I was riding along last night and did a light skip to stop at a stop sign, when all the sudden my left foot came out of my toe clip. Didn't think anything of it, stuck my foot back in and rode the remaining 50yds. to ye olde local brewery. On my way to my next destination, I felt pretty loose in the toe clip and looked down only to realize my sweet vintage Christophe toe strap had torn in half on the inside. The toe straps aren't even that old (they were vintage but they were basically NOS).

I've had Soma straps before, but didn't like a) how long they were and b) how quickly/badly they stretched out. I'm curious if this has been an issue for anyone else... no one else I ride with seems to have problems. I'm thinking of trying woven nylon straps. It seems to me they wouldn't stretch nearly as much, though I could see them fraying and snapping... thoughts?

You can't go skipping around town my good man. There's your problem.

But seriously, sounds like you should try the nylon straps.

I broke a Christophe strap the other day. I was hauling ass towards a 4 way stop trying to beat my roomate home. Saw a cop, started to lay a huge skid to stop at the sign and BAM. It almost threw me off but I just barely saved it.

This is all my fault though, the strap was in terrible shape + no brakes

leather and a lot of synthetic rubbery straps break. nylon straps i really haven't heard of breaking much

Ive broken two nylon staps. You just need to keep an eye on them for signs of wear. I now carry a back up strap just incase.

A) Just because straps are NOS doesn't mean the leather is in good enough condition to rely on.
B) Laminated leather straps. I prefer Toshi singles, YMMV.
C) Nylon straps, not a fan myself, but they don't break easily. They were mad popular in the MTB scene before clipless.

i ride single kashimax sprints and toshis...no problems here

I haven't broken a strap yet, but I think my Soma doubles are on the way out. One of them is pretty worn on the inside, from rubbing against the crank.
Never had a problem with nylon straps, though, and I used them for aeons before I got these.

I have been rocking a pair of single Mikashima leather toe straps for ~2 years in all kinds of weather. Bought them on eBay NOS. I actually surprised that they have yet to snap on me yet because I do skid and skip when needed. They are still holding up very well with the only real wear on the leather is where the name has come off the straps.


Edit:
Just went on eBay and found the pair I have in red.

This happens to me alot, ive been through a set of christophes and just yesterday a nylon. Ive found that my leather straps dont break as easily but when it happens you have little warning, whereas with the nylons i can start to see them fray. This is one of the reasons i run 2 straps, a nylon as my primary near the entrance to the cages and a leather after that.

Not all straps are made the same, the kashimax olympic doubles have a layer of plastic between two layers of leather to increase durability.

I prefer leather but i have nylon on my rusty beater.One thing i found annoying is that sometimes the shoe catches them when clipping in and they twist.

the white leather campy straps on benscycle are pretty nice in my humble opinion.

i'm pretty sure my toshi singles will last me until my bike gets stolen

... or until a charleston hipster jacks them off your bike.

i broke a nylon strap. took about two or three months. the rivet pulled out of the strap.
you need to inspect your **** ince in a while.

i have a pair of errebi doubles that work nicely on my fg.
i also have a pair of doubles that i cut into singles. they work good too.
laminated straps or reliable.

i have crappy nylon straps that i'm surprised they haven't broken.

I have these straps also and have had no problems in the last 5 months or so. I am not very hard on them though as I have and use a brake...

i think people just like saying N.O.S., how are those straps old stock and not just new

omg yr so strngz!

Prove your point and show me newly produced straps by MKS labeled with Mikashima on them.

Not trying to start a flame war here, you have a valid point about the usage of N.O.S. in advertising.

i've broken a clip before as well as two straps (both nylon) and worn out even more.
i now ride soma oppy 4x gate clips with two straps each. i don't like that i'm riding leather, but i hide behind the fact that i bought them a few years ago, before i was vegan.
the straps are leather/vinyl/leather, and are remarkably strong. i've been using them for a month or so now, no signs of stretching whatsoever.
i now recommend double setups whenever i'm asked, mainly because i've realized that no one's really designed anything specifically for the type of riding we do. yanking up on toe clips over and over and over and over is more than they/the straps are designed to deal with, so we go through them pretty quickly.
soma's clips are the closest i've found to a real solution, and riding them with beefy straps is probably a good idea.