Boston Commuter

Toe clips come in sizes, you know. If you get the correct size, your foot will be positioned correctly over the pedal.

chephy

Clipless are great, but they have one big drawback: they require special shoes. I want to commute in my normal shoes. Hence the clips and straps: not as efficient as clipless, but far better than bare platforms, because you can pull up on them some, and you don't have to worry about your foot slipping off. And oh, I certainly leave them loose enough so that I can just get the foot in and out freely.

CACycling

I used clips and straps for decades. My wife would never consider using them. When I went clipless, I finally convinced her to at least try clips and straps. By the end of the first mile she was sold. She was amazed how much more stable and powerful she felt. She was really paranoid about getting her foot stuck and falling but got over that quickly. She ultimately went clipless on her main road bike but kept clips and straps on the other two.

Longfemur

To answer the OP's question, regardless of whether you use pedals with toe clips or you use clipless pedals, the advantage of having something to hold your foot is mainly that your foot stays there without you having to think about it.

It may not be obvious, but when riding with open pedals, a small part of your energy goes to keeping your foot on the pedal. When you have toe clips or clipless, it doesn't. Your foot automatically stays in the right place.

It's not a big deal on leisure rides, but most serious cyclists would want to ride with toe clips or clipless pedals... one or the other. To start out, you could just buy some cheap plastic toe clips and straps to add on to your existing pedals. This way, you can just use your existing shoes, or any shoe you have. Leave the straps loose, or remove them completely. You could also buy half toe clips instead of the full ones. They don't use straps at all, and you still get most of the benefits. If you think you like that, then later on, you can consider buying toes clips and proper cycling shoes to go with them.

nahh

I use clips and straps on both of my bikes, I wouldn't go back to platforms. You feel way more connected and secure on the bike, and the efficiency gained is pretty substantial. I might go clipless eventually, but I waiting till I find a good deal.

Also, my straps are as tight as i can get them, and I can still get out of them really quickly, and if I fall I get out of them fairly quickly. The only annoying thing is flipping the clip over to get my foot in on my fixed gear, since the cranks always turn if i don't get in really quickly i'm screwed.

ok. less bike forums. i'm out for a ride!

noglider 

Toe clips are actually harder to use than clipless! But I learned to use toe clips when I was 14, so I'm good at getting in them. I'm 48 now, so that's 34 years. I remember the day my friend and I put them on our bikes. We took a long-ish ride and said we'd never go without them.

I'm trying PowerGrips now, and I think they're excellent. I like riding in any shoes I happen to have on. They're a little harder to get into, but they're more comfortable, and they won't scuff shoes.

I put toe clips on my wife's bike. She's a scared cyclist, and she did fine with them. I'll get her some SPD's because I think she'll like them better. She said she's willing to try.

thehum

Heheh I was thinking the same thing as I read through everyone's replies.

PaulRivers

Glad I wasn't the only one who noticed. :-)

Jim from Boston

Like most of the previous posters, I prefer clipless, but was reluctant for years and used toeclips. On my beater winter mountain bike though I have strapless toe clips; just the cage without straps. I don't know who makes them but they are easy to get out of yet provide the added power of regular toeclips and I like them for really hazardous slippery conditions (I also have studded tires). If interested send me a PM and I will get more info from my bike shop.

rajman

I commuted for two years in Calgary with clips. While I didn't use special footwear (alternated between winter boots and hybrid bike shoes [no groove]) I was happy with them.

On one occasion I was cut off by a motorist (right hook), and had to come to a quick stop to avoid a collision. To my surprise, I found I had ripped the toeclip off (broke the plastic part off), and put my foot down to avoid a fall.

I'm not sure I could replicate the event, but the panic stop did not result in a crash or injury, so I was happy.

ok_commuter

Yep, that's what got me to clipless and I'm not going back. I have some really nice MKS pedals and stainless clips and leather straps from velo-orange. They were fantastic, but I think they're destined for ebay.

I put SPDs on my commuter and my road bike so I can wear the same shoes (SIDI Dominator 5) all the time. I leave shoes at work so I don't have to worry about taking a pair with. (And in fact those shoes have my custom orthodics in them, so I need to get another pair of those to keep at home.)

I've got myriad issues with my feet, including plantar fascitis so bad I can barely touch my feet to the floor in the mornings. Clipless shoes that fit perfectly and are stiff enough to do all the work for me are absolutely saving my poor feet on the bike.

For things that help my aching feet (and similarly for things that help my aging back), I couldn't care less how much it costs. For those who do care, I put Shimano M520 SPD pedals on two bikes ($50 ea.) and bought one pair of SIDIs ($200). If your feet aren't as persnickity as mine, you can probably find much cheaper shoes that work just as well for you. I've tried low-end Shimano road and MTB shoes and they're both great and great value; they just don't quite fit me.

ItsJustMe

It doesn't make any sense to me that clipless would stop your feet hurting. All they do is to hold your foot in the right position. If you have properly sized toe clips, or platforms and you keep the same part of your foot over the pedal as clipless would, I don't see how there's a difference.

It does make sense that stiff shoes would help, but I don't see how putting a cleat on the bottom of the shoes and locking them into the pedals makes it significantly different than just putting the shoe over the pedal in the same place.

I do like to use cycling shoes rather than sneakers, that does make a difference. But I'm pretty happy being back with toe clips instead of SPD (I'm still riding with the shoes with SPD cleats on them, but I swapped out the pedals for the old platforms + toe clips and it feels exactly the same to me).

Geonz

so, has the op clarified?

I use toe clips -- I'm cheap and painfully absentminded.

I don't even have straps - that way I can get out *really* easily - but I really can get good pull going up (in whatever shoes I'm wearing, tho' some are better than others), and they keep my feet on the pedals. My most recent splat was last April when I was wearing my shoes like sandals with the heel mashed down (they're designed to do that), I was between toe clips, and my gears were out of adjustment. The gear jumped, my foot slid forward, the shoe hit the wheel, the wheel Ssssuuccked the shoe right off my foot, the shoe sucked the fender off the wheel and wedged between tangled fender, fork and wheel, which of course brought the bike to a sudden stop and me to an almost as sudden stop over the handlebars. I stood there in my sock and shoe for a while, trying to figure out how to untangle the mess...

I put the clips on that night and have tried to haev my camera with me more often ever since.

Doohickie

I use toe clips without straps. Easy in, easy out. Maybe not power transfer for the entire cycle, but for a pretty good chunk of it. Years ago I used toe clips and straps; never got used to the straps and got rid of them. Been riding with toe clips & no straps ever since.

I don't like the idea of paying more for my pedals & shoes than I've paid for the whole bike (my most expensive current daily rider cost me $100). I don't want to have to worry about special shoes at all. I don't want to have to consciously think about unclipping when I come up to a traffic light, and I don't want to fall over because I got a little careless.

To me, clipless is what serious competitors use. I'm a commuter and recreational rider and just can't picture myself getting clipless.

Longfemur

Nobody should feel like they are missing out on anything if they only use toe clips instead of clipless pedals. They serve the same purpose: holding your foot in place. As I've said before (but nobody read), either is probably a little more efficient than just a bare pedal, but it depends on the kind of riding you do. Not everybody is interested in maxing out their performance on a bike.

PaulRivers

I have no problem with you or anyone else uses toe cages, but the entire reason I have clipless pedals is exactly because they're easier in, easier out, I didn't want to have to consciously think about removing my feet from the pedals the right way at a traffic stop, didn't want to look down and dink around with the cage when starting up from a traffic stop, and don't want to fall over because I couldn't get my foot out of the toe cage in time in an emergency.

There's no doubt in my mind that the bike shoe systems are more expensive, require a lot more fiddling around to get things set up right (like the position of the cleat on the bottom of the shoe), and it would be really nice not to have to change shoes just to go biking. But saying the serious competitors use them so I wouldn't seems just as silly as saying that because serious competitors use wheels that have to be trued every ride I also have to use those same wheels.

Just like you, I just keep using what works for me, and the fact that it's easier, quicker, and more natural in an emergency to unclip with bike shoes and pedals than toe cages keeps me using the "clipless" bike shoes and pedals.

CACycling

As I posted earlier, I used clips and straps for decades. I wear size 13 shoes and, even getting the largest toe clips I could find that were reasonably priced, I only had 2 pair of shoes that would fit into them easily so I had to wear one of those pair to ride. Then I had to adjust the straps each time depending on which of those shoes I was wearing. I decided to try clipless (got M520s for $35 and shoes for $20 so not a huge investment) and just find them easier than clips and straps in most situations. I did take the requisite "clipless fall" (fell a couple of times when I first was getting used to clips and straps as well) but now I don't have to think about releasing them any more than I had to think of pulling my foot out of the clip.

I think any method of keeping your foot more securely on the pedal in the right place is highly valuable. Whether you go with clips and straps or clipless (I have bikes set up both ways) depends on what works for the individual in their situation.

Rapido

Power Grips do not fit in every type of pedal, but they are Ok for people who cannot figure out how to reach down with their thumb and completly loosen a simbple quick release buckle on toe straps. People using clipless stop at a red light and fall over too. When clipless (meaning no strap and toe cage) first came out the hype was about allowing the foot to pivot on the pedal... called "float" which was to help allevaite knee injuries. The proper shoes made for toe straps have a stiff metal shank in the sole and a device on the bottom with a grove that attached to the back of the pedal as described elsewhere above. Yes I have forgotten to release the buckle when stopping and fell over... once, but then I learned quickly to loosen them before I plan to stop. The only problem is these pedals must have been designed by Italians as the designs are made for people with narrow feet.

PaulRivers

I don't think I've even ever seen a system (maybe in the 80's?) that actually required you to reach down to unclip. And all the earlier pedal systems that I've heard about did NOT have float, it's been the more recent ones that do. And using a system that requires you to reach down and undo a buckle to get your foot out is clearly dangerous in an emergency or crash - you don't have to be a genius to "figure it out". (As mentioned, neither modern toe cages or clipless pedals have this problem)

neilfein

I've never seen anybody do this, or even heard of it until now. I slide my foot in and out of the toe cage as needed. The only time I unbuckle it is if I need to adjust the strap.

degnaw

+1

I was accelerating from a red light towards a 135 degree right turn with my left foot unclipped (so there's no toe overlap), and found that the unclipped foot kept rising off the pedal; its something you don't notice until you witness the side effects.

Boston Commuter

The device on the bottom of the shoe (with a groove to match the back plate of the pedal) was/is called a cleat. My recollection is that only racers and wannabes wore cleats on their bike shoes and tightened their toe straps. Shoes made for tourists didn't have cleats.

When I bought my first bike that had toe clips back in the day, the people at my LBS showed me how to use the clips, and they told me to leave the straps loose. Even loose, they're still enough to keep your foot from sliding sideways off the pedal.

noglider 

Before clipless pedals came in, we used cleated shoes with our clips and straps. Cleats made life nicer if you were going on a long weekend pleasure ride or if you were doing long distance touring. They were not just for pure image as Boston Commuter implies. You could tighten the strap after putting your feet in, if you wanted a positive connection. Or you could leave it as it was and get near perfection. I generally compromised and tightened my left strap and left the right one loose, as that's the foot I take out first.

Being somewhat cautious, I didn't use cleats with a fixed gear back then. I used toe clips and straps with sneakers. It's a bit tricky getting into them but not terribly so. I am going to try riding with clipless (cleats) on my new fixed gear, as they're pretty easy to get into and out of.

BJC

I have been a toe-clip w/strap user since 1996 during my college days as a commuter/recreational rider. Now that I am, "gainfully employed in a career", I am now only a recreational rider and I still use toe clips w/straps on my urbanized hardtail mountain bike on city tires with low top hiking shoes with a semi-stiff insert.

bragi

I find pedals with toe clips to be a total pain in the a$$. Clip-in pedals (SPD) are way easier to use, and much more efficient. But even clip-in pedals are a bit overrated, IMO. Unless you're doing hard-core MTBing or road racing, platform pedals are probably the most convenient option; the performance advantage of clipless, much less toe clips, isn't enough to make up for the hassle...