Toe clip vs Foot Strap for commute

Cheeseface22

Hello fellow commuters,

I want to ask people's experiences and opinions on steel / plastic toe clips vs foot strap:





I have 80s touring bike (SS converted for simplicity) which I used to have metal toe clips. They tend to snap every year due to corrosion (my commute is 14 miles each way, I did over 2,500 miles in 2018). They also scuff-up my shoes. I'm now "function over aesthetic" and not bothered about keeping the bike in "period."

So, I'm looking for an alternatives (but not clipless+cleats set up). I used to have the straps slightly loose so that I can easily release my feet and I can slip my feet in it without faffing or looking down.

I have plastic toe clips temporarily for now, but I find them flimsy (and quite possibly the wrong size). I wonder those ugly foot straps on "hippy" fixies retain the feet as well as toe clips.

Are foot straps as good as toe clips or are they waste of time?

Many thanks and Happy New Year.

bigmat

I had plastic toe clips on my mountain bike before I moved to clipless pedals. Probably got a good 10-15 years out of them. They weren't flimsy. Clipless pedals are way better of course, but you already know that, right?!

cougie

I don't see the point if you're not tightening the straps. Apart from just locating your feet on the pedals.

Why not use SPD s ?

lettingthedaysgoby

SPD’s were invented for a reason.

thistle_

I've ridden bikes with tough, thick, rigid plastic toe clips which sound better than the plastic ones that you are using. It wasn't my bike so no idea what make they were or where to buy unfortunately.

What do you need the clips/straps for? Keeping your foot in the correct position or is it for pulling up on the pedals?

Cheeseface22

Okay, thanks everyone.

I agree that SPD and other clipless systems are the way to go for pedal efficiency. However, my reasons for not upgrading to clipless are:

1) I don't feel that its economically viable. I only cycle to commute (no races, no leisure group rides), thus spending a fair amount of money on pedals and a pair of shoes solely for the pedals don't seem justified.
2) I don't want to carry another pair of shoes for non-cycling purposes. I do some errands on the way or from work, sometimes go to a pub / coffee shop for social so that's really not convenient for me.
3) The current pedals are fine. The bike is fine. I feel fine with the toe clips and slightly loose straps (I'm fine on upstrokes). Currently the benefit of clipless system doesn't warrant the investment.

Toe clips helps me to keep my feet in position and helps me on upstroke (contrary to cougie's opinion, though I agree about the clipless). I like the fact that it's a simple and effective (enough for my use) set up.

Perhaps I bought dud plastic toe clips. I'll do some more search on this.

Happy cycling.

cycleclinic

Shimano M520 pedals are under £30/pair. Shimano SPD shoes are not too expensive. Under £100 spend and trust me its worth it. you wont know until you try. I commute daily on clipless pedals. I would not use toeclips daily.

Funny how you think every who use clipless pedals are wrong. As some one said they were invented and caught on for a good reason.

If your keeping flats why use toeclips, they barely do anything, uneless there is a strap semi trapping your feet. Also that cage dragging on the floor while your getting your feet in is a annoying. a loose strap is useless on the up stroke. You may think its fine but you might as well remove the strap for all the good it does. Its easier to clip in and out.

Acxtually your feet dont have to be kept in position. your feet find there natural postion. If that position is not where your feet end up naturally then there is something wrong with bike setup.

jgsi

Bit of a suss thread this already.

DrLex

Seems too detailed for spam, and the language is not the usual vocab and grammar. Reckon it’s kosher, as the other 4 posts are benign.

Cheeseface22

JGSI wrote:

Bit of a suss thread this already.

Just a bit. I'm only a cheeseface.

All I wanted to ask was people's experiences and opinions on foot straps and toe clips. Then the SPD brigades barged in with their irrelevant opinion to my question.

FACT: Of course, clipless pedals are definitely more efficient than foot straps or toe clips in terms of pedal efficiency.

But I don't want clipless pedals on this bike. I'm not looking for pedal stroke efficiency. I'm looking for views on whether foot straps are as effective as toe clips. I'm not comparing clipless to clipped/foot straps.

I'm getting valuable input from fellow forum users on my other questions (re: face scarf and bike lights) so perhaps I didn't make my question clear with this thread.

Keep calm and carry on cycling!

Cheeseface22

thecycleclinic wrote:

Funny how you think every who use clipless pedals are wrong.

Who commented that? I don't see it on this thread?

craker

The only people I see using pedal straps are hipsters on fixies. Have you tried LFGSS?

Will you need new pedals? If not you should just buy some and see how you get on. I use SPD-SL and Mavic shoes on my fixie but I'm not a hipster.

cougie

thecycleclinic wrote:

Acxtually your feet dont have to be kept in position. your feet find there natural postion. If that position is not where your feet end up naturally then there is something wrong with bike setup.

I'm not sure that's always the case. Especially in business shoes my feet slip on the pedals a bit and you do see a lot of commuters pedalling with their heels because that's where the pedal stops on the heel of the shoe.

cookeeemonster

When I first started cycling in 2012 I saw a good review of these as an alternative to spds: https://www.evanscycles.com/powergrips- ... s-00120405

Basically a toe strap thats easier to get in and out of than normal ones. That may be...but yeah, you spend half your time trying to get into them after pulling away from.lights. a massive pain and not something I'd wanna do again on a commute. Genuinely I think you'd be better off without them.

But they might be your best option if you feel they'd work for you?

tgotb

I ride everywhere with cleats, but my daughter uses plastic clips and straps with her school shoes. Vastly preferable to having her feet slide around on the pedals, and apparently didn't take long to get used to (mind you, she already uses road cleats and SPDs on other bikes, so used to having to do something to clip in). Plastic doesn't seem to scuff the shoes like metal does (though, given the state of her shoes, I suspect there's little point).

Another option would be MTB pedals with spikes to keep your feet in place. My concern with these would be that, if you do slip, you'll probably lacerate your calf. Gazillions of MTBers use them though, so maybe it's a non-issue.

I grew up with traditional clips and straps, and slotted cleats. Now *that* was a system to separate the men from the boys; forget to slacken a strap when you stop at the lights, and you'd better have a decent trackstand or you're going over...

cougie wrote:

I'm not sure that's always the case. Especially in business shoes my feet slip on the pedals a bit and you do see a lot of commuters pedalling with their heels because that's where the pedal stops on the heel of the shoe.

Rubber-soled shoes might be better. Out of the saddle in leather-soled shoes on flat pedals can be lethal!

frogonabike

I was going to suggest some decent mtb pedals, it's amazing how much more grip they give than your average road/general use pedal. In my experience it's more the shin that takes the (sickening) whack than the calf - I have a bunch of pin shaped scars to prove it

Despite the push back against SPD's I'm going to make a suggestion anyways...

https://www.evanscycles.com/shimano-m32 ... s-EV192333

I use them on my more casual use bikes. As everyone seems to agree, SPD is better BUT these give the option of non bike shoes. win win

Edit: Also worth noting, the gripper the pedal the more it will eat your shoes

slowbike

I'm another SPD user - I know you're specifically asking about toeclips/straps and not clipless ... but other than needing another pair of shoes (which I just leave under my desk at work) - I have no downsides to using the SPD shoes - they're cheap (believe me, I don't spend when I don't need to - my last pair where <£60), you can walk around in them - we've "toured" to a National Trust property and walked around (although we were a little careful going indoors) - the cleats are resessed, so you're only walking on the grips - I wear them indoors (getting too/from where I put them on) on a wooden floor - the only concern would be a trapped stone. You can also wear overshoes without fuss.

I used to ride toe-clip & strap and yes - it was very easy to get your feet in/out - no different to SPD that I've found - I wouldn't go back to them though.

mudcovered

frogonabike wrote:

I was going to suggest some decent mtb pedals, it's amazing how much more grip they give than your average road/general use pedal. In my experience it's more the shin that takes the (sickening) whack than the calf - I have a bunch of pin shaped scars to prove it

Despite the push back against SPD's I'm going to make a suggestion anyways...

https://www.evanscycles.com/shimano-m32 ... s-EV192333

I use the M545 freeride variant on my MTB so I have a choice of whether to go SPD. Advantage of the 545 over the 324 is that it operates as a double sided flat pedal so no need to flip the pedal over when using the flat side. However before I switched to SPD I used plastic clips with no straps to ride to school and college with a metal pedal. Didn't seem to do too much damage to the shoes I wore back then (although its not something I particularly cared about. ) and still found it beneficial over just a flat pedal. I also don't recall ever having to replace the toe clips (and I rode about 2miles daily in pretty much all weathers).

When doing longer rides I'd take the trouble to thread the straps in for some extra power.

Mike

seajays

frogonabike wrote:

Despite the push back against SPD's I'm going to make a suggestion anyways...

https://www.evanscycles.com/shimano-m32 ... s-EV192333

Yeah - I use these so have best of both worlds - SPD when I'm riding longer, and flats for the quick bob down the shop - my last set I got on ebay for not a lot)...

https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/shimano-spd ... als-667973

joe_totale-2

If you're savvy you can get set up on SPD for around £50. Given that you're annually buying new toe clips it's not a massive extra expense as a SPD set up usually lasts for years as the Shimano pedals are bulletproof.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/roadc-100-c ... 03016.html

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/pd-m520-spd ... 69982.html

roger_merriman

frogonabike wrote:

I was going to suggest some decent mtb pedals, it's amazing how much more grip they give than your average road/general use pedal. In my experience it's more the shin that takes the (sickening) whack than the calf - I have a bunch of pin shaped scars to prove it

Despite the push back against SPD's I'm going to make a suggestion anyways...

https://www.evanscycles.com/shimano-m32 ... s-EV192333

I use them on my more casual use bikes. As everyone seems to agree, SPD is better BUT these give the option of non bike shoes. win win

Edit: Also worth noting, the gripper the pedal the more it will eat your shoes

I found them too much of jack of all trades, in that the the SPD was only one side, and the flat part equally only one side, doesn’t compare to the MTB flats, in that you can skate about on the pedals on wet days, where as good flats you generally have to lift, to re adjust position, as your shoe will not slide easily.

For the OP if your running clips loose, I’d explore either SPD a lot of MTB shoes look normal! And are very walkable, or decent Flats but you might risk pedal strike with those.

The Rookie

I use the humble M520 SPD pedals, have had the same pair (cost £16.50) for 9 years and over 10,000 miles although I am on my second pair of cleats.

I'm using some spesh shoes I bought in a sale for £50, same time and distance. Unless you are using the same pair of shoes for riding and then all day why not just get the best shoes for the job?

Not really expensive at all?

Cheeseface22

I figured out why my new plastic toe clips are flimsy. The screws were digging into the plastic mould, thus creating some degree of play at fixings (inappropriate screw size included in the cheap product). Washers applied and now as solid as metal toe clips that I used to have. Problem solved.

I won't bother with the foot straps. They look ugly and I never see them used by fellow commuters on my route.

As for SPDs, I have to say that it got me thinking again. There are some valid points raised in this thread. Maybe I reconsider when the current pedals (still original from '82, I wasn't even born then. I look after my possessions) are about to retire.

The bike takes me from point A to B to my satisfaction for now so that's all it matters. Being a student, I can live without convenience, luxury and expense other than food and essential bills. I'll splash out on some gears when I get a decent job.

Thanks everyone for the advice on the clip/less set up!

secretsam

Plastic clips, if you must, those massive straps are for hipster twunts

Or get some cheap SPDs, and join the rest of us in 2019

rhodrich

I've got some Shimano M077s for sale for £34, if you'd like some cheap, non Mountain Bike style SPD shoes (and if you're about a 10.5/11 in UK Shoe size.....)

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/328311/

Buy some M520 pedals for about £15, and you can join the revolution for under £50.

crossborderreiver

I changed from the metal toe clips to sturdy plastic mountain bike toe clips. I found the metal ones too easy to squish if I misplaced my foot on the pedal when moving off from junctions.

essex-commuter

SPD's.

Thread Closed.

Cheeseface22

I re-open the thread.

OK, YOU WERE RIGHT. I ADMIT MY DEFEAT.

I managed to snatch "tried once, not for me" second-hand SPD 520 and DHB shoes for £15 (!!!) and been on it already for nearly 500miles.

Yeah, it's nice. The commute time hasn't really changed, but the hills are much less difficult, thanks for SPD and the ability to "pull-up" the pedal.

Ironically, I had my first embarrassing fall stuck in a congestion last night. After nearly 500miles of no falls, it had to be at heavy traffic with full of cars and pedestrians. Luckily I fell onto the curb with grass patch so it was soft landing.

Goodbye toe clips, thank you SPDs.

essex-commuter

Cheeseface22 wrote:

I re-open the thread.

OK, YOU WERE RIGHT. I ADMIT MY DEFEAT.

I managed to snatch "tried once, not for me" second-hand SPD 520 and DHB shoes for £15 (!!!) and been on it already for nearly 500miles.

Yeah, it's nice. The commute time hasn't really changed, but the hills are much less difficult, thanks for SPD and the ability to "pull-up" the pedal.

Ironically, I had my first embarrassing fall stuck in a congestion last night. After nearly 500miles of no falls, it had to be at heavy traffic with full of cars and pedestrians. Luckily I fell onto the curb with grass patch so it was soft landing.

Goodbye toe clips, thank you SPDs.

Great to hear, thanks for coming back with the update.

joe_totale-2

Cheeseface22 wrote:

I re-open the thread.

OK, YOU WERE RIGHT. I ADMIT MY DEFEAT.

I managed to snatch "tried once, not for me" second-hand SPD 520 and DHB shoes for £15 (!!!) and been on it already for nearly 500miles.

Yeah, it's nice. The commute time hasn't really changed, but the hills are much less difficult, thanks for SPD and the ability to "pull-up" the pedal.

Ironically, I had my first embarrassing fall stuck in a congestion last night. After nearly 500miles of no falls, it had to be at heavy traffic with full of cars and pedestrians. Luckily I fell onto the curb with grass patch so it was soft landing.

Goodbye toe clips, thank you SPDs.

Good work on giving the SPDs a go and also to grab such a bargain!

rhodrich

One piece of advice: DO NOT RIDE WITH WORN CLEATS, especially when riding fixed gear.

Unintentional unclipping at full power can cause problems. Ask me how I know how.....