JoelS

I built up a new bike recently and moved the pedals from my trainer bike over to it. Not having any other pedals, I put a set of toe clips back on the trainer bike. Ugh. What a pain. So much less power transmission, and much harder to spin. Feet don't want to stay in place unless the straps are hauled down, that then cuts off foot circulation.

I'm so glad I'm riding clipless!

triplebutted

We did have cleats with toe straps you know. But cleats are so hard to find unless you are a Keirin rider.

Cleats + double straps are still track riders favorite setups.

celerystalksme

I started out on toe-clip pedals...and I have a beater bike that still has toe-clips. To be honest...I don't notice much of a difference as far as power and speed. However, the toeclips are so big, there's some toe-overlap with the front wheel when going slow. I dont get that with my clipless. So that's nice.

Walter

Yep, old school would be slotted cleats that it over the "back" of quill pedals and then straps to keep everything in place. I remember those. I'm a bit of a retro-grouch and can be nostalgic but I don't miss that a bit. What was worse was that the idea of "wide" cycling shoes wasn't even thought of yet.

Look pedals were manna from heaven.

Clips on a bike you don't ride to "train" in aren't a bad idea. They're still the only practical way I know of to ride w/o cycling shoes.

Ratfish

I like my clips. I don't think I'll ever go clipless.

Avalanche325

Clips and straps are as fun to use as an outhouse on a cold night.

mollusk

Good cleated shoes and toes clips/straps are just as efficient as clipless. And in my experience it is less likely to "pull out" in a sprint with toes clips/straps vs clipless. The only time I ever "pulled out" riding cleated shoes with toes clips I actually pulled my foot out of the shoe that remained attached to the pedal. I have inadvertently unclipped a few times riding clipless in similar situations.

The big advantage of clipless is that it is way easier to "get in and get out". And it is way easier to get replacement cleats. That later was my "tipping point" for finally going clipless.

In a crit/circuit/road racing situation without a neutral roll out the time saved with clipless starting out is very important.

triplebutted

Winner of this race has them



I count 4 in these

fatallightning

hard to tell on all of them, but many track riders run clipless and a strap.

Daytrip

I'm going clipless in a few weeks, when I get the shoes. Got the pedals already.

I dumped it with the clips last weekend at a stop light at the end of a long ride. I was tired and couldn't get my stupid right foot out of the strap. So down I went. Pretty humiliating. I did that once years ago on a mountain bike. Fell off a bridge into a stream. No fun then, either.

Longfemur

Clipless pedals allow you to have the advantages you would have had from toe clips with the straps tightened, but with the convenience of using unstrapped or very loosely strapped toe clips.