I know there are a few of you out there, so people who use toe-clips, what pedals do you use?
Do you use old fashioned bear trap style pedals, or platform pedals? Are there any advantages to platforms once you’ve got the clips to keep your feet on?
Joe
Sorry for thread Jack but arent toeclips very dangerous for uni?
Don’t use pinned platofrm pedals unless you want to die. They make it really hard to egt your foot in and out, especially before a fall. Pedals like these 
have places to thread the straps and arent too grippy that they will keep you from exiting. Also, maybe send Frank (hellonwheel) a PM, he has a lot of experience using toe clip pedals on his road uni.
crank bros egg beater pedals. much safer than straps!
I’m thinking half-clips (without straps), because that’s what the riders I’ve seen using clips tend to use. Does that make a difference?
Talking to Sam who rides coker with them, and has hit about 28 miles an hour without falling off, he says that he falls out of the clips in a crash just fine. They appear to make him very fast, and stop the ‘falling off because you’re spinning too fast’ crashes.
John who I ride with also has toeclips. He isn’t dead.
Do these look like the right sort of thing?
Joe
it is possible to ride with clips. it is also very stupid because the best will fall and eat it hard. if you do try clip pedals set them all the way loose
They look OK, but they don’t have much of a hook on the back to help you to flip the pedal over so you can get your foot into the clip. I’d try the MKS MT-LUX COMP here they look very similar to the Tioga Surefoot VI (which you don’t seem to get anymore) that I used to have on my first MTB back in the day, and they were really easy to flip over if you ended up on the wrong side. Merlin have the Surefoot 31 which I think has a plastic body and is generally a bit rubbish because of that.
One thing to bear in mind is that the cages on pedals like these don’t take kindly to being dropped onto so you may end up going through them. If you can find pedals with replacement cages that might be cheaper in the long run , but you’ll probably find it difficult/expensive as everyone uses SPDs these days.
Paul
I’m not sure what brand mine are, but they have full plastic clips and straps. I of course ride with the straps fairly loose, and after an hour or so of practice had no trouble freemounting into them (though I haven’t been able to “flip” them while riding). edit: narrow shoes, like Chuck’s, are a must.
I thought about cutting the clips short and removing the straps, but decided I like the way it “hugs” my foot. However, half clips are probably sufficient, as the main advantage to clips I see is that you eliminate forward foot slippage (where your foot slowly moves forward from ball to heel). Foot slippage can be aggrevating when you’re trying to keep a high cadence and have to slow down to adjust.
In over two years of use, I’ve only fallen bad twice (both times within the first several months, once when setting my personal speed record - 17.2 mph on a skinny 700c wheel). After a while, you learn to upd safely by pointing your toe to the ground and pulling up and out.
They’re definately not for everyone, but I also think they’re not as dangerous as a lot of people think.
Hi Joe - I’m not dead yet either.
I use normal pinned platform pedals (red ones) - the basic ones from UDC, and ‘half’ type plastic toe bumpers. About £6 from a bike shop. They are the same as Leo’s - and misleadingly say ‘Elite’ on the top.
Compared to Leo’s blue ‘beartrap’ (or ‘rat trap’ as I’ve also heard them called, and reasonably too, as they would surely only catch bears too small to be morally caught), I prefer my platforms. The rat-traps seem a little shorter, so the ball of my foot was not quite where I wanted it over the axle. I find my platforms much easier to get in and out of than the rat-traps - they just feel roomier.
Yes, they do seem to let my feet out without the need for a single brain-cell to engage, even if in a fast UPD. Which was how I found them from the very first mount on. They’re not scary really. In almost a year I’ve never ever had a fast road crash, and feel safe.
I use trainers with very smooth flat soles, without any tread at all - they are easiest to slip in to the second pedal when doing the little flipping-over routine on the fly.
I mount with one foot already in, and just let the second foot find the pedal as normal - it always comes flat side up. Then a few rotations later, when I’m happy, I take the left foot off for a fraction of a second (though longer than I first thought) and the weight of the clip swings the pedal around so I can pop in to the clipped side. It took hundreds of mounts (most of the way from End to End!) to really get the knack of that. There were many embraced lampposts along the way. The remaining flat side of the pedal is still quite ridable on, but mine overlap the back pins, so don’t feel right until I flip them over.
And they still work fine with normal walking sandals. 
Sam
I put clipless pedals on my Muni once. I didn’t really ride any trails because it was a bit scary, but they were fun to just ride around on. I wouldn’t recomedn doing Muni or trials on them though because you would probably hurt youself.
In my day, young man… rat trap pedals were the fairly small light aluminium pedals used by road cyclists. They were designed to take toe clips and straps. The name bear trap was then used for the larger, squarer pedals of similar general construction used by mountainbikers. The idea being that bears are bigger than rats, presumably.
yes they was what i was thinking as soon as someone mentioned clips, the older style used on racers.
I’ve always been intrigued by the use of toe clips for the uni. There’s something almost perfect about riding when I’ve got my feet in EXACTLY the right position on the pedals. But, I’m much to afraid to try it. I still UPD way to often. Maybe some of the ‘clipless’ pedals that require special shoes w/ cleats and set the release tension as loose as possible? The other option would be platform pedals with all the pins removed. I was looking for pedals for my mountain bike recently that would accept toe clips and straps and the LBS told me that the old style rat-trap pedals are getting hard to find. They did tell me that the platform pedals will accept the old style toe clips and straps. I ended up just buying the pinned pedals for my mtn. bike and I kind of like 'em so that’s what I’ve been riding with.
hi,
i use toe clips like the metal ones above but they are plastic. They serve me well. i am a pretty good unicyclist and although i am only 16 i have been doing it for some years and have got pretty good. i can do the basics, stay in one place by moving backwards and forwards, or jumping, i can move all directions by jumping, easily jump up/down curbs even twisting 180 degrees going up them.
I also do a lot of bike racing (with 2 wheels), so i have clipless pedals and shoes for mountain biking (spd). i was wondering if anyone uses these sorts of pedals and wether or not to try it.
Thanks for reading.
Will Hare
one of my friends(mango) tolad me that some trialsur was using clipless pedals and was doing really high hops without his hands. I’m not sure how they would work for distance riding, they seem kinda dangerous.
in the cycling community unicyclists get a lot of respect, although i have noticed that elsewhere you do not get so much respect.
As i am a small 16 year old i have many people come and try to make me fall off, some even resorting to physical violence.
therefore, as i can only train in public places, i think i am going to stay with open clips and not move to clipless.
does anyone else have these problems of people giving you very little respect?
having clips on a bike (i have the “look” cleats) makes it really easy to bunny hop. i can only imagine what it could do for hopping on a uni (think jump rope), but it wouldn’t be very safe for hopping around in, I don’t think.
i also have the “look” but as they only come in single sided pedals and the cleats are plastic i do not believe that this is as good a system.
by the way top respect for trying with clipless pedals