toe clips
and toe clips
Toe clips are key and important for control on a fixed gear. Since you do not have brakes, controlling your speed and stopping are all related to the pedal movement, the cadence of the crank. Pedal control becomes highly improved when you have good toe clips. When you skid stop you have to jam the pedals to a stop thus stopping the wheel and skidding the tire. Generally you lean your weight over the front wheel to reduce the pressure and coefficient of friction on the back tire allowing it to skid. Then you push down on the pedal with your back foot and lift up on the pedal with your front foot (right and left footed dominance in skidding is common, a good fixed gear rider will be able to skid with either foot back). You can skid without toe straps but you can’t pull up with the strap thus your back foot does twice the work and you may have to lean further over the front wheel to get it to skid. there are two examples of toe clips picture both of a similar double strap type, my prefered choice for riding comfort and control.
bolingj said,
March 2, 2010 @ 6:58 pm
I always personally felt a bit wary about installing something like this on my pedals — I sort of don’t like the idea of having another connection to my bike in case things go sour (I’d like to be able to bail from the bike as quickly as possible). Do these toe clips fix your feet on the bike pretty firmly or can you still disconnect from your bike with ease with these installed?
fixedgearfoco said,
March 5, 2010 @ 6:13 pm
It is true that it is a added risk to be attached to the bike. The nice leather double straps as pictured are nice and smooth to get in and out of. You still have to prepare yourself when comming to a stop or you could be stuck and fall over. For the most part riding a fixed gear is added risk enough that to through toe straps are only going to benefit you in control.