Toe Clips
 

I was wondering if any of you use toe clips for commuting. I know I don't want clipless because my commute to school and work is relatively short. Sometimes my foot does slip off the pedal though and I would feel ( I think ) safer if I had toe clips.

I ride a Fisher Utopia and I really have no idea what size pedals (bolt size I think) that connects to the arm. I read that there are traditionally two sizes to pick from.

I'd love some advice in where I should purchase them (possibly online) and what kind to get!

THanks in advance

I use them, but they suck if you have big feet. I can't get enough of my foot on the pedal (size 13 US). My feet have never come off the pedals unintentionally, though. I'm saving up for clipless.

http://www.thethirdhand.com/index.cgi

Type in Toe clips... several come up and they are available in different sizes.

Personally I stopped using them in the mid 80's... but to each their own.

I have them on my commuter. I prefer them to an unadorned platform pedal, but I'd like to have an SPD setup even more. Low priority, though, and my current setup works just fine.

I think I got them at Performance or Nashbar but it's been 15 years ago, or so.

Oh, my setup is just the clips and straps on bear-trap style platforms. Don't know if you were looking for something more roadie-style?

Ok another question for you guys. I see that I can hook up most clips to the front of my pedal and that's totally fine. But I'm wondering also about pedals that are already setup with toe clips on them? Essentially making them a small pedal platform.

Obligatory clipless support post:

A lot of people seem to think that going clipless means that your feet have to be clipped into the pedals and stay there for a long time. Not so. It's quite easy to clip in and out frequently if you need to, and the learning curve is not that bad either.

I'm using them on my fixed gear. They hurt my feet after about half an hour. I have flat feet and ankle problems so it is probably just something that has to do with that. Other than getting into the second one on the fixed (cause the stupid thing keeps moving on me!!) they are nice to have. They would probably be rather simple to get into on something that can coast until you get them in and tightened up.

I used toe clips for a while, and am now on clipless. If I had to do it again, I'd stick with toe clips. Clipless is marginally better but not that great, at least for my riding style. I do want SOMETHING to keep my feet on the pedals when I'm in the rain though; I bought the toe clips when my feet slipped off the pedals TWICE in one day while I was at the front of a line of cars at a stoplight and the light turned green. The second time a rather large truck was right behind me, gaining speed when I lost my power source.

The biggest downside to clipless is that you have to put on special shoes to use your bike. Yeah, I could get half-clipless pedals, but if I'm going to do that, I could just get platforms and toe clips and forget the special shoes altogether.

The one upside to the shoes is that the Shimano shoes I got are warmer than sneakers and have lasted 3 years in all weather, getting wet, etc. they're about done in though; the uppers are starting to rip loose from the soles.

I used platform pedals with pins in as used by BMXers and downhillers, with trainers, for commuting 6m each way for several years and had no problems with feet slipping. Mine were el cheapos as they weren't going to be subject to much in the way of unusal forces.

I use clips on the Raleigh - I like them, but in regular tennies, my feet get crammed into the ends of the clips and hurt my toes after a while.

I don't think that clips make this "problem" go away, but YMMV. Of course, I don't think it's a problem in the first place.

I use toe clips and have no intention of ever going back to straight platform pedals. I'm looking at going clipless soon, though. I'd get them if i were you.

I've done'm all. For me, toe clips are much better for my commuter. It keeps my feet in place on the pedal regardless of the terrain, weather or pace. Also, I don't have to change into my SPD's just to ride from the office to a downtown sandwich shop. I can ride in whatever shoe I'm wearing at the time.

Get a pair of Power Grips instead. Then you can wear any shoes you like and still have the no-slip benefit. I'm using a pair on my year-round commuter and, although they cannot be adjusted without a hex key, they are at least as good as my toe clips ever were.

Yeah, on the commuter I've got them deployed. Short commute, *shrug* works okay for me.

I have toe clips on all my bikes. I've never used clipless, so I can't give an opinion on them, I just like to be able to ride whenever I want without changing shoes.

I had one sided SPD pedals on a mountain bike a few years ago - they were a pain in the behind - whatever shoes I was wearing, I ALWAYS got the wrong side, so I changed to full SPD not long after. They're brilliant!

But... I hate having to wear the special shoes for short trips, and they're no fun for walking around a supermarket. So the SPDs stay on my mountain bike, and I bought some toeclips for my hybrid. Which don't fit on the BMX style pedals. :bang: I don't think powergrips would work here either, :crash: so I may have to buy new pedals. Once you've used clips or clipless, you don't go back to plain platforms.

I have Dimension toe clips on my commuter and toe clips came on my backup. Love 'em, will never get rid of 'em. Maybe someday I will go to clipless, but for now, these rock.

Thank you all very much for the discussion. I rode over to my local TREK store tonight and got some toe clips! It was nice riding home with them. They are the toeclip/pedal all in one type. I only paid 20 bucks for em too, not to shabby I don't think!

+1 to Powergrips

they're nice on fixies and bikes with low clearance, since there are no clips to scrape up. You can also ride the underside in a pinch w/ no issues.

Good thing you didn't go for clipless... I use them myself, but really, clipless are way overkill for what you need. Also very expensive when you consider you need the shoes too. You could also have gotten half clips. Toe clips that just grip the toe, no straps... for about 10 bucks.

I have a toe clip. I always put my left foot on the ground at stops, and that side's toeclip eventually tore up (from scraping on the ground starting up from a light). It's a pain to try to slip your toe back into the clip int he middle of traffic. Seems dangerous to me. Since I ripped the broken toeclip off my left side, it's great. I just have a platform on that side. Right foot is still a toe clip.

However it's not secure enough to really stand up and sprint.

I run clipless on my one bike (the regular commuter) and toe clips on the other (the hybrid).

All summer the hybrid is the 'family outing' bike where I don't want to deal with special shoes. In the winter the bike gets studded tires and I rewire the clips with electic line to make huge hoops that fit over my gi-normous boots.

I have clips on both of my bikes. When I ride a bike it is almost always multi purpose. Bike and work. Bike and hike in the park. Bike and run errands. Bike to church. Bike to visit people. If I had clipless I would have to carry extra shoes. My feet have slipped out of them only a couple of times in 7000+ miles.

I have never rode clipless.

clipless or platform. There are your choices, toe clips are not intuitive to get out and in the offchance you don't want to put your feet in one day you'll be dragging those things on the ground at every corner.

I have a short commute, 5 miles. I wear road shoes and clipless pedals and change when I get to my destination. In fact I change my entire attire so I don't have to worry about stinky, sweaty clothes in class.