What are your preferences?

I have super wide feet, and they're pretty long, too. Quill pedals are painful for me, because they jab into my feet.

I have trouble getting into toe clips, because even when the straps are wide open, my wide shoes have trouble getting in. I have no trouble flipping the pedal over, though, even in traffic on a fixed gear.

I've recently discovered the plastic toe clips like these. The two thingies that the strap go through make a huge difference for me. As far as I can tell, the plastic is as durable as good old steel in this application.





I like plain old pedals that are the same on both sides. People call them platform pedals, but that term used to mean something different. We used to call the ones I like rattrap pedals.

I use "touring type" pedals. Pain in the butt trying to find the clip at lights and such.

The Mt. Christophe clips are great. I need to have my feet clipped in somehow. I end up pedaling with my heels otherwise. I have the MtC clips on my vintage MTB. They work great. I'm not quite ready to go clipless. The clips allow for a versatile footwear selection and let me keep my feet in place. I broke my 20 year old pair recently and had to get a new pair. The $10 for clips and straps sure beat $200 for a set of clipless pedals and shoes! Besides I only have one bike, so versatility is a must.

plastic seems to work great, but I just like the look of metal too much . MKS has wide touring pedals for us guys with huge feet. they also make an interesting Lambda pedal (called the "Grip King" by Harris Cyclery), but I'm not sure you can put toe clips on them (some people claim you can)

Steel clips and leather straps, easy in and out. I find the type of shoe more than anything is the best aid in getting in and out. I found a pair of black leather "athletic shoes" on the clearance rack, the've become my favorites. Someting about the sole lets my toe grab the pedal for the perfect flip and the tops are relatively smooth so nothing to catch going in our out.

I mostly ride clipless, but when I'm running errands on the road bicycle, with a lot of walking involved, I use a pair of duatlon/triathlon adapters. They have a 6" long by 3"wide platform and double tongued plastic clips that accept 1" wide straps. On the ATBs I have SPDs.

Sometimes, I used to make my own toe clips by bending coat hanger wire. After all, the main purpose of the clip is to hold the strap open and in position . The shoe shouldn't be touching the clip, except in the vicinity of the strap loop. A little padding this area prevented the wire from aggravating the foot.

I agree with Dashuaigeh, the plastic may be functional but it doesn't look right.

On the other hand... I wonder if we can persuade Zaphod to make insulated covers for those, so the toes don't freeze.

Toe clips, no straps, on all my bikes (except for my Raleigh DL-1 which has rubber platforms and doesn't accecpt clips).

When I got back on a bike for the first time since I was a kid I fell in love with the Lambda/Grip King. I have very wide size 11.5s. I've since settled on a the MKS Sylvan Touring (rat trap) pedals with the MKS Spin II Flip tabs, large steel clips, leather straps and toe clip leathers. The whole shebang. I really like this setup and I find it really easy to get my feet in and out.

No, they're not made for toe clips. There's no way to attach them. I have considered (more seriously as of late) modifying them to accept toe clips. They'd work great for fixed gear riding because they are long and narrow.

I installed those little Tioga spikes on my Grip Kings. I recommend it.

I just bought some of these.



To make it easy to get into the pedals, try these.

flat platform pedals w/ pins = comfort/grip

try some.

I've been riding spd's for the past 14 years or so and in my situation couldnt imagine not having them for a few reasons:

- my size 13/14 feet dont fit well on those tiny pedals.
- getting into straps while at a light is a pain though I'm sure it gets easier over time, but why should i bother?
- i havent done a lot of experimenting, but spd shoes have very stiff soles. i havent found any shoes that dont either slip on regular pedals, and also have a stiff sole. cushy soles make for un-comforable feet after just a few miles for me.

So anyway, with all that said, I just this week ordered a set of these to try with MKS touring pedals:



i'm hoping that they might be a good compromise if I can find the right shoe and they still look kinda retro.

I never liked my half clips (I had the mks ones). I'd rather go with powergrips if you're going to start adding stuff to pedals.

Hey Doohickie,
What is your shoe size?
Do those clips come in X -Large if you know?

i'm open to try those as well but I probably wouldnt put them on something i wanted to keep a vintage look.

I recently tried the VO half clips with MKS Touring pedals. I liked them better than no clips but not as much as full clips and straps.

Advance apologies to Tom: Holiday, I recently bought a pair of vintage cycling shoes and my LBS has cheap used SPD pedals. What cleats do I need to use these shoes with SPD pedals? I'm clipless ignorant.

I've never heard of using spd clips with shoes that were explicitly designed for them. That said this is what they look like:




usually if its an MTB/touring shoe they're at least somewhat recessed so you can walk on them, which is another reason why i think they're great. They just arent vintage...

Those half-clips won't be long enough for you. Time to try road clipless pedals? Or, keep the MKS pedals and just ride them bareback. They are good pedals - but you should get the MKS wrench for the dust caps so you can adjust and service the bearings easily.

Clipless pedals on the road bike, Anything else gets these:

I wear an 11 and those put the ball of my foot in about the right spot.

Thanks

My shoes are a size 11EE and find that the pedals/toe clips solution that works best are MKS touring pedals w/ Nitto size L clips. I usually have the strap at just about as wide as it can go. I also have sewn V-O leathers on just about all of the clips on the fleet as I've found that really reduces hot spots on my feet. Still, I prefer SPD and have that system on bikes I'll use for longer rides.

Neal

Colonel:

I still have my pair of vintage Avia cleated shoes similar to your's. They were only LOOK compatible, not drilled for SPD. SPD wasn't released yet.

Shimano does/did make a bmx platform pedal with one side SPD. Very wide and robust.

as does nashbar and wellgo, fyi.

I use both depending on which bike I'm riding that day. For my clips and straps I use these smooth sole Nike Shox Rivals. Like someone stated earlier, I think your shoe choice makes all the difference when using clips and straps.