soma5

My 19-year-old daughter has had some knee problems that are helped by spinning on a bicycle. I recently got her a new road bike and I'm looking for good pedals for her. My guess is that more float is better than less, but I'm a little leery of Speedplays because she's never used clipless pedals and as I understand it the Speedplays have a large release angle. I use old-fashioned Time Titan Magnesium pedals that are no longer made and I'm not up on the newer stuff. Any recommendations? If it helps any, she's a fairly strong rider (16-17 mph average, rolling terrain).

Thanks.

-soma5

damocles1

Time ATAC mountain pedals

Crank Brothers pedals

Both have very forgiving float and are easy to get in and out of...

prendrefeu

If you can find a pair, get Bebop pedals. Ultra durable, 20 degrees of float, road/mountain, and very easy to clip in and out of... probably the perfect pedal if it wasn't for the poor marketing and being the product of a guy who is way too busy/flooded to deal with putting his product out there.

Cleats can be found from various sources, including a few BMX shops as BMX riders have picked these up for their durabilities and weights.

(side note: four bikes, and two of them are set with Bebop: one pair in stainless steel, the other in 'deluxe' - only had to get new cleats once in 4 years, and you can walk on them)

johnny99

Most important thing is to set up your cleats correctly. If you can set up your cleats so that there is no knee wobble, then it doesn't matter much what kind of pedals you get. If you're not good at setting up cleats, then paying a good cycling coach (not just a bike shop clerk) to do it is worth the investment.

OneArmedScissor

+1 to the things already said

crank bros eggbeaters are great
speedplay frogs (the mtb pedal) are great and my fiance uses them with great success and she has knees so bad she can't jog, even from the store to her car.

+1 also to getting a PROFESSIONAL bicycle fit. Specialized trained technicians are great at setting up a bike and I really want to reccomend this. I had this done and so did she and it greatly reduced knee pain.

oilman_15106

+1 on Bebops. Avialibilty better as company under new ownership. Have them on multiple bikes. Solved my knee problems with lots of float. Takes some getting used to if you have been on something like SPD.

Plissken!

I have never tried Time pedals, but this is true of crank brothers

powpow

Speedplay Frogs are incredibly easy to click out/in, easy on the knees and are easy to walk in. I have them on my MTB but they would be fine on a roadie as well.

cooker

Does she need clipless pedals?

banerjek

If you're willing to consider a recessed cleat, Frogs are great. I've tried a bunch of different pedals, and they are my favorite. Lots of float, very easy to get in and out of, lightweight, and they work great if you get them muddy. They're marketed as an MTB pedal, but I use them on my road bike.

caterham

please consult with her doctor before going clipless.If she has a knee stability problem, then a pedal system with generous float could possiby be the worst thing she can do.

soma5

The responses have been great. I am checking out these pedals on-line insofar as I can, and I'll be going to the LBS later this week. As to whether she needs clipless, the quick answer is that few actually need clipless. She's been using clips and straps with sneakers and would like to get some cycling shoes, and it just seems like the right time to go with clipless pedals.

I suppose it's up to her to decide what looks good to her, but I wanted to start with a list of pedals to look at so that we would have an idea of what would be workable. My hunch is that she will want road shoes/pedals, but not if the MTB ones will be better for her. Kids are influenced more strongly by peer pressure, so she may well want what she sees her peers using.

One question on the MTB pedals. Do they require MTB shoes, or are road shoes drilled for MTB cleats as well as the now-standard 3-bolt road pattern?

Thanks - please keep the suggestions coming.

-soma5

soma5

We will do that. Good suggestion, thanks. Her GP doctor is a triathlete.

-soma5

ericgu

If she is tolerating clips and straps she will probably do well with clipless.

The big difference between road shoes and MTB shoes is their walkability. MTB cleats typically recess in the shoe, so the sole is flat and walkable (though not comfortable because the sole is so stiff). Road shoes vary in their walkability - SPD-SL have pads and are pretty walkable, Look pedals are really slick.

Shoes are typically specific to a single cleat style, though there are some exceptions.

prendrefeu

Very well said!

Velo Dog

why does she need clipless at all? I rode 6000 miles with toe clips and straps last year, and I never wished for clipless once. I've done all my usual rides both ways hundreds of times (I've lived in the same house since 1979 and ride about 150 days a year), and I can't measure ANY increase in speed or decrease in fatigue whether I use toe clips, clipless or Power Grips.
For that matter, my singlespeed has platform pedals with NO clips, and it's not any slower than it was with clipless on it last year.

elgalad

Do NOT start that argument.

Clipless much easier to get in/out of than toe straps that are properly tightened.

/argument

AgMotobecane

I rode on traditional rat-traps with toe clips for years--shoes were whatever tennis shoe was popular at the time. Then I got to be 20 or so. Rubber soles wore thin and feet and knees got older. Consider the amount of force exerted over the thin platforms that a traditional quill pedal provides for support. If your shoe of choice has a rubbery flexible sole, it might not cushion your feet adequately. Consider the arrangement of nerves on the soles of your feet. They need protection. The more you weigh and the steeper the terrain the greater the forces generated, all bearing down on those knife or saw-toothed edges. You want to spread those forces over as wide an areas as possible. You need a good, stiff sole to do this. Originally, stiff cycling shoes bore cleats that locked onto the edges of the rat-trap. Straps held the shoe immobile. The feet were now free to relax while greater effort was applied to forward motion. It wasn't long before the greater stresses upon the ankles and knees began to show their vulnerability in this rigid arrangement over the pedals.
When my knees began to complain, I found a balm in the Speedplay X pedal. That was five years ago or so (when I was 47) No complaints since. That some people can ride on simple pedals in simple shoes for miles and miles is more a testament to their unique anatomical gifts than evidence that the hordes of riders on clip-ons have been duped into superfluous consumption. I would recommend clip on pedals to anyone-- but make sure they have plenty of float. The knee is the most complex joint in the body. Treat it tenderly. I like to say that I can do anything I was able to do when I was 18---except abuse myself. Check out the pedal museum at the Speedplay website. It will amaze you. (If you opt for Speedplays, be sure to pick up a pair of their "Coffee Covers"-- handy snap-on rubber covers for the cleats.
It makes walking around more comfortable, safer, and protects the cleats from rough cement, grit, sand.)

Plantar Anatomy of the Left Foot:
https://catalog.nucleusinc.com/enlarg...t.php?ID=10194

Speedplay Pedal Museum:
https://www.speedplay.com/index.cfm?f...almuseum.intro

foresthill

Some road shoes do come with double-holes for MTB cleats, tho that seems to be becoming less true every year.

For eggbeaters, crank bros makes a 3-hole cleat in addition to the 2-hole cleats that come with the pedals:

https://crankbrothers.com/3hole_cleat.php?itemId=

I've been using these for a few years now with the cheapy eggbeaters C and some nice carbon-soled shoes, and I find them to be a great combination.

Treefox

Time RXL?

It's basically a Time RXS with a lighter spring

Or Time Atac xl Ladies

soma5

Another zombie thread, back from the dead! Because I started this thread, I thought I'd give an update. We went with the Time RXS pedals. We worked with the cleat position for quite a bit to get it exactly right for each foot. The fore-aft position was easy but the exact angular position took a bit of time, to get the "relaxed" position to be in the middle of the float. That turns out to be a very comfortable setting. I also got some Time RXS pedals, and I spent some time in the same way dialing in the cleat position so I am now quite familiar with how these pedals work and how to set them up. These pedals are really good and have solved some knee issues for me and they work very well for my daughter. She is, by the way, quite a strong rider and now 20 years old instead of 19 as in the original post.

As far as the RXL are concerned, Time seems to recommend them for people 90-120 pounds. Neither of us is in that weight range although my daughter is close. The release tension and the float in the RXS seem to work really well for both of us.

My belief is that we could have gotten similar results from the other candidates on our short list. Those candidates were Look Keo and Speedplay Zero. All three have adequate float and are easy to set up and use.

-soma5

Al1943

My wife and I have been riding Speedplay X-1 pedals for several years, we have them on 3 bikes. After getting use to them it is possible to release from the pedals at any angle. It is not necessary to rotate the pedals out to a "release angle". With a little practice you simply roll your foot off.
I've had serious knee problems including 5 knee surgeries. My knees prefer the Speedplay X-series. The X-1 pedals have titanium spindles that are shorter than their other spindles for a reduces Q offset and more ground clearance.


Al

nscrbug

Sorry if this question has been asked before (I'm a newbie), but...can somebody please explain what "float" is in regards to pedals? Why is it important and what degree of float should a person typically look for when purchasing new pedals? Thanks!

Linda

AEO

if your legs are straight, you can get away with minimal float. (or rotation of the foot)
If your legs are twisted like mine, float can help with keeping the knee from bending in directions it's not used to.

TRaffic Jammer

My vote, as one with iffy knees from years of skateboarding is TIME ATACS... get a good fit with the pedals and cleats. If she suffers knee issues, get a pro to set up the cleats regardless of the clipless you get.