i've been riding eggbeaters for a while now but want to try straps and cages for short rides around town. I'm thinking the MKS GR-9 pedals seem like what I need but my only concern is security. The bottom of the pedals are flat which will be comfortable but has anybody had any problems with their feet slipping out when skipping or slowing down? Any other recommendations?

Well, clips and straps won't secure your feet as well as eggbeaters (I just switched in the other direction), but they can come close if you tighten the straps down hard. Then again, that means you might have trouble getting your foot out...

As long as you realize you can't exert pressure straight backwards (that's how you pull your foot out!) you shouldn't have any problems with your feet slipping out. This means you only get power into the bike for ~3/4 of a rotation, but you're only missing the bits when your cranks are vertical...still plenty to stop quick, skid, whatever.

when i went from clipless to clips and straps, i found that it took a lot of energy keeping my foot in the dang clips. even tightening down the straps as much as i could. then again, they weren't particularly good straps. decent laminated straps should tighten precisely, and not loosen.

but your question was about GR-9s, and I was using Sylvans.

Make sure you get the right size cages. If they are too small, it'll be easier for your foot to slip out when skidding.

skateboard grip tape will improve the grip on gr-9's. i've heard reports, however, that they can get a little slippy when it's wet out.

you may find that you like clips and straps more than eggbeaters. i liked mine plenty before i made the switch and found out how loosey-goosey eggbeaters really are. i can barely skid when i use my eggbeaters, i constantly clip out whenever i try to fish tail or my skid line even begins to go off of straight. with clips and straps i feel a lot more confident about trickier skids.

I had a set of GR-9s for about a week before I traded them in for the MKS Sylvan Track pedals. The GR-9s were too narrow for my feet. I wear size 12 shoes, so they're not that big, but the GR-9s were just too close to the crank, and sat under my foot in an awkward way that made the outside of my foot slide off to the outside when I put any weight on them.

As far as cages/straps go, you can get these little buttons that screw into the end of your straps and let you tighten/loosen the straps easily. Toshi makes them:

https://www.benscycle.net/index.php?m...583f20ea727b02

Basically you screw them in at the place on the strap that you want to be the loosest point. When you're riding, you tug on the strap to tighten it down, and when you want to loosen it, you just kind of smack the strap clasp and it'll loosen out to the point where you attached the button. They're really handy.