I used to ride using toe clips and found that the bar going over my foot aggrivated my right big toe. I switched to look pedals and found that much better. No more cinching down the straps and remembering to unstrap before coming to a stop. The look pedals have enough free play to allow some side to side foot movement and you can adjust the cleats to compinsate for differences in foot angle or alignment. All that is for riding on the road. I tried using the looks trail riding and got myself in trouble on some technical parts of the trail. So now when riding trails, I switch to regular old flat pedals. It's a good thing too. Last week I over estimated my ability on a section of trail and in a panic I grabbed the front brake instead of the rear and it threw me over the bike. Not sure what the outcome might have been had I been fixed to the pedals?????????