Toe clips or cleats?

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
scragglymonkeyman
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Toe clips or cleats?

Post by scragglymonkeyman »

Hi everyone,

I was chatting to my local bike mechanic as they fixed up my toe clips, and they were suggesting that I should upgrade my pedals and use MTB cleats in light that I want to do longer touring.

Is this correct? I've heard from other fellow cyclers before that toes clips are best for touring.

What are other and more experienced CTCers thoughts?

Charlie
m-gineering
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Re: Toe clips or cleats?

Post by m-gineering »

scragglymonkeyman wrote:Hi everyone,

I was chatting to my local bike mechanic as they fixed up my toe clips, and they were suggesting that I should upgrade my pedals and use MTB cleats in light that I want to do longer touring.

Is this correct? I've heard from other fellow cyclers before that toes clips are best for touring.

What are other and more experienced CTCers thoughts?

Charlie

If you've got no problems getting in the toeclips when starting with a loaded bike on a 25% grade no need to upgrade ;)
Marten

Touring advice for NL: www.m-gineering.nl/touringg.htm
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Re: Toe clips or cleats?

Post by Vorpal »

It's entirely up to you & personal preference. I don't get on with cleats & would rather wear normal shoes. Other people swear by them. A few people have had knee trouble and sorted it modifying their set-up, yet others sorted it by going back to plain pedals.

If you want to spend the money, try them. You might love them, or you might swap your pedals back.

One thing I will warn you of, is that cycling shoes do not accomodate as wide a variety of foot shapes as other shoes. They run narow in the majority of brands, and it can be quite hard to find something fit if you don't fit shoes easily.
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beardy
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Re: Toe clips or cleats?

Post by beardy »

The forum has lots of previous, long threads on this subject, like this one

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=82223&hilit=cleats

plenty more if you search for them.
simonhill
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Re: Toe clips or cleats?

Post by simonhill »

Maybe more information on what you call a long tour and where you will be going. I can think of plenty of countries where you would not be able to buy replacement pedals or shoes.

I ride long haul tours and use lightweight squash trainers and clips. One pair of shoes does it all, cycling, walking ,off bike travel, etc.. For me, on bike efficiency is only a small part of the consideration.

When my mate had his trainers stolen in Vietnam he went to the market and bought another pair. There was no way he could have got a cleated pair.
pwa
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Re: Toe clips or cleats?

Post by pwa »

My wife has been cycling the four miles to work for the past year, and she complained that she found it stressful getting her feet back into her toe clips at the only traffic lights on her ride. I said I would get her some SPD pedals (Shimano XT at a good price) if she would like to try them. She said yes. She took a couple of rides to get used to clicking in, but she now says it feels natural and she would hate to go back to clips. And with nothing touching the top of the shoe, she can buy some overshoes to keep the worst of the weather off her feet.

Cleats take a while to get used to and some people don't like them, so it is a personal choice. But I've been using them for 20 years and the thought of changing back never crosses my mind. Shoe styles vary from sporty mountain bike style (my preference) to trainer style (my wife's choice) and normal leather shoe. As with all shoes, it's best to try before you buy.
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robgul
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Re: Toe clips or cleats?

Post by robgul »

A cleat fan here - once I started I had problems riding ordinary pedals - all my bikes bar one are now clipless - even my folder has one side clipless pedals for flexibility (I lost the pedal fold but I could live with that) ... and when I ride my no clips/no cleats pub bike I automatically twist my foot to leave the pedal :D

Accept a couple of tumbles when you start with clipless but it's worth it (and the stiffer soled shoes make a difference too)

Rob
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Bmblbzzz
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Re: Toe clips or cleats?

Post by Bmblbzzz »

scragglymonkeyman wrote:Hi everyone,

I was chatting to my local bike mechanic as they fixed up my toe clips, and they were suggesting that I should upgrade my pedals and use MTB cleats in light that I want to do longer touring.

Is this correct? I've heard from other fellow cyclers before that toes clips are best for touring.

What are other and more experienced CTCers thoughts?

Charlie

This is neither correct nor incorrect. It is simply their view. If you fancy a change, give it a go, but if you're happy in toe clips, there's no need. There will be advantages and disadvantages both ways.
pwa
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Re: Toe clips or cleats?

Post by pwa »

Bmblbzzz wrote:
scragglymonkeyman wrote:Hi everyone,

I was chatting to my local bike mechanic as they fixed up my toe clips, and they were suggesting that I should upgrade my pedals and use MTB cleats in light that I want to do longer touring.

Is this correct? I've heard from other fellow cyclers before that toes clips are best for touring.

What are other and more experienced CTCers thoughts?

Charlie

This is neither correct nor incorrect. It is simply their view. If you fancy a change, give it a go, but if you're happy in toe clips, there's no need. There will be advantages and disadvantages both ways.


Exactly right. Both systems work. If you do decide to try cleats, and if that means you need to buy shoes, the shoes will still work with toe clips so long as the bottom of the shoes will slide in and out. You could decide to abandon the cleats (if you don't like using them) without ending up with a useless pair of shoes. So when looking at shoes you might want to ask "will they work with my toe clips if I change back". Shimano SPD pedals start at quite affordable prices, so no need to spend too much.
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pjclinch
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Re: Toe clips or cleats?

Post by pjclinch »

I'd echo the "there isn't right or wrong" vibe from other posters. I use cleated shoes for touring, but there again I tour on a recumbent and something to actively hold my feet in place as they hang off the back of the pedals rather than sit on the top is a major advantage.

Even on an upwrong I personally prefer cleats to clips/straps (of which I have many years experience too). I find them easier in and out, the traps aren't there to scrape on the ground if you're choosing to ride "out" (or are oiling your chain) and they seem to let me ride longer in comfort. But all the issues people have raised above are entirely legitimite so they're far from a "no-brainer".

On the availability of shoes, getting a comfy one is certainly harder than a running or walking shoe, as Vorpal notes: there aren't so many made, and there aren't so many places you can try them on. But if you can find a cycling shoe that matches your foot shape it may well be worth considering them anyway for longer tours. They have stiffer soles than most shoes which lets you get more energy ion to the pedals. Shoes best suited to touring will usually be something you can easily walk in, and many of those have a cut-out cleat cover you can leave in place if you don't want to use a cleat system.

Some pedals have a mech on one side and a platform the other. The platform won't let you use a toe-clip, but it does mean you don't need a cleat to use them comfortably.

Pete.
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horizon
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Re: Toe clips or cleats?

Post by horizon »

scragglymonkeyman wrote:
in light that I want to do longer touring.

Is this correct? I've heard from other fellow cyclers before that toes clips are best for touring.



I take it from this that the OP is interested in what's best for touring, not which is best per se. So we shouldn't really have to re-run the mega-thread on clips versus cleats (he can read that for himself if he's doubtful about using cleats at all).

So the question really revolves around issues like:

What other shoes might you require while touring thus adding to weight carried?
Might SPD sandals be useful in a hot climate?
What about spares and replacements (as noted above)?
Is your tour a "get off and look" type of tour or a long distance high mileage tour?

Etc etc.
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Bmblbzzz
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Re: Toe clips or cleats?

Post by Bmblbzzz »

pjclinch wrote:Some pedals have a mech on one side and a platform the other. The platform won't let you use a toe-clip, but it does mean you don't need a cleat to use them comfortably.

Pete.

Shimano M324 look as if you could attach a toe clip to the non-SPD side (or even to the SPD side if you really wanted to!). They have what appear to be correctly positioned mounting holes.
Less than £30
Image

I have two pairs of these and the flat side is pretty good for 'ordinary' shoes, but I've never tried attaching a toe clip! Inevitably they sometimes end up 'upside down' but it's not a big problem – you can use the wrong side for a few pedal strokes before flipping them over, which you must be used to if you use toe clips anyway.
Last edited by Bmblbzzz on 1 Oct 2015, 11:31am, edited 1 time in total.
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Si
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Re: Toe clips or cleats?

Post by Si »

Committing the cardinal sin of not reading the rest of the thread before answering ...but......

whichever you go for your tour will still be fine......

as long as.....if you swap to SPDs make sure you do it a long time before the tour so that you can really get used to them and iron our any problems while there is still lots of time left.
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pjclinch
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Re: Toe clips or cleats?

Post by pjclinch »

Bmblbzzz wrote:
pjclinch wrote:Some pedals have a mech on one side and a platform the other. The platform won't let you use a toe-clip, but it does mean you don't need a cleat to use them comfortably.

Shimano M324 look as if you could attach a toe clip to the non-SPD side (or even to the SPD side if you really wanted to!). They have what appear to be correctly positioned mounting holes.


I suspect you'd end up scraping your clips on the ground a lot if you did that and used the cleat side though...

Changing tack from that to a more general point, although the Shimano SPuD is the generic "Hoover" of clipless pedals for shoes you can walk in, they're not the only game in town. I use and like Time's ATAC system, which seems to suffer less from worn cleats, doesn't need any faffing about with tension and allows more float (which might help with comfort issues). Cost more and not so easily available, but do consider SPuD-u-likes as well as SPuDs

Pete.
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pwa
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Re: Toe clips or cleats?

Post by pwa »

pjclinch wrote:
Bmblbzzz wrote:
pjclinch wrote:Some pedals have a mech on one side and a platform the other. The platform won't let you use a toe-clip, but it does mean you don't need a cleat to use them comfortably.

Shimano M324 look as if you could attach a toe clip to the non-SPD side (or even to the SPD side if you really wanted to!). They have what appear to be correctly positioned mounting holes.


I suspect you'd end up scraping your clips on the ground a lot if you did that and used the cleat side though...

Changing tack from that to a more general point, although the Shimano SPuD is the generic "Hoover" of clipless pedals for shoes you can walk in, they're not the only game in town. I use and like Time's ATAC system, which seems to suffer less from worn cleats, doesn't need any faffing about with tension and allows more float (which might help with comfort issues). Cost more and not so easily available, but do consider SPuD-u-likes as well as SPuDs

Pete.


I agree with all that, though Shimano and Shimano copies are probably the cheapest way of getting a good quality experience of this type of pedal.
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