You can choose from three basic types of road bike pedals---platform, toe clip and clipless---although you can attach toe clips to most types of platform pedals. Older road bikes typically come with platform or toe clip pedals, whereas new road bikes come without pedals and you must choose the type of pedal you prefer. Platform pedals are the easiest for new bicyclists to use, but clipless pedals are the preferred pedal type of competitive and serious recreational road riders.
Platform
Platform pedals are flat, with either a solid surface or a frame rotating around the axle. They may be made of rubber, metal or plastic. Pedals with a frame design may include short spikes on the edges that help keep your shoe on the pedal. Plastic frame pedals are the most lightweight, but metal pedals are the most durable. Beginning riders and casual cyclists find platform pedals easy to use.
Toe Clip
Almost any platform pedal with two horizontally spaced holes in one side of the pedal can accommodate toe clips and straps. A toe clip holds your foot loosely in place while you pedal, giving you up to 20 percent more efficiency in pedaling because you don't have to work to keep your foot pressed down on the pedal. Adjusting to toe clip pedaling and to detaching your stopping foot from the clip at the right time can take some practice. Bicycle Touring 101 states that you can tighten the straps enough to bind your foot in place for greater efficiency, but you must loosen the straps before trying to stop, otherwise you will fall. If you want an easy way out of your clips, toe clips without straps are also available. Toe clips will work with most types of shoes; extra wide shoes or shoes with a thick sole may not fit, however.
Clipless
Clipless pedals lack toe clips but require special cycling shoes that have a clip called a cleat that hooks into the pedal. Road bike clipless pedals are narrower than mountain bike clipless pedals to enable you to make better and tighter corner turns. Road bike clipless pedals allow you to disengage the cleat only to one side of the pedal, whereas mountain bike clipless pedals allow you to free the cleat by moving your foot toward or away from the bike. Competitive riders use clipless pedals nearly exclusively, as they offer the best transference of the rider's pedal power to the bike's momentum, according to Mike Martin Racing.
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