Pinned platform pedals and shoe soles
 

Someone just gave me a set of Race Face Chester pedals in pretty decent condition. I know they have great grip.

I'm curious if they will destroy my shoes. I want to try them out since the price is right but I don't want to risk totally destroying my shoes in the process.

My riding shoes are normal sneakers with broken in softer rubber soles. But rubber...not that soft foamy cushiony stuff that's starting to show up on running and walking shoes.

I love my super broken in comfortable riding shoes and don't want the soles to suddenly be ripped to shreads by the pedal pins. Will the pinned pedals do that?

The only other pinned pedals I've ever ridden were molded pins that were part of the pedal and kinda smooth, not the more abrasive screws that are on the Chester pedals.

I'm not asking if my shoes will wear out in a couple of years. I mean will the pins destroy them in weeks.

Probably Not..
bit I don't own that specific pedal ,
and you may just tend to worry a lot , IDK. your riding habits ..

Some use setscrews as pins, you can screw them in further ..

Ergon Pedals use Grip tape, in the center, instead of pins at all..





....

I've got some pinned pedals and have had zero issues with shoes. My shins on the other hand ... pinned pedals have a way of drawing blood, so be careful. I still like them, but I only use them on my wet weather commute bike.

I'll have you know that as kind of a klutz I can draw blood just fine without sharp objects! So adding sharp objects doesn't put me in MORE danger..... :injured:

(Note, my advice should never be considered regarding safety issues)

Anyway for the price (free) I may as well try them out. I just didn't want to ruin my favorite riding shoes just to test something.

Thanks for the feedback!

Yes do try them out. I'd say you're not looking at weeks or years, but probably months, or in the low thousands of miles.

I have dedicated shoes for cycling (road and mountain, always Wellgo MG-1 pinned platforms), they are a crappy old pair of running shoes I got from the salvation army. Like yours, rubber is the bottom layer of the soles, not just foam. I've been using these shoes for probably 3 years now, so 7000-8000 miles? The pins have done some damage to my soles.

Some of the rubber will get scratched and gouged and eventually torn up from where the pins are, but that doesn't really cause a problem, as the places needed for traction while walking are not quite the same as the places pins go (at least for me). Maybe you'll get some flappage (like I did a couple times now), in which case shoe goo solves the problem.

My wife (and others I know) swear by Five10 shoes, which have soles made of a rubber specially designed for pinned platforms -- in terms of traction, I'm not sure if they are also exceptional at longevity.

I've tried five tens...that rubber is no joke. I think it would stick to ice covered in motor oil with no slipping. Problem with them for me was they are cut narrow and they crushed my feet. I can't find them in wide sizes.

That's good to know. I have very wide feet, so this saves me the trouble of ever trying to get five10s for myself.

Yup that's my problem and why I stick with old shoes for biking. Already worn in and comfortable.

Adidas, who owns Five Ten, makes some Adidas branded shoes with the Stealth rubber compound on Five Ten shoes. Some of those come in wide sizes if you're ever interested. Mostly it's their trail running shoes from what I've seen.

That's so weird. I normally wear wide shoes. Five Tens a half size larger than normal fit my feet very well. I was actually a bit surprised.

A half size up isn't an option for me. I'm a 12. Most shoe companies don't make 12.5's, including 5-10. If I have to go up a size I have to go up a full size. And 13's usually fall off my feet.

In the case of 5-10 Freeriders and one other model who's name escapes me I found 13's were comically long at a full size up leaving too much room forward of the toes, but they were still tight in the mid foot.

I use the Race Face Chesters on my mountain bikes and my commuter bikes. I haven't noticed any deterioration of my shoes from them. I also have wide feet so cycle specific shoes are just too much of a hassle to find. I ride in Reebok club tennis shoes and they hold up to the pedals fine.

Awesome.

Friend brought the pedals into work today so there are sitting here at my desk. Brand new. Maybe rode 20 miles without a scratch on them. Coworker just didn't like them.

Don't feel like putting them on at the office so I'll install them tonight and try them out in the morning.

I'd do a night ride to test them...but Stanley Cup Finals...man's got to have priorities in life.

Strap those chesters onto the bottom of your shoes and you'll be able to run on ice!

It probably depends on both your shoes and your riding style. I have pinned pedals and generally wear a pair of shoes with a stiff sole and fairly hard rubber bottoms with a robust tread pattern with several distinct indentations. I've torn some pretty good chunks out of them, and I think my feet may rotate some when I stand to pedal. Hasn't made the shoes unusable, but there are pieces missing that would be there but for the pins. Have a pair of duck boots that I wear for rain, and knowing what the pins did to my shoes, make sure to smoothly spin rather than jerk the bike around when using those. So far, so good with the spinning.

just got my first set of pinned platforms and i love them. i need new shoes at least yearly anyway so i wont worry about wear.

Rode the Chesters in this morning and they make a noticeable difference. I had very grippy pedals before with an abrasive pattern molded into them, but they needed a grippy tread on the sole of a shoe to really hold. And I've worn the tread flat on my favorite riding shoes as they used to be my favorite walking shoes.

What a difference. Even with no tread on my shoes they stuck like glue to the Chester pins. It's a noticeable difference in the amount of effort required to keep your feet on the pedals.

Also it took just that first ride to draw blood! Not from riding, but from pulling the bike into my office before I turned the lights on. Scraped the pinned pedals right up my leg when walking the bike to it's parking spot on my wall. One of you warned me......you were right!

Yeah, I don't usually mind the occasional scrape on a knee or elbow from what I consider SOP mtb spills, but I'm starting to get annoyed with the fact that I've had some pin-slice or other on my shin or calf perpetually now for like a year or more?