A noob asks... what is the point of toe clips for a commute?

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
User avatar
[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: A noob asks... what is the point of toe clips for a commute?

Post by [XAP]Bob »

To all those claiming that no-one 'pulls up'
I have pulled a number of cleats off the bottom of my shoes...
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
kwackers
Posts: 15643
Joined: 4 Jun 2008, 9:29pm
Location: Warrington

Re: A noob asks... what is the point of toe clips for a commute?

Post by kwackers »

[XAP]Bob wrote:To all those claiming that no-one 'pulls up'
I have pulled a number of cleats off the bottom of my shoes...

Sounds like another reason not to use them.

P.S.
I once pulled my handlebar stem out. Doesn't mean I'm constantly pulling on it. ;)
User avatar
mjr
Posts: 20308
Joined: 20 Jun 2011, 7:06pm
Location: Norfolk or Somerset, mostly
Contact:

Re: A noob asks... what is the point of toe clips for a commute?

Post by mjr »

[XAP]Bob wrote:To all those claiming that no-one 'pulls up'
I have pulled a number of cleats off the bottom of my shoes...

Isn't that partly because hydraulic action from walking sucks in water that corrodes the bolts? ;) That's what happened to the ones holding my cleat blanking plates on when I stopped using them... they probably would have fallen off quicker if they had any force trying to pull them off.

And are you pulling up deliberately to pedal or just trying to move your foot around or unclip before unlocking enough?
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
Telecaster68
Posts: 12
Joined: 15 Aug 2019, 4:36pm

Re: A noob asks... what is the point of toe clips for a commute?

Post by Telecaster68 »

So an update...

I was overthinking. I put some toeclips on and they're okay. I've got used to them and my feet do feel a little more secure, I can get my toes into them fairly easily, and also out of them. Wouldn't necessarily miss them if they went though.
Caledonia64
Posts: 52
Joined: 23 Aug 2019, 5:11pm

Re: A noob asks... what is the point of toe clips for a commute?

Post by Caledonia64 »

Telecaster68 wrote:I'm getting back into cycling to commute (urban, about 25 minutes) to work on a Decathlon hybrid, plus some weekend canalpath/railway line excursions. A friend has been moderately insistent I get toe clips because of the - alleged - pull-up, so I just spent an unbelievably frustrating 30 minutes attaching a cheap pair from Halfords, only to find I really don't like them. At all.

The weight of the clip makes the pedal swivel round so it's underneath any time I take my foot of the pedal (at lights, for example). Flipping the pedal round to get my right foot back in the clip is mildly annoying but I expect I'd get used to it. But then it seems that as I ride off, mostly, in my case, in rush hour traffic, I apparently have to flip the left pedal round, catch it with my foot, and slot my foot in, as I change up through the gears and attempt not to get cut up and find a reasonably assertively safe road position. I doubt I'll live long enough to get the hang of this before I end up under a bus.

And for my purposes - a fairly short city commute, with no massive hills - I really don't buy this 'pull up' thing. I'd have to be pulling up with more significant force than these clips look like they'd take, before it would make any difference to anything.

Also, having my feet attached to the pedals just feels unsafe. My feet (in perfectly normal trainers) just don't slip off the pedals, but if I did veer or wobble, getting my feet out of the clips would take a few fractions of a second which might make all the difference, or might just mean I twist my ankle. It's a solution to a non existent problem, for me.

Am I missing something, or am I just the wrong use case for toe clips?


I use toe clips: I always have (from when I first got them). In traffic I only use one toeclip and have the other foot free, but on a long clear strech can use my foot to flip it upwards and put my foot into it. I also like to have stiff soled trainers generally if not using touring shoes: I recently got cycling shoes for longer jaunts/not errands,but put the wee insert cleat cover in - harder to get stiff soled trainers.

I have never tried cleat/clipless but am not the most coordiinated (I can manage bicycles and toeclips) so do not want to change - the muscle memory of toe clip use came back quickly after a long perid not cycling. They kind of scare me as you don't have that option of not using them (as you do with toe clips, if you do nto flip them up.
User avatar
[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: A noob asks... what is the point of toe clips for a commute?

Post by [XAP]Bob »

mjr wrote:
[XAP]Bob wrote:To all those claiming that no-one 'pulls up'
I have pulled a number of cleats off the bottom of my shoes...

Isn't that partly because hydraulic action from walking sucks in water that corrodes the bolts? ;) That's what happened to the ones holding my cleat blanking plates on when I stopped using them... they probably would have fallen off quicker if they had any force trying to pull them off.

And are you pulling up deliberately to pedal or just trying to move your foot around or unclip before unlocking enough?


It’s pulling back when I pedal (‘bent trike, so the equivalent of up) - unclipping is pretty easy on a trike, never any panic moments ;)
Not corrosion related either, just stripped the thread off the bolts leaving the clear in the pedal.
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
MOARspeed
Posts: 46
Joined: 5 Jun 2019, 11:09am

Re: A noob asks... what is the point of toe clips for a commute?

Post by MOARspeed »

I've pretty much always used SPDs, when your technique is right you can stay in the saddle on moderate climbs instead of stomping around, and it requires far less physical exertion.

You can also pedal with only one leg, which might make you think "why would you need to do that????", but you'd be surprised how useful that can be.
Bmblbzzz
Posts: 6261
Joined: 18 May 2012, 7:56pm
Location: From here to there.

Re: A noob asks... what is the point of toe clips for a commute?

Post by Bmblbzzz »

Post Reply