Clipless vs Toe clips.

For an hour's ride, on the road, with fitness as the goal, you're fine with what you're used to (personally I wouldn't bother with straps or clips, but I never really got used to them, as good clipless systems were an option by the time I was looking for an upgrade). If you want a wider surface area on the pedal, there are decent platforms like DMRs that allow loads of foot movement while maintaining contact.

So it's all about the shoe... Finding a comfortable fit, that's rigid enough with a grippy sole that doesn't expect clipless and isn't going to be shredded by loads of movement across a possibly spiky pedal. I think there'd be easier options in looking online for an off-road shoe for flat pedals, but I can't recommend any since all my off-road 'bike' shoes have been 2-bolt clipless... I'd probably head into a big Evans or off-road specialist at this point and get staff to suggest some to try on.

And yes, as far as the bike is concerned, for an hour for fitness, I'd just go for something that won't kill me.

I use SPDs on my road bikes and mountain bike. I've been cycling long enough to have used shoe plates with quill pedals and Binda straps where there was no chance of your foot coming out unless you undid the straps. For me the big advantage of having your feet attached to the pedal is that it won't slip off so you can just get on with pedaling. 

With regard to movement the SPDs allow quite a lot of free play, which I really appreciate as I've had knee issues in the past and I think the free play allows my knee to find its natural position.

As to effeciency unless you're Marcel Kittel and Co and don't think it makes any difference. You shouldn't be pushing or pulling on the pedals, you should be turning them. 

I would highly recommend going for SPDs as there is a huge range of shoes available from leisure style shoes that you easily walk around in to totally ridgid soled raod shoes with everything in between. 

If you get a pair of double-sided SPD pedals they are so easy to get into - you just stamp on them, no messing about trying to get them the right way up. And as someone else pointed out they are very cheap. 

Best of luck getting sorted out.

For me the greatest benefit of cleats is the security they offer.  The first time your foot slips off the pedal and you lose a square foot of shin skin is an event you remember. 

Dr Winston, if it's efficiency that is your concern, then you're not going to notice any improvement in efficiency over the old quill pedals with straps. +1 on speed play being the most flexible. I occasionally get foot cramp, on the outside edge on the underneath. I tried going back to the maker for a refund, but he didn't answer the calls.... I have found generally that a generously sized shoe is the solution to the problem for me, and I ride road and mtb, on shimano, both with some float, and the actual attachent method doesn't seem to matter. I used to get more sore with quill pedals and toe straps, so I guess YMMV really.

Hi Dr W.

I'm terms of trying clippers out, you could probably do it for 50 quid or so.

Shimano SPD pedals start at £20 in most online stores, and to be honest they're good enough for most people (self included). They come with a set of cleats too so they're a proper bargain. You can pick up a basic set of MTB shoes at Decathlon for £30...I imagine these will be reasonably flexible so won't exactly be high performance, but should be enough to confirm whether you want to stick with it or not.

I only went clipless (SPDs) because I'd had one too many issues with feet slipping off pedals in the wet. The solution would have been to go for flats with offroad pins at that point but I went SPD and have run them for 5 years. Just recently got a set of flats for my tourer because I use it with a tagalong and like to be able to get my foot down quicker with an unpredictable 8yo on the back. 

I'm now used to both types of pedal but prefer the security of the SPDs. I'm not claiming or expecting any performance gain from them as I'm not honking up hills but I do like knowing that my foot is never going to slip off them, particularly on uphill sections. 

I've been toying with the idea of getting some Speedplays for my "fast" bike but it looks like a cleat repositioning has sorted the foot issue I had, just need to get out for a 40-miler to confirm that. 

Sympathise with the cramp, I mostly get it in my calves (easy to stretch out) and hamstrings (not so easy). After a bad bout I can barely walk next day (usually get it in bed...). Properly horrible sensation. I've found that keeping hydrated after exercise reduces the incidence, as does using magnesium spray and massaging my calves. I also get crawling/twitching muscles for hours after exercise - completely benign but looks dead weird and is useful for freaking people out...

I use SPD more often than anything else, I love the fact that the cleats allow a certain amount of movement whilst still keeping your feet in situ but can easily be detached instantly. I also like the fact that the SPD shoes I use are massively superior in comfort to any road shoe I've ever owned. That and I can literally go trekking on foot in them as they have a Vibram sole.

The only downside is outright prformance, the sole is nowhere near as rigid and power transfer is noticeably less, but then that's why I have 3 or 4 pairs of shoes for different types of riding.

I still use toe clips and straps on my retro machine but they don't allow me to use a shoe that is as comfortable as my SPD variants, fine if you have no intention of walking very far or anywhere but to the village shop/cafe/pub.

I got into clipless when I started going longer distances (~50 miles) and found they were useful for that. My thinking is your muscles share the load a bit more efficiently, so they're able to go a bit longer before fatigue - but it might have been psychological or a jump in fitness at that point. 'Coaching' sessions (turbo trainer vids/app sessions, like trainerroad) that I've done that have emphasised stroke have focused on forward/back or over/under as much as up/down.

Over the years I've commuted mainly with SPDs and speedplay frogs, 15-25 miles each way. Like hawkinspeter I've put foot cramps down to tired calves. I run as well and experience something similar there on really long runs - feet feel ruined and cramping, but I think the root is really my calves being concrete at that point, because I'm going longer than I'm conditioned for. Tends not to happen on long individual rides, more at the weekend of big commuting weeks. But I've found the frogs' float a lot easier on my calves, and don't tend to experience it on long road rides (~100ish miles), which I use speedplay zeros for, with similar float. There's a fair bit of front/rear adjustment for your cleats so you can play around with them and adjust for the first few rides, but you're limited to float (how much your foot can rotate around the ball) being the only movement, in-ride.

My experience with SPDs is that the performance benefit is typically exaggerated. It's less efficient to actually pull up with your trailing foot as you use smaller muscles in a motion that they're not optimised for. Although you can generate more power by pulling up as well as pushing down, you use much more energy - only really useful for sprints/attacks.

I think the main benefit of SPDs is that they hold your foot in a consistent position, so you don't need to expend energy keeping your feet in contact with the pedals and it feels much more secure (until you stop at traffic lights and forget that your using them).

I also get foot cramps, but have found that I mainly get I've put in a lot of exertion, so I guess it's probably from my calves being too tired.

i used to get terrible cramp in my feet (only) when cycling, switched to a more rigid shoe, and went up a size and never had it since

Speedplays have a reputation for being the most comfortable if you have foot issues as they are basically free float (movemement) once in. Expensive though...

SPDs (mountain bike cleats) offer a fair bit of rotation around the cleat but I started to find them uncomfortable - a lot will depend on the shoe and the pedal you use as they range from no platform to big touring platforms that offer more support

I haven't ridden road SPD-SLs so can't comment

I've got flats on one bike with offroad pins - these are seriously grippy but obviously you can't pull up against the pedal if that's your riding style. You'll get a big platform and you can place your foot naturally where you want, but it will be planted which can be an issue for lateral knee rotation.

Possibly worth having a cleat fitting done as my LBS has sorted out my SPDs to solve a numbness problem I was having in my left foot.

The answers will depend on what system you go for. For example, with Shimano SPD-SL pedals you can use cleats with various levels of "float"- the red ones are totally rigid and have no room for movement , the yellow ones have most float and the blue ones come in between. The more float, the more your feet, ankles and knees can move about, so are less likely to suffer from being in an unnatural position for too long (if the cleats aren't set up correctly) though the more the feet move the less efficient- as a (really, really broad rule of thumb) many sprinters in the pro peloton will use the reds to ensure as much power as possible through less movement, whereas other riders will generally go yellow for the comfort). The other systems (SPD, Speedplay, Look Keo etc) will all have different approaches but I am most used to SPD-SLs, but I'm sure other Road.cc posters will share their experiences of those)

It would be difficult to get a figure around efficiency since everyone basically has a different pedal stroke and different needs. GCN did a video a few years back that stated flat pedals were as efficent as clipless though there was a bit of scorn poured on the methods they used and it was probably more click bait material to garner comments and shares than a serious bit of research. Generally though (and I was still using toe clips up to the ealry 2000s) I definitely prefer the clipless (with the added advantage of them being easier to disengage from if you come off than the straps and toeclips!).