I’m a recreational rider, I usually don’t go more than 20 miles at once; at most I ride maybe 50 m/week. I’ve noticed that I have a tendency to put the arch of my foot on the pedal, and as I understand it, this is not good.
Does anyone have any recommendations/ advice regarding the choice between toe cages or clips?
Thanks!
I assume you’re asking about toe clips (a curved plastic bit on the front of a regular pedal, with a strap) and clipless (a special pedal that clamps to a special cleat on the shoe, sort of like a ski binding) pedals. Clips/straps are cheap and will very likely mount on to your existing pedals. Clipless will require new pedals and shoes. You can use regular shoes with clips/straps, but a dedicated touring or MTB shoe will have a stiffer sole which makes long rides more comfortable. On my mountain bike I use clips/straps and MTB shoes. This keeps me on the pedals in rough terrain, but lets me get a foot down quickly when required. On my road bike I use clipless.
Clipless, both road and mountain. Everybody gets stuck in them once, so you’ll fall over at a stop sign, but after that you should be OK.
I have Crank Brother’s Eggbeaters, and I love them.
Definitely recommend clipless. The prices have really come down for both the cleats and the shoes. I use Shimano’s SPD’s, with mountain bike shoes, which allow you to walk normally. In addition, I’d get the snap-in flat platform for one side, which lets you ride wearing regular shoes when needed. Once you get used to the clipless system, you probably won’t ride any other way.
Clipless. Once you get used to them you’ll never want to go back.
…until you fall twice in a five minute period (as happened to me last weekend - I’m spooked now. I’ll get over it by Saturday)
Anyway, I’m going to slightly disagree with the above posters, solely because of cost. I finally went clipless last year, but it was (to me) a significant cost for shoes/pedals, and I’m not sure I would have done it if I were riding the distances you mention in the OP. Toe clips can be had for under $15.
If money is no object, go for the clipless - if it is, they’re nice, but not necessary.
If you’re scared of clipless (like I am, I have two friends who have dislocated shoulders/broken arms from not unclipping fast enough), they make pedals that have the clipless slots on one side and a textured pedal on the other side. That way I can unclip well in advance of a stop without freaking out. Yeah, they look really dorky on my road bike but so what. The clipless pedals are nice once you get used to them…
Clipless pedals are, IMHO, worth their weight in titanium. They are the most useful accessories I’ve bought for my bikes.
For recreational rides I recommend MTB pedals even if you ride a road bike. MTB clipless shoes have recessed cleats and reasonably soft soles so you can walk on them. Not so with road shoes - they have rigid soles and huge exposed metal cleats. (Cleats and shoes are sold separately, but road cleats don’t fit MTB shoes and vice versa)
Clipless pedals do take some getting used to. I recommend practicing for at heast half an hour when you get your first clipless pedals - just find a place with a pole or wall you can prop yourself against (ideally on both sides) and practice clipping in and out of your pedals. I did that and I haven’t had a clipless-related fall yet. (OK, possibly once, but there were other factors contributing to the fall)
The only problem I’ve had with clipless pedals is that some of them secure your feet at a fixed angle. If you get the angle wrong, it will stress and hurt your knees. You can either adjust the angle very carefully, or get pedals with a lot of “float” (free movement) such as BeBop or Speedplay pedals. I had the problem when I first used Shimano SPD pedals and switched to Speedplay Frogs.
Good info, all of it. However, nobody mentioned the reason for using them! The pedal goes in a circle, and unless you’re attached to them, you can only apply power to the bike for about half of the circle with each foot. With clips or clipless pedals, you can pull up with one foot while pushing with the other. In fact, you can drive the pedal all the way around.
Once you get used to it, you’ll realize you were wasting a lot of motion and power.
I’m going to go against the grain and say get toe cages. Simply because they’re more versatile. If you ride your bike solely for recreation, are you going to always have your special shoes on hand? Do you ever bike to the library or things like that?
Even cages help–I can definitely tell a difference. If I’m really tired, I specifically focus on pedalling in a full circle, and I always seem to go faster with less effort.
I’d get the cages too. They are easy to use and with the amount of riding you do they should be fine. You can always move up to clipless in the future if you desire.
I wear my SPD sandals everywhere, including a 1/2-mile trip to the nearest supermarket. It’s no big deal.
I’ve tried a cage and found it harder to get out of than clipless pedals, though it may just be because I’m more used to clipless.
If you still don’t want clipless, I’ve heard this is a good alternative:
One more vote for clipless.
I use SPD’s on my mountain bikes and my road bike. (yeah so I can use the same shoes)
Anyway I can walk very well in my SPD shoes.
I bought a thrift store bike to keep up in Seattle. I decided to install clipless pedals. I found a set for $25, and got a set of shoes for about $40. Since this is a very old bike that I keep in a remote office I wasn’t about to break the bank.
As far as the combo flat/SPD pedal goes, no need to buy such an animal. Just swing by a bike shop and they will give you some plastic “flats” (for lack of a better name) that will click into SPD pedals. The bike companies ship them with bikes so that people can test ride in their street shoes. When I bought my first mountain bike, they gave me a couple in case I wanted to ride in tennis shoes. A week later I never wanted to see a flat pedal again.
I have used toe clips for years…well, when I biked in high school for 5 years. In the following decade I didn’t get out much on my bike. In the last couple of years I’ve had the opportunity to get out again. I bought a new bike that didn’t come with clips and I was clumsy on the pedals. The clips keep your feet positioned correctly and I find that I do push forward at the top of the stroke (as opposed to lifting). I also found that I had to be careful when changing gears on the fly as the bumps on the paths and the changing of the gears would sometimes knock my foot loose off the pedal. The clips allow me to be a little more aggressive. Also, as noted above, when you get tired, it is easier to continue pedalling if your feet are locked into the pedals rather than stopping and resting on the arch of your foot.
I haven’t tried the clipless pedals, but the fact that they have a harder sole sounds like a good thing. The soft sole on my runners allows the pedal to press into my feet and get sore after a long ride.
Summary:
Get something! Once you get used to them, try riding without them. You won’t believe the difference they make.
Toe clips (cages): cheap, effective, maybe fragile, easy to use (always take your foot out backwards)
Clipless: decent investment, needs shoes (probably more comfortable), easy to use (practice first)
[cafe society moment]
In ‘Breaking Away’ the early '80’s cycling movie, didn’t they use toe clips? I recall a big deal about the lead character having his feet taped to the pedals for the big race…
[/cafe society moment]
I ride a lot, street racing-type of bike so I can’t speak for the mountain biker folk, but I’m skeptical of this. Personally, I know that I use the full power cycle when I want to accelerate in a hurry (passing someone, or getting off the line quickly). For maintaining speed and cruising, I don’t use a full cycle, but more of a 3/4 cycle, i.e. I start powering a little bit before my pedal is starting to crest the top of the arc. On hills, it is pretty much a pure down-only cycle as I am also using body weight (butt off the seat) for assistance.
The significance of the “pull up” is small in terms of power generated, but for me is very significant in terms of increasing endurance and reducing fatigue on long rides.
Reposting:
No, not in the Little Indy race. Dave had his foot taped to the pedal because of an injury earlier in the race. Dave’s Italian road bike had cages.
A big difference between clipless and cages today are the fact of how the systems work. Cycling shoes of yore had a cleat on the bottom which locked the foot onto the pedal in the fore/aft position. The strap was then tightened, and your foot was locked in. To get out, you had to loosen the strap, lift up your foot, and then pull back. Needless to say, in an emergency, this resulted in a certain crash. Now with the clipless pedal systems, your foot is locked in, but you can unlock with a flick and a twist of your foot/ankle.
All good posts, above. Clipless (I know, the terminology is strange, I think they should be called “toe clilps”, too) is the way to go. Personally, I could never get the hang of those stupid cages. Flipping them up juuuuust right and getting one foot in and THEN trying to get the other foot in … never was comfortable with that. Believe it or not, clipless is easier. Really! Particularly if you get “SPD” style pedals, which mount the same way on either side so you don’t have to worry about which side is up! Just plant your foot on it and go. Although, as stated, the first time you do this you should try it out in an empty parking lot where you can hold onto a light pole or your car or something. If you do that little bit of practicing first, you probably will never have a “pedal-related fall”. I haven’t. (Knock on plastic).
Good luck, and have fun!
Yeah, his bike had cages. The movie was made at least ten years before clipless came in…
I agree. Triathletes are taught that a circular foot motion is very important, because turning your legs into spaghetti before a marathon is a bad idea.
I believe clipless pedals are more important for mountain bikers than road bikers. Even power distribution is very important climbing soft or unstable material. Keeping your feet on your pedals can be difficult in “uneven terrain”. Also, sometimes you need to pull the bike’s backend up to clear an obstacle. Sometimes, you need to yank the bike around.
Clipless pedals are also less important to mountain bikers. Staying upright is more important than pure speed. (Obviously, the guy who stays on, and in a straighter line is likely to be faster, too. You know what I mean.) Most importantly, clipless pedals can produce counterproductive, timid behavior. (Or, they can scare you $hitless.) I have friends who went to cages because they were so afraid they couldn’t unclip, that they couldn’t ride. In fact, you can probably get out of clipless faster, but it doesn’t seem that way. As an old fart more concered with pain than thrills, I’d switch to cages. But I’m too cheap. :rolleyes: