Large Toe Clips?

Thargor

Has anyone got road bike toe clip pedals or straps that can take a size 10 runner comfortably and not just barely grip the tips of the toes in a painful way? Or is that the way they are and its just a case of getting used to it?

Any Ive tried have been awkward to use because I cant seem to get enough of my foot in there and dont seem to confer any advanage at all. Cant use SPD pedals either so maybe I just have bad feet.

Does anyone on this board regularly do long Sally Gap spins without clips or cleats? Just standard flat pedals on their bike?

EDIT: Looking for a good pair of these by the way, the ones in the pic are rubbish:

piston

You can move toe clips forward of the pedals to create more space for your foot by using longer bolts to attach them to the pedals and fitting a spacer between the pedal and the toe clip. I find the cheap and cheerful ETC clips perfectly big enough for size 9 trainers.

Clips aren't really worth of spending a lot of money imo as the cheap ones work just as well as the dear ones. You could find some nice chrome ones which will look lovely on a classic 531 frame and probably out of place on a modern bike but they will get scuffed and rust. I prefer cheap plastic ones for this reason. Leather straps are a definite improvement on the nylon web type material that comes with cheap clips however.

You can of course ride any bike anywhere you like in normal flat pedals, unlesss you are riding a fixed wheel in which case some form of foot retention is recommended. I climbed Torr Head last year on flat pedals. It is worth buying quality flat pedals as the cheap plastic ones that often come on a new bike are horribly slippery. Classic pedals with metal serrated edges or BMX pedals with pin grips will work very well, traditional rubber block pedals if you can find them for about town use as they grip better than plastic but won't damage shoes. If you are ordering BMX pedals, make sure you get them with the standard 9/16" thread as a lot of BMX pedals for one piece cranks have a 1/2" thread.

It's all about proper pedaling technique anyway. Tilt your toe down slightly near the bottom of the pedal stroke and claw the pedal back. Do the opposite as the pedal comes up towards the top of the pedal stroke and push it gently forward. You should be aiming for smooth 360 degree pedalling action like this. It's a technique you will read about in old cycling manuals and it does work.

kumate_champ07

MKS size LL from wiggle, also they have an adjustable version that allows you to slide the clip back/forward to suit shoe size

kumate_champ07

why no spd's?

I have a pair of sixoneone / 611, they look like a normal pair of casual sneakers that all the young and hip kids wear, but with spd's and easy to walk in. I wear them all the time now

Thargor

I thought they werent efficient compared to the roadbike ones anyway? More for staying on the mountain bike than extra power? Should have bought the Lidl ones recently and tried them.

Thargor

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

MKS size LL from wiggle, also they have an adjustable version that allows you to slide the clip back/forward to suit shoe size

Thanks but Ive tried 4 different kinds of those ones at this stage and they're just useless, no gain to them whatsoever and they're all tiny even XL ones, barely touch the tip of your toe in normal runners.

kumate_champ07

spd where also used for road before the 3 hole look standard took over, which became road while spd stayed but just for mtb

dura ace 7410 is spd

kumate_champ07

and they are fine for power, Ive come out a couple of times tho on the upstroke during a standing start at traffic lights
but thats happens to spd-sl sometimes,

I dont know how I ever survived without them.

Al Wright

I use toe clips similar to those above, MTB style large size and shoe size 11 1/2. I leave the straps relatively loose as they are just to position my feet on the pedals. My routes go over Sally Gap and hills further South, loops of about 100 miles or so. However I use stiff soled shoes.
I also use a hybrid bike with standard flat cage pedals (like in photo without the clips). The only disadvantage I find with those is that they allow shoe to slip after walking in wet

OldBean

I've big awkward feet and use half clips on my town bike, which I've done a good bit of travelling around on. It's not the same as a full clip, nor clipless, but I'd definitely prefer the security to just having complete flats.

cdaly_

Thargor wrote: »

I thought they werent efficient compared to the roadbike ones anyway? More for staying on the mountain bike than extra power? Should have bought the Lidl ones recently and tried them.

SPDs are excellent. You don't get a wide platform* like you get with SPD-SLs but you get a solid sole to your shoe, proper connectivity to the bike and no problem walking due to recessed cleats. Much better than toe straps.





* Unless you get something like this.