of practice, it really isn't a challenge but rather part of the joy of being competent at doing something other this is too hard or useless with current designs. Part of the C&V thing, it is more than just the bike.

The OP already has toeclips.. I'd start with them and see if he likes them.

Most of the cleat retention systems allow you to adjust the tension. I hate pulling out my feet so I have them set to about as tight as I can get my feet in.

With the Shimano SPD pedals, there is the "multirelease" cleats that are supposed to be easier to get out of. The foot twist is pretty easy to learn (and is similar as one would do with toecips with cleats).

BTW... did anybody say how to get the foot out? Push down and back, maybe a little twist too.

One thing I noticed about lower model LOOK clipless pedals with the lower tension springs is, you cannot really pull out of the pedals with just hard pedaling/pulling up hard, no matter how hard I tried. Yes your shoe will lift off the pedal a bit but not pull entirely off. to get off the pedals, you will always have to push out your heels outward/sideways. as "normal" dismounting requires.
I'm not saying it's an impossibility that some had actually pulled of the pedals by just pulling up on their shoe with extra effort, but I suspect you need to be someone really strong to do such.