If you're happy with your toe clips, then by all means, ride what you like. I'm only saying that by not giving clipless a fair trial, you may be cheating yourself. There is a reason almost everyone has switched. Toe clips are an improvement over plain platform pedals but they don't provide the same secure feeling and ability to use all your strength like clipless pedals do.

On the other hand, I guess you can ride with any shoes you happen to be wearing and don't need to worry about getting gravel stuck in your cleats when you walk around.

I know that when I first switched, I figured that if I didn't like the clipless after giving them a fair shot, I'd just go back to my old toe clips. Well, the fair shot meant I fell over a few times and one or two of those times I came up a little bloody. But by my third ride most of the mishaps were behind me and the next time I got on a bike with toe clips I found out you can't go back. Clipless is that good.

I'm not a trackie any more, but I did start on the track, and I still can't get over using straps

Agree. I'll give clipless a try one day when I can afford to spend the money on a really good pair.

I fully agree. I started riding a road bike last summer and loved it. I went clipless after two weeks of riding. A few weeks ago, I bought a mountain bike. I test rode it without any type of clips and found myself trying to "pull" the pedal up on the rear part of the pedal stroke. I decided to go clipless before I got back to the bike store.

Catherine

Hi, I noticed your online name ("onstcroix"). Do you live there? I did several years ago, but left before Hr Marilyn. Just wondering how the island is / has recovered? Is the economy decent?

IRIE!

Right. So it's safe to assume you have also removed the brakes from your bike? And you only ever ride fixed gear? Disc wheels? Hmm?

Hmmmm, your analogy is so fatuous that you must be joking, so I'll assume you are -- either that, or you're 14 years old.

Anyway, you've gotta wonder: why do track sprinters still use straps?

Answer: because clipless pedals have not yet been perfected.

Companies such as Time and Look are huge, and if they still can't throw enough money at the big guys on the track to use their products exclusively, then it begs the question.

I always thought it was simply that in track you pretty much never ever want to remove your foot from the pedal and there isnt a need for a system that allows some flexibility on the matter. To your advantage to get your foot attached to the pedal as well as possible.

In a road situation for longer distances, a slight bit of floating on the foot/pedal location gives a bit of comfort. Not to mention lessens the risk of injury on a crash due to easier release. Helpful too for those of us that deal with traffic.

Although really, its a personal preference ultimately and if straps are working well for you, far be it from me to urge you to change. Give some a test ride sometime though.

I do believe your assumption is incorrect. Clipless pedals are perfected and new models are only incremental improvements. Cycling, as many people know is steeped in tradition. It is elitism and tradition, only, that track bike racers still use straps. Why does the ICA restrict bikes to diamond frames and tubes? That begs a question and the answer is the same. Monocoque carbon bikes had advantages and the ICA wanted to level the field. It's like Nascar does with restrictor plates and such to keep speeds on the track down.

With all due respect, Nutbag, I don't think this is a reasonable conclusion. To be perfectly honest, it's a bit silly, 20 years into the technology. Flesh the argument out a bit further. Many (not all) track riders use toe-straps, but just about every road racer, time trialist, crit-specialist, climber, sprinter, and moutain/XC racer over the last decade has built their competetive career on clipless systems -- clearly, track racers are the exception among serious cyclists. Why that is may be up for debate, but whether clipless technology in general is lacking next to straps is not. From Tyler Hamilton to the guys in my local crit night, the things have been given a very fair shake and passed the test.

It stinks that you had a bad experience with clipless pedals 12 years ago -- reading your description ("The first time I ever used clipless my feet felt like they were sliding around so much that I was too sh1t scared to stand up on the pedals."), it's hard to figure out what the problem was, but it didn't sound good. Like a nasty childhood moment with the donkey at a petting zoo, I submit (respectfully!) that the experience has sort of tweaked you for life.

This much, though, seems annecdotally true: just about everyone who has spent serious time on each (straps and clipless systems) agrees that there's no contest where safety, security, ergonomics, and all-out performance is concerned.

You're right, I have been scarred

All good points.

The main benefit with clipless is obviously comfort, but I'm just a club hacker who hardly ever rides more than 2.5 hours, so it's not really an issue.

Like I said, when I can afford to supply all four of my bikes with clipless (and buy new shoes), I'll give them another try.

Good luck, nutbag. In a lot of ways, I'm set and don't want to change. It just happened that my bike came with SPD pedals. As anyone else who has told you, once you get used to them, you don't want to go back.

I am able to use more of the muscles in my legs because I can change my pedaling techniques as easily as I change my hand position on the bars. The advantage the clipless have over clips is I can pull backward on the pedal (which I do in some modes of pedaling) where if I did so in clips my feet would pull out.

I've gone from platform to clips to clipless over a 40 year period.

I got clipless pedals for my mountain bike about a year ago and love them. Rode around the neighborhood for an hour or two practicing and tinkering with the tension on the pedals and the alignment of the cleats. As others have said, I'll never go back...too efficient to give up. And fear will only contribute to further accidents while using clipless, so fret not...ride on!

i work in a bike shop, and I am the only guy there without clipless pedals. I'm going in on tuesday, and after the shop closes, I'm gonna ask my boss about staying after and looking at the pedals and shoes. hopefully i'll be trying some soon. i'll be sure to keep you guys updated

No, I'm deadly serious. If brakes are so good, why don't track racers use them? You've got to wonder, right?

All these brake manufacturers with all the money they've got to throw at track riders and they can't persuade them to use brakes. Must be something wrong with the technology.