They are cleats. And they are clipLESS pedals so there’s no “clipping” in/out. You “click” in and out with clipless.
Agreed, but let's not forget that racers and hard-riding enthusiasts back in the day of toe clips nailed cleats on the bottom of their cycling shoes and those cleats secured the edge of the pedal so that the foot would not come out once the straps were tightened. I rode with them and believe me, when I really reefed them down, my foot was NOT coming out of the toe clips. By today's standard, those things would be considered "Dangerous", and they kinda were, quite frankly.
If you look at films of crashes and pile-ups from 40 or 50 years ago, you'll notice that many of the riders were still attached to their bikes' pedals. The toe clip cleats were why. Today's riders will disengage from the pedals.
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