I'm about as far from that as one can get, but I just put pinned pedals on my MTB Porteur and love them! For me and my riding style they offer all the advantages of clips or clipless without any of their shortcomings.

I agree about falling: you may fall over once (it is very funny, too) because you forgot to un-snap your shoe from your clipless pedal, but you likely won't do so again. Once you get the adjustment of shoe to pedal locked in, you probably won't have any trouble. My experience is that clipless is slightly more efficient than toe clip with strap but you would have to be an engineer to care about the difference. My new hybrid came with toe clips and straps and I've seen no reason to change. I wear some mid-height trail running (hiking) shoes with gore-tex lining in case I encounter wet conditions, although that will only help to a certain point. I like not having to change shoes, and I can walk normally without klak-klak.

Lol, it's not a fashion statement, they're designed to give you maximum grip on the pedal with no slippage, even in the rain. They make pretty normal looking ones -
Amazon.com : Wellgo Alloy BMX Sealed Mountain Bike Pedal, 9/16-Inch, Black : Bmx Platform : Sports & Outdoors

My wife fell in her first week of using SPD's. She chipped her elbow. Not funny. I realize this is rare, and I'm not blaming anyone. She decided not to use cleats any more. Sometimes she uses toe clips.

Get a bottle cage made from carbon fibre, it will make you faster and give you credibility amongst club riders.

So why is foot retention so necessary for fixed gear for "safety reasons"? I've ridden fixed gear...never saw the allure...and it's not that much different from riding a freewheeling bike.

I would say that track standing on a gear bike is any more difficult than a fixed gear...if you know how to do it correctly.

I see it all the time. I do it all the time. I commute 16miles round trip to a volunteer job across the middle of Denver every Saturday and seldom do I put a foot down. And I stop at all stoplights and stopsigns.

I agree that most cyclists don't learn how to do it but then most cyclists will tell you they can't remain upright at <3 mph too.

Foot retention is necessary for FG riding because the pedals continue to turn as long as the bike is moving. If you resist the pedals, either intentionally or not, the pedals have a tendency to force your foot off, which can be disastrous at speed.

Language changes. In the 1980s, a "platform" pedal was a toe clip pedal that had a wider base than a "quill" pedal. But the "quill" pedal is almost a thing of the past...most people don't even know what a "quill" pedal is nor why it is called that.

For all intents and purposes, "platform" now means a wide flat pedal that has a "platform" for your foot and can be used for toe clips but often isn't.

You have 30+ years of experience in cycling and you don't see much difference between riding FG and freewheel ??...You definetly sound like someone who doesn't have a lot of experience riding FG in a fast and aggressive way. Foot retention makes it a lot easier to control a FG bike, it makes it easier to backpedal and stop. If your foot slips off while cruising at 20+ MPH or sprinting at 30+ MPH while the pedals are spinning then you're in big trouble.

The same argument could be made for a freewheeling bike. If your foot slips off at 20, 30 or 40 mph or while sprinting...usually done out of saddle..., you are probably in big trouble.

And, no there isn't that much difference between fixed gear and freewheel bikes. Backpedaling to stop may look cool but it's just a skid which is dumb no matter what kind of bike you ride. I also see lots and lots of fixie riders who aren't using toe clips around here. I don't think they are too bright but it can be done.

If you're foot slips off the pedal on a geared bike while out of the saddle, - ouch ! But it's worse on a fixed gear and it's still bad even if you're in the saddle. Pedals stop spinning on a geared bike. They don't on a fixed gear. Getting your feet back on pedals which are spinning at 90 or 100 rpm isn't that easy and attempts can be painful. It happened a couple of times to me while I was getting used to riding fixed. I'd grab a handful of brakes and try to keep my legs clear until I slowed down enough to get my feet back on. Not something I'd like to repeat.

That said, I do ride fixed on occasion using regular shoes and I'm just more careful. I don't consider it ideal and would be more nervous about it on a wet day or at night when an unseen obstacle can jolt the bike enough to cause a foot to slip. I do have front and rear hand brakes.

The only difference is that on a FG the cranks are spinning non-stop, moving your legs and pushing you up, which means you're much more likely to have your shoe slip off, loose control and/or get thrown off the bike if you don't have foot retention. Especially when standing out of the saddle or riding aggressively.

Backpedaling doesn't mean you have to lock the rear wheel and skid. You can stop by gradually applying backpressure and slow to a stop without skidding, just like using brakes. I don't skid when I use brakes and I don't skid stop when riding fixed, I like to get as much mileage out of my tires as I can. Stopping through backpedaling is very difficult unless you have some type of foot retention, even the kids and teens I see on brakeless fixies use power grips with their BMX pedals.

I don't skid but I do backpedal. Backpedaling is a misnomer, you don't actually reverse the pedals, instead you are actively resisting them as they move forward.

The differences aren't as great as you guys are making them out to be. And what you say about standing while riding out of the saddle or riding aggressively applies just as well to a freewheeled bike.

You aren't "backpedaling". As caloso says your are resisting the pedals as they move forward. I have ridden fixed. I have also see people who lock up the rear wheel...while not wearing any kind of foot retention...on fixed gears by actually backpedaling. I wouldn't do it for the same reasons as you wouldn't and I certainly wouldn't do it without foot retention but then then I wouldn't ride a freewheel bike without foot retention...clips or clipless...either.

The problem I encountered with these was when a foot slipped off the pedal my shin received several quite painful pin imprints which lasted a few weeks.

Rich

In one sense, you are right. A fixed gear is no more than a single speed bike that doesn't coast. But that one difference is so great that it absolutely changes the entire experience, especially when out of the saddle or riding aggressively. And especially when descending.

On a freewheel bike if your foot comes off, you can just stop the cranks and put the foot back on the pedal. On a FG, the pedals keep going around. If this happens during a sprint, I think most riders will simply crash. No wait, I take that back. First they'll be flung hard forward, their reproductive bits onto the top tube and their teeth on to the handlebars, and then they'll crash.

And if your feet lose contact with the pedals and if you manage to get them out of the way of the fast-spinning cranks, there's not much chance you can get them back on the pedals to use your feet to resist, so you've effectively lost your rear brake.

And possibly, depending on level of kewlness, only brake.

For me the difference between fixed and freewheel is greater than the different between geared and single speed. When I started to ride a fixed gear it was almost like I was learning how to pedal all over again. I remember cresting that first big hill and then *trying* to coast.

My son uses BMX pedals on his fixed gear and so do lots of his friends. He's definitely a fair weather rider though and isn't making many mountain descents on his. He also insisted on removing his rear brake so like many teenagers safety isn't his first priority.

Again, I don't consider foot retention an absolute necessity on a fixed gear but I do consider it safer than regular platforms, - along with having other advantages.

To put it simply: Safety isn't a reason I'd choose clipless pedals on a geared bike, but it is a reason for choosing clipless (or other method of foot retention) on a fixed gear.

I suppose it all depends on your style of riding...

I don't know if I ever exceed 20mph while commuting, and if I do, it's downhill while coasting. Platforms work. I don't see a need for foot retention on my commute.

For longer rides, I do like SPDs. That's more comfort than anything.

Really? You know, I bought a pair of these, but they haven't seemed quite as grippy as the previous Specialized pinned pedals I had ridden before. Hrm.

Was there anything particularly different about your situation, like it was raining? Or was it a regular ride?

I often exceed 20 mph, pedaling, while commuting, and I've never had any issues with my feet slipping off of flat BMX pedals. I also completed a 3200 mile tour this summer with the BMX pedals, with no issues.

I don't like the drawbacks of any foot retention system, and have never noticed any of the problems they supposedly solve. (If I rode fixed gear, I'd probably adopt a retention system.)

Not all pedals are created equal, some pinned pedals are more grippy then others, I never had a problem when using them for mountain biking, you need shoes with grippy soles, many types of trail running shoes or hiking shoes work very well with pinned pedals. There are some shoes which just don't work well for cycling no matter how grippy those pinned pedals are.

As I've said above, if your foot comes off a flat pedal in a sprint, the result would be exactly the same on either type of bike. Sprints aren't usually made from a seated position and if you lose contact with the pedal, the dangly bits aren't going to like it.

I love the commuting forum ... discussions about sprinting.

I'll head back to my bike ...