Are they worthwhile to lessen fatigue & increase efficiency?

what is a "pedal basket"?

A basket formed by straps to place the front of your shoes in.

No. The things will catch your shoes and you will fall. Stick with flat pedals until you are ready for clipless pedals. If that time comes, you'll know it.

Welcome to the forum.

All of my bike pedals have toe clips w/ straps and these have worked fine for my usage.

Toe clips have grown out of fashion but many still use them. I use White Industries pedals with Bruce Gordon half clips, so not quite toe clips on one of my bikes. They are a happy medium between full toe clips and flat pedals.

"Should you use toe clips?" Well that depends on the type of bike you ride, the kind of riding you do and your usual foot wear when you ride a bike. It also depends on your skill level. On one hand they are minimal cost, so you could try and see if you like it. On the other hand flats are just as efficient, why spend the money.

Here is one of my bikes w/ toe clips.

I've used half toe clips (no straps) on all of my bikes over the past decade or so. Love them!

I think in my country we call those "toe cages." They work pretty well to help maintain efficiency at harder efforts. If you are pedaling quickly or with a lot of force, the toe cages (pedal baskets) will help your feet stay in the same place on the pedal platform, whereas, without them your feet might slip. I liked to use them on my old road bike, and I used to have some "power straps" on my touring bike. They both work very well, but I have begun using clipless pedals on all of my new bikes. Riding without foot retention is only for casual rides.

I've used toe-clips and straps for decades without problems. Even with cleats I've only fallen over once. That was when I first used toe-straps and cleats and forgot to loosen the strap BEFORE stopping. LOL

In the city I ride with the straps loose. Getting out of the toe-clip is easier for me than getting out of a clipless pedal. I had a number of falls with clipless pedals when I stopped with the wrong foot at the 12 o'clock position and leaning the wrong way. I far prefer toe-clips and straps.

One thing to watch out for with toe-straps is shoes with two straps. The toe-strap can get snagged between the two straps when pulling your foot out. I use shoes with one strap at the top and laces or just laces.

Another great thing with toe-clips and straps is that I can wear just about any shoe with them and don't have to put on dedicated bicycling shoes for a short ride.

Cheers

You might or might not like them. I seriously doubt that it will have any effect on your "fatigue."

No, but they are great for keeping your foot placement on the pedals when wearing boots or some other footwear not normal for cycling. I assume your referring to something like the MKS half clip below, my wife has them on her Trek 950, and loves them. No way your foot could ever get caught on those, no straps.
Tim

The toe clips and straps hold your feet on the pedals, so whatever energy you use to keep your feet on the pedals will be saved; that increases efficiency and reduces fatigue.

They don't fit onto every pedal, though. They're a great solution with the right shoes, something with not a lot of height. MTB shoes, for instance, are hard to use in clips.

I've used toe clips and straps, toe clips, straps, and cleats, SPDs, and pinned flat pedals. I've never raced. The best compromise I've come across is pinned flats and Five Ten shoes, because that combo gives me the most surface area, which minimizes pressure per unit of area on my foot.

I never fell with clips and straps (many bike seasons), fell once with clips, straps, and cleats (one season), and fell innumerable times with SPDs (1/4 of a season). I never fell with the pinned flats, but once or twice a season they punch holes into one of my calves.

Thx for all the pertinent info.

Thx for info

Great info. Thx

Thx for info.

Thx

Thx for info u provided

My brand new road bike from Canyon that arrived only a month ago actually shipped with a set of pedals that had toe-clips & straps pre-installed. Apparently bike manufacturers still find them fashionable.

Perhaps a new trend. Thx

Lug sole shoes do NOT work well with toe-clips.

If you use metal toe-clips and no cleats, you might want to wrap some tape around the toe-clip where the toe of your shoe contacts it to prevent wear on the shoe. back in the day cleats were adjusted so that there was about 1/8" gap between thetoe-clip and the shoe.

I find that toe-clips help a LOT when climbing as I can pull up on the pedal. With toe-clips you can more easily pedal in circles too. That's done by pretending to scrape mud off your shoe at the bottom of each pedal stroke. That has the effect of pulling the pedal rearward making pedaling more efficient.

Cheers

IN addition to avoiding lug soles, you will find that if you use straps, do not use velcro shoe flaps as they will catch on the strap, lace-up shoes work far better. If using half clips and no straps, then it is OK. I also find a true stiff leather strap is far superior to a limp nylon strap that does not hold its shape and gets folded as you slide the shoe in.