[PascLeRasc]

I also prefer toe clips alone, but a big part of why is that it forces you to push from around the ball of the foot instead of the arch/middle, and there's practically nothing to think about like with clipless. I was in Amsterdam a few weeks ago and rented bikes with my family - we all had sore arches after riding around 10 miles because without thinking that's what you naturally do. I ride pretty often and since I started using toe clips for every commute and clipless for every weekend training ride I've never had any foot discomfort.

[o09rdk]

I've noticed the same thing with arch pain on flats. However, when I started pushing from the middle of the foot, rather than the ball of the foot, that arch pain went away. The problem then that is that then I don't think I was able to extend my foot all the way through the down stroke. However, all that means is that I probably should be using shorter crank length with flats (as opposed to clips or clipless).

I've sort of become convinced that with the right bike fit, crank length, foot position, and good pedals, there's probably not really any meaningful difference between the pedal options overall. I don't mean that to denigrate anything, just that they all probably will work well depending on the person, and I don't know that moving to clipless needs to be a rite of passage for anyone necessarily.