Seattle Forrest

Like your toe clips hitting the ground when you don't use them, causing a hell of a surprise when you lean into a turn ... or like having to cinch the things down and then hoping not to be stuck in them.

Clipless pedals are safer than toe clips, but neither one is very dangerous.

jim p

Unless you are having problems with your present pedals don't waste your money on clipless pedals and bike shoes. This equipment only comes into play when you are riding very rough trails or when you are riding very tough hills and long distance. For a beginning rider this equipment is not going to help very much at all.

For casual rides under 10 miles just platform pedals and sport shoes will work just great. I used to ride 20 miles with platform pedals and sneakers. Sometimes the bottom of my foot would get hot but all that I had to do was to start lifting my foot off the pedal on the up stroke and the feet would cool back down.

I now have clipless pedals and bike shoes and they may be more efficient and I can use my ham strings to pull the pedals up on the up stroke but you know I only have one heart and if I put out power on both my quads and ham strings my heart and lungs just get over loaded and become the limiting factor as far as performance. Just because you can deliver more power does not mean that you have more power to deliver.

RubeRad

Here's an idea for you Allen. Do you have metal pedals already with holes to attach clips and thread straps? If so, try posting here or road biking or bike mech or something, to the effect of "Hey, I'm an unemployed Clyde, so I can't afford clipless+shoes -- does anybody have a spare pare of clips/straps they could mail me?" I'm sure somebody would be willing to drop $2 postage to clear a little junk out of their garage. Given all the "I finally went clipless and I'm never looking back!" posts around here, there must be thousands of guys with unused cages/straps!

(If you have black plastic platform pedals, you could try the same approach asking for pedals+cages+straps; I bet you'd get lucky if you offered $5 to cover heavier postage. Note also you'll need probably a 15mm box-wrench (or a pricey "pedal wrench") to change your pedals out; and the Right pedal works Right (regular threading, righty-tighty, lefty-loosey) and the Left pedal is wrong (reverse threading))

marmot

Au contraire. These are far more dangerous than clipless pedals. They are ineffective unless cinched down tight, and then you can't escape them without releasing them by hand. An outdated and hazardous device.

SteveSGP

O.K. I have to ask, who actually cinches the straps tight on pedals with toe clips?

I never have and I never will, Maybe using them the way I do doesn't take full advantage of the clips but it's 100 times better than with no toe clips.

Paul01

When I raced in the 70s we not only cinched them down, we practiced grabbing the straps and yanking them tight and practiced loosening them for when we stopped.

For riding on the street today, I leave them pretty loose.

goldfinch

Allen, keep in mind that he is talking about pedal clips where there are straps to cinch down. The powergrips and the cages that 10Wheels showed are different types of products and do not require cinching down or releasing by hand. They are very easy to use.

SteveSGP

You made my point entirely, for normal use they don't need to be cinched down.

Racing is another thing all together.

Paul01

Also, we had straight cleats like these on our shoes:

https://www.yellowjersey.org/tocleat.html

Some track racers still prefer straight cleats, toe clips and straps and some use toe clips made for double straps for greater security.

My wife still has a pair of shoes with straight cleats.

CraigB

Before I switched to Looks in the '80s, I used cleated shoes with clips and straps, and I *always* cinched the straps tight. Always.

In fact, one of the reasons I was so interested in going with the then-brand-new "clipless" pedals when they came out was because the straps cut right across a spot on the outside edge of my foot where I was prone to getting plantar's warts, and the pain was almost unbearable. Anything I could do to stay connected to the pedals, but eliminate the straps, was something I wanted badly.

Jaytron

Coming from the SS/FG world where toe clips and straps are the norm, the first ones the OP linked are crap. The Nylon straps will fall a part, and so will the plastic toe clip.

Do it right the first time and go clipless.

The only reason my fixed gear has clips/straps is because I try too hard to be fashionable with different pairs of shoes

Seattle Forrest

I always did when I used toe clips. There wasn't much point in having them and not cinching them down...

tony_merlino

Wow. When I use them with sneakers, my feet slip right into them. Yet, because the metal pedals have some "bite", my shoes are held pretty well when I'm fully jammed into them. I can use the upstroke of the back leg to get a smoother pedal stroke and get more power. Not as well as with clipless pedals, but a lot better than with flat pedals and no clips.

As far as getting out of them is concerned, my feet slip out of them instantly when I want them to. I have NEVER gotten stuck, and NEVER slipped out when I didn't want to. And getting into and out of them is second nature once you get used to it - I don't even think about it.

I use them for casual and street riding because I like to be able to walk around, do my shopping, etc without having to wear special bicycle shoes and cleats. Maybe you could make the argument that plain flat pedals would be fine for that, and you'd be right. But these seem to be better than flat pedals, without the drawbacks of clipless pedals for that type of riding.