Mushrooom

Looks interesting! Will the strap loose its shape with time or does it stay stiff?

ThermionicScott 

I was pretty impressed with Power Grips. The diagonal straps worked really well.

The only reason I stopped using them was that the sneakers I'd been using with them wore out, and the replacements had a knobbier tread that made it harder to get in and out of them. And I'd been half of a mind to switch that bike to SPDs, anyway.

beng1

In the city nobody needs clips or straps etc.. Just get some old flat metal pedals. I think the only people who need clips or some type of foot retention are pro racers, there is nothing for the average person to gain by their use. I think the person who can spin on a ride at 80 rpm give or take with nothing holding their foot to the pedal has a lot more skill than those who have not had to do so for years.

koala logs

You're right, even by observation, the vast majority of city commuters don't use foot retention and perhaps for a very good reason. I've even been told by a veteran clipless user that it's safer and more reliable to keep using flat pedals with no retention if I ride on the city a lot during the weekday when traffic volume is higher.

In reality, the many advantages of foot retention is often imaginary or placebo effect or people unrealistically underestimate the value of flat pedals or don't even give it a chance getting used to it. They strongly believe flat pedals sucks so bad so they end up being terrible at it. "Mind over matter" stuff, you manifest into reality what you believe.

While it is true that foot retention have gains to be had over flat pedals, otherwise Pros won't be using them but it's not as huge as many imagine them to be. Even the ability to pull on the upstroke isn't one of them due to the extensor vs flexor muscles efficiency thing.

Here's what science has to say about the matter it even goes to prove that toe clips are even less efficient than flat pedals even in far more ideal conditions than dealing with city traffic:

Darth Lefty 

For commuting I would say sneaker pedals if you’re not doing SPD. I wish there were more nice sneaker pedals. Most of them are pretty junky.

I’d leave the serious pinned flat pedals for mountain biking. They will chew on your shoes and sometimes your shins.

Germany_chris

Some people like foot retention and some bicycle specific are better in less than ideal conditions. Like I bring up in all these threads this is not either or just use the pedals and shoes you’re going to need for your day/ride.

tajimirich

As a committed city rider who is constantly pushing my bikes to breaking point I use mountain bike flat pedals with the screws that stick up into/grab onto my shoes. Shimano has a very robust set.

Undoubtedly this is because my feet are constantly coming off, sometimes to tap along a curb while I go past cars, always to idle at traffic lights.. I think at least 4 times in the last 2 years I've avoided falling down because I could just kinda step away from my bike after it encountered trouble and started to fall
I think I can comfortably assert that you would get the same sense of being locked in with studded mountain bike flat pedals. Maybe wear specific shoes for it, I actually wear Muji loafers

PaulRivers

I wanted to get away from the hassles of clipless, the nearly-perfect choice I ended up with Five Ten Freedrider Shoes and Dmr Vault Pedals.

https://www.adidas.com/us/five-ten-f...es/GZ1931.html


https://www.amazon.com/DMR-Vault-Ped...dp/B07G3GN9B7/


The Five Ten's use a special rubber compound that's super grippy on metal pins. They're a regular flat-on-the-bottom shoe other than that.

The Dmr Vaults have metal pins and are very comfortable with my large feet. I'm actually more comfortable with this combination on my bike than I am walking around in regular shoes. You can also go for much cheaper pedals - anything with metal pins would work for example the Crankbrothers Stamp Flat Pedals are $35 and I'm sure they work fine - I mention the dmr's because that's what I ended up with myself.

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My opinion is that straps are the worst possible option you can use. Hardest to get your feet out of in an emergency. Worst to get into when you're at an intersection - you gotta look down at the pedal and use your foot to flip it back upright and try to slide your foot in. While this is annoying, what makes it dangerous is you have to do it right at an intersection where want to have your head up watching where the cars are.

I don't like "hybrid" clipless for similar reasons, needing to flip at least one side over, not a fan.

Double sided clipless are fine, they require practice but with that you can learn to clip your 2nd foot in and our without looking down. I just prefer the lower hassle of flats, and I couldn't find a clipless combination that my feet were comfortable in. Like I said with the combination I mentioned above my feet are actually more comfortable than walking. No hot spots, no numbess, it made biking way more enjoyable.

chaadster

Just know that there are still many of us out here experienced enough to get into toeclips without needing to look down at our feet. I think almost everyone could do it with some practice.

I’ll also take the contrary position and say clips n’ cages (i.e. toeclips and cage pedals) are the safest pedal system for starting at intersections because it’s very hard to come totally off the pedal as one does when they miss with a clipless system. Road clipless are the worst because both the shoe sole and cleat are hard and slippery, so if you miss the clip-in, the foot flies right off the pedal. SPD/MTB is a little better because the shoes often have rubber soles around the cleat, but as well, the pedal platform is smaller, so it’s still quite possible to go for the clip-in, miss, and have slippery metal-metal contact between cleat and pedal which sends the foot flying off. Toeclips have so much stuff— wide platform, cage teeth, straps, toe clips— to get hung up on with street shoes and of course the possibility to just use the regular (i.e. no toeclip) side of the pedal, that it’s almost impossible to lose contact with the pedal, something which we probably both agree is bad and potentially dangerous when getting off the line in traffic.

Nylon toeclips are best in this regard, perhaps, because you can step right on top of the toeclip and smash it without permanently deforming it; they’ll spring right back into shape on their own, unlike most metal toeclips.

roadie276

When I commute I have a mixed ride; probably 60-70% suburban roads that aren't so busy, and the remainder in very dense city areas. I've settled on single-sided SPD pedals (SPD on one side, flat pedal on the other), like:

https://bike.shimano.com/en-US/produ...0/PD-T421.html

I wear recessed MTB shoes so they are pretty walkable. This setup has been great; on the more isolated roads I stay clipped in, and when I get to the crazier areas I just stay on the platform side. When I hit a more open area, I can clip in, and if I'm approaching an intersection or more busy place, I often actually unclip before getting there, then if it opens up again after clip in afterwards. So I end up using then like regular platform pedals where it makes sense, and clipless in the less intense spots. Has worked really well for my commute, at least.

Mushrooom

I've done exactly this many times (when I missed getting my foot in there correctly the first time). As others mentioned, I would also push on the wrong side of the pedal if I needed to get going after a stop at a busy intersection. Never felt I was "slowing down" the riders behind me.

This is all stuff we do without looking down and without really thinking. I'm sure there's lots of advantages to flat pedals, I just happen to prefer toeclips. Not an "either/or" situation, as Germany_chris cleverly mentioned.

PaulRivers

The drawbacks of using a floppy cage - that flips the pedal upside down every time you take your foot off it - are pretty straightforward.

I'm not recommending anything to people that I wouldn't use. With modern tech you can get flats that give you all the grip advantages of a cage, with none of the hassle.