Clipless Pedals vs. Toe Clips vs. Straps | Which Fixed Gear Pedals are Best for YOU?

between tow clips and straps foot straps platform pedals and the gazillion different types of clipless systems it can be hard to choose which pedal system is best for you and your riding style well here's everything that you need to know about fixed gear pedal setup so you can figure out which pedals are best for you what's up I'm Zack Gallardo life is short but don't make it shorter so ride your bike every day to be reasonably dangerous be sure to subscribe for more fixed gear videos just like this one I'll be recommending pedal setups for you today based on what's worked for me and what's most popular in the fixed gear scene so feel free to check those out at the kit link at the top of the description at any point during this video we'll be looking at the pros and cons for each pedal setup according to convenience comfort performance and looks platform pedals come on most bikes and are what most people are familiar with you put your foot on you push and you go simple as that the best thing about platforms are their simplicity and convenience you can wear just about any shoes you want with them even your beloved socks and Crocs heck you don't even need shoes to ride with platforms they make hopping on your bike on a whim and riding every day one step easier since all you got to do is hop on and start pedaling platforms are also pretty comfortable since you can place your foot on them at any angle you'd like unlike pedal systems with foot retention they're particularly nice if you have knee pain since you can find the foot angle that won't aggravate your knee pain the main trade off with platforms is power transfer sprinting and uphills can be a pain since you can't pull on the upstroke for that extra power if you ride hills regularly platforms without foot retention suck and you'll feel like you're working a lot harder than you should you also can't pull up to stop while riding fixed so you should only use them if you have both front and rear brakes for sufficient stopping power that'll strike while taking sharp corners can also be an issue with the wider profile platform pedals have it's especially concerned if your frame set doesn't have track geometry since track bikes have higher bottom brackets this is actually why I won't put platform pedals on my bike since my bike has cross geometry and they probably make me eat it if I take a sharp corner their platform pedals if you care a lot more about convenience than speed and power transfer the Odyssey twisted pedals are one of the most popular platforms amongst fixed riders they're wide grippy durable they come in about every color you could imagine plus some that you didn't and they're pretty affordable at around eighteen to twenty bucks at the time of this video if you like the convenience that platform pedals bring but you still want foot retention for sprinting up hills and stopping foot straps add VAT to platform pedals foot straps are a good middle ground for convenience comfort and performance because they're not limited by a toe clip you can still wear a wide variety of shoes with them and chances are they'll accommodate the shoes that you want to wear for the day I've never written one foot straps but the consensus is that there are a lot more comfortable than toe clips and straps since they distribute the force over a larger area over the top of your foot you can also make them tighter than toe clips and straps minimising play giving them potentially better power transfer foot straps have a lot of benefits but I think they look ugly just a personal preference with footsteps you still might have the problem of pedal strike in the corners since you're still using a wide platform pedal and they are harder to get into at first compared to toe clips and straps since they don't have a tab to flip the pedal over like single sided pedals but this shouldn't be a problem after you ride them for a while and get used to it foot straps make a lot more sense on paper than toe clips and straps which we'll talk about next and I think that they're the best set up for most people if you can get past the looks get platform pedals with foot straps if you care about convenience not stuffing up your shoes and if you still want a reasonable amount of performance for sprinting and climbing pair theodicy twisted pedals with holdfast straps for a solid fixture pedal setup that you can use with anything from bulky boots to socks and crocs holdfast straps are made in brooklyn they're tough and they hold their shape unlike cheaper alternatives which are floppy and are going to get into toe clips and straps are also a good middle ground for convenience comfort and performance and in my opinion they're the coolest looking pedal setup they're the most popular pedal set up amongst fixed gear riders probably for that reason and you can wear almost any closed toe shoe that you want with them while still being comfortable for longer rides and having foot retention for sprinting climbing and stopping similar to foot straps you won't get the absolute best power transfer from toe clips and straps compared to foot steps they're not compatible with as many different types of shoes because the toe clip limits the size of the toe box sneakers are fine but anything with a larger toe box like boots won't fit well because of that toe clips can also scuff up your shoes keep in mind that it's also paws able to snap toe clips and they won't be as durable as foot straps and because there's more parts to them a good setup will be more expensive toe clips and straps are arguably less comfortable and less secure feeling than foot straps since there will be some play between your foot and the toe clip but dang dinh look cool toe clips and straps are still convenient and they provide a good amount of power transfer and stopping power for fixed gear riders they look really nice but you'll have to sacrifice some durability comfort and potentially some performance to use them over foot straps MKS gr 10s have a nice wide platform for your foot and they're tapered up front so you don't have to worry about pedal striking when you're taking sharper corners the nylon all-city double toe clips are more durable than aluminum or steel toe clips and generally double straps will be more comfortable than single straps since they distribute the force over a larger area on top of your foot get a pair of laminated leather double straps that won't slip like the eggs of Starr double straps these are comparable in quality to the discontinued but legendary toshi double straps but they're also a lot cheaper Clopas battles give hands-down the best performance since your foot directly attaches to the pedal I think they're the most comfortable type of pedal once you set them up especially for longer rides there is practically zero play when pulling up on the pedal giving our connected feeling with a bike like nothing else it's hard to do feeling justice but it feels like your entire foot is the pedal instead of just pushing down on a pedal but clipless pedals are the most inconvenient since you have to wear specific shoes just to ride your bike if you decide to go with a rode clipless system that makes them even more inconvenient since you'll probably want to bring another pair of shoes with you if you want to do any amount of walking for fixed gear riders it is possible to accidentally unclip if you'd like to pull up hard when back pedaling or skidding because of that it's important to make sure that your cleats aren't too worn down in my experience I've had to replace my brass time-attack cleats once per year keep in mind that I do walk around them a lot and time-attack cleats are a lot less durable than others slip list can also lead to knee pain if your pedals don't have enough float which is the amount the pedals let you swing your foot in and out before unclipping I actually injured my knee and I had to take a break from biking for two months after riding just 60 miles with clipless pedals that were just way too tight it takes a lot to get used to clipless and you'll probably fall down at an intersection while trying to learn how to use them and it takes some fiddling to find that perfect spring tension that balances security comfort and that feeling of connectedness but if you want the absolute best performance from your bike clipless is the way to go and you can get walkable clipless shoes if you don't mind sacrificing some performance to use a more practical mountain bike clipless system Shimano m5 20's are affordable and they have adjustable spring tension to minimize the chance of accidentally unclipping when backpedaling or skating these are a mountain bike clipless system so they're more friendly for walking while still giving more power transfer than till clipping straps or foot straps if you have sensitive knees and you want more float time attack mountain bike pedals are for you this is what I use and it's really simple and comfortable plus you can still walk comfortably in them if you get the right shoes just keep in mind that the brass cleats aren't the most durable and you may have to replace them more often than Shimano's if speed is of utmost important to you Shimano SPD SL is the standard for Road Cycling since they have huge cleats for the best power transfer keep in mind that they won't be nearly as comfortable while off the bike since you'll have huge chunks of plastic sticking out of the bottom of your shoes but that's the price that you'll have to pay for ultimate performance expect to spend about $60 for brand-new entry-level rode clipless pedals and the price goes up from there if you want to save weight feel free to check out all the pedal setups that I recommend at the kit link at the top of the description remember there's no one pedal setup that's best for everybody one pedal setup isn't inherently better than the other but they each have their own strengths and weaknesses for different types of riding it's up to you to decide what you want from your pedals in terms of convenience comfort performance and looks to decide what's really best for you question of the day what pedal system do you use for fixed riding and what do you like about it let's get a discussion going on in the comments to help those that are looking for their perfect pedals fixie famous shouts - Albert room Eric true Becky Robert Terpstra bluetick hound Durrell zero run evil early mark Van Deventer and Josie Oh for supporting the channel through patreon and making these fix your videos possible even if you don't have the ideal pedal setup don't let that get in the way of riding your bike instead ride your bike everyday to be reasonably dangerous

Channel: Zach Gallardo

Views: 242,957

Keywords: which fixed gear pedals are best for you, best fixed gear pedals, best pedals for fixed gear, toe clips and straps, toe clips or straps, pedal foot straps, fixed gear pedals, fixed gear pedal straps, best fixie pedals, fixie pedals, best bike pedals, best pedals for brakeless, foot straps vs toe clips, foot straps vs toe clips and straps, toe clips and straps vs foot straps, clipless pedals vs foot straps, toe clips and straps vs clipless pedals

Id: x-dbKEoRL3M

Length: 8min 53sec (533 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 07 2018