What exactly are they?

Do they just go on your straps to prevent them from loosening? D:

???

They're 100% cool.

So you should get them.

What are they!

Cool. That's what they are.

But really, I'm just trolling.

What do they do!

They keep the straps from slipping/exiting out of the strap-clips and maybe easier to tug on the straps.

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more useful when people used to use these style road shoes and wanted tight straps ... with the engagement cleat on the bottom of these shoes you couldn't get out of the pedals without loosening the strap.

Dude, you only have to ask once. We fully understand that you don't know what they are or what purpose they serve.

This.

To further explain:

1) If you use straps properly, by cinching and un-cinching at every stop light the old school way, it would be a pain in the butt if you accidentally opened the clasp too much and the strap slipped through. This would mean that you'd have to get off your bike and thread it back through again.

2) People's feet are different widths, so are pedals. So, a foot/pedal combination might result in lots of excess strap. Plus, there is only about 2" of the strap that is used for slack to cinch/un-cinch. The rest is extra, so many people cut it short...but this might contribute the the problem above.

3) Older, broken-in straps are sometimes slippery and may not give a good grip when cinching. The button provides a grip spot.

Buttons allow for short straps to be used without issue while being easily gripped.

But, it's wasted on 99% of people on the FG scene who don't cinch/un-cinch. Plus, you can't tuck the strap into the clip when there is a button on it. So, save your money.

Forgive me Carleton, but what is a cinch?

You need to ask a few more times before he answers you here. His direct line is in the "Dear Carleton" thread.

It's being used as a verb here, not a noun. I'll let you consult your dictionary on that one.

The buttons you ask about, they're really nice on my Campy leather straps, cuz they're short, so yea, keeps the strap from slipping all the way through and makes 'em easy to grab onto.

I've some Soma leather straps that are long as hell so the buttons were annoying as hell on those, cuz the button would make the strap flop around a lot and clack on my toe clips once per revolution. Had to take 'em offa those immediately. I guess what I really need to do is cut those Somas down a bit.

Cinch:

1: Secure (a garment) with a belt

2: Fix (a saddle) securely by means of a girth; girth up (a horse)

3: Make certain of
- his advice cinched her decision to accept the offer

See? That was a cinch!

cinchy

https://store.citygrounds.com/store/p...-Buttons-Gray/
https://store.citygrounds.com/store/p...-Buttons-Blue/
https://store.citygrounds.com/store/p...d-Buttons-Red/
https://store.citygrounds.com/store/p...Buttons-White/
https://store.citygrounds.com/store/p...-Buttons-Blue/

I have the blue Cinelli's on my bike, for steeze purposes only.

Actually I could see these being useful if you had a stitched leather strap that you wanted to cut shorter. The buttons could keep the layers from separating.

some of 'em with Colnago logos on 'em up for grabs on C&V:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...1#post12852899