Originally Posted by
Noir Lethal
I was reading the paperwork that came with mine and there was some justification as to why there are diagonal, not horiztial, but I forgot. Meh, I paid less than $40 for them (I got the slightly improved model with pedal) I do get some foot pain on long rides, not sure if this why. Im not to keen on the holdfast. Material is not something I want on my pedals, probably going to get all destroyed and warped pretty fast.
What kind of shoes are you wearing? Many non-cycling shoes (especially running shoes) are designed with flexibility in mind, which is what runners need. When you start using a flexible shoe to pedal, however (especially on bike with one ratio which can require a great deal of mashing), you can imagine how that flex can put a lot of pain on your midfoot right at the trailing edge of the pedal body. I've had this problem myself, and a friend swears this caused a stress fracture that later caused him to break his foot (although I think the sidewalk he was stomping on had a little more to do with it - he had a little too much fun at a birthday party). Regardless, orthopedic surgery and spending the summer in a walking boot is not what you want.
If you are going to ride with some sort of strap setup, stiff-soled shoes are a must.