I have seen the advice given to bent riders to place the pedal in the middle of your foot rather than on the ball of the foot. Whether that's good advice or not, it raised an interesting question as to the ideal pedal options for bents.

Considering these three options...

1. Standard pedal.
2. Pedals with toe clips or similar item.
3. Clipless pedals

...which is the ideal setup for bents? I'm sure it's subjective to some degree, although how would it be possible to follow the middle-of-the-foot advice with the latter two options? [I know very little about clipless pedals so bear with me]. With a new bent on the way I wish to learn to maximize efficiency and avoid any potential mistakes.

Thank you for reading my post!

Clipless using an off-road / leisure shoe (with recessed cleat - so you can still comfortably walk around in them) would be my preference. But, if you are new to 'bents and have never used clipless pedals before, I'd either fit them to one of my other bikes first, and / or fit them later to the 'bent, as learning to use them at the same time as learning to ride a recumbent (and there is a learning curve) might be a bit daunting
IMHO Shimano sandals work very well on a SWB bent, where your feet are well away from the front wheel water / dust spray.

Eggbeaters and sandals.....

I recommend clipless pedals on a recumbent, but ONLY once you're comfortable riding the recumbent with plain platform pedals!

+1 on the eggbeaters and sandals. I started out with the cleats to the rear as has been suggested online, but didn't find that comfortable, so I moved them forward. Give it all a try and use what works for you.

The problem that recumbents tend to have is that the higher the bottom bracket is, the more your feet will tend to slide "backwards" off the pedals. Wearing regular shoes and keeping them pressed against platform pedals gets to be rather tiring, and traditional toe-clips don't do anything to prevent your feet from sliding out backwards.

PowerGrips might work for you, but not for me. They have not good float if they are tight, and you still need to get a particular pair of riding shoes--because typical running/cross-training shoes with chunky soles don't "rotate" well on the pedals. So you need to get a pair of "mall-walkers" that have a very-mild tread pattern, and rather hard soles. If you wear typical running/cross-training shoes anyway, then your feet don't extract real quickly.

Clipless does work best, once you get used to balancing the bicycle. I use Speedplay Frogs.
~

One of the manufactures, I was looking at online, had a toe strap over the pedal and an "L" piece hanging down to receive the heel. ??? It's too early in my 'bent infancy to evaluate that arrangment or any of the others.

I can't stand to ride my Vision with anything but clipless pedals--anything else is fighting the "foot sliding backwards" thing. And I've been looking real hard at the sandals!!

Price Point has these on sale for $29.98.......
https://www.pricepoint.com/detail/134...PD-Sandals.htm

Three choices IMHO -
clipless, clipless, or clipless.

If you're starting out set them up on the loosest setting so you can unclip in a hurry. Pedals with some sort of platform may also be useful as you can use them without clipping in if you need to.

Maybe it's still early in my bent-ownership (2 months) but I don't feel my feet falling backwards (off the pedals) ever... (pedals slightly below seat level). The weight of my legs actually feels like it's keeping my feet on the pedals. And I can only use the toe-end or the middle of my feet. If I use my heels, my legs stretch too much under the knee.

My bike was custom built by Denny LaDue in Nebraska. It's not the lightest of fastest thing on the road but I love it.

Thanks for the advice, people. I have decided to go clipless (even though I have never used them). I figure if I have to relearn the cycling concept with bents, I may as well relearn pedaling concepts too and get it over in one fell swoop.

Now, that raised the question of shoes vs. sandals. I was in the LBS today asking about shoes for the pedals. We looked at a few and I saw some sandals. I asked him what he thought of riding in sandals. I figured the answer would be loaded since the sandals cost considerably more than the shoes I was looking at. He looked pensive for a few moments, did a "hmmm", and said, "I wouldn't do it". I said, "Really?...". And he added, "Well, riding in open toed shows is something that is often warned against." So I asked, "Yeah, but even if you're clipped in?". He said, "Well, I wouldn't do it".

Kudos to him for at least being honest with his opinion and not steering me towards spending more money. They're probably not the best things to learn clipless for first timers. Or are they?

After having had both sandals and shoes the shoes went to eBay. I recommend sandals to all my customers. They fit pertectly at any time of the year--more socks when cold don't cramp your feet. Since you don't need a tight fit (actually could be counter-productive as in numbness) sandals are perfect for recumbent riding--loose straps and plenty of toe wiggle room. My wife nearly always uses socks and I rarely do.

Chip
recumbenttrikestore.com