I love my Drive BMX platforms (on my mountain bike, go figure)....awesome traction. Wet or dry your feet are staying put, regardless of what you are doing.

I never used any thing but platforms on all my bikes. Don't think I'm missing out on any thing either. I don't think that any time in near future I'll be going to clipless.

I love the clipless on my road bike, but on my commuter, it's platforms all the way. I made the switch after discovering that in an emergency, my disc brakes can stop me quicker than I can unclip. Slamming on the brakes to avoid a car turning in front of you doesn't do much good if you tip over into the traffic coming from behind you.

When one says they feel secure on platform pedals, might I ask are you a flatlander. Like in Ohio.
Can't imagine standing on a 6 mile 8% grade going up. You need real power on the uptake and on platforms you do not get it.
All the work in climbing , cant imagine feeling secure while doing any kind of mountain work. Now if one just finds you tooling about Amsterdam, I can understand the love of platforms. All the unclicking/clicking in , in city traffic. That is a real pain.

Cyclezealot..............:roflmao:
Im definately NOT a flatlander !
I think platform only-ers come
to their own technique that maximises what
they have to work with. I pedal a 40lb Single
speed chunker in VT. ( A few hills :D ) and still
would not go clipless. As stated previously,
I only use toe clips on my fixie and wouldnt even
do that except for the downhills around here which
would be too treacherous without some type of
holding device.
Hopefully Ill test your theory about tooling around Amsterdam
too !! :D

If you want to frequently get off your bike and walk around, I see the advantages of platform pedals. But I ride to work, and then ride home. If your clipless pedals are causing stress injuries, then they are poorly adjusted.

In the end, I think have dropped handlebars is fantastic, but others prefer a MTB set up. I prefer carrying a Topeak pump for flats, others prefer CO2. If riding with platform pedals makes cycling more convenient for you, go for it.

I was using them for a while in NYC, liked them a lot, not hard to flip the pedal over once you get used to it, but wiggling your toe into it turned out to be more trouble than it was worth in stop and go traffic. It's easy to get one foot in while standing still, but then the other one is a pain, often times my toe would push the strap forward instead of going under it and I'd end up looking at my foot to figure it out instead of watching the road and pedaling

I road Platform pedals all winter, and I was never so happy to return to my SPD's and clipless

But thats just me.... :)


I know what the OP is stating, and I do enjoy the freedom as well, I think I may get a cruiser bike just so I can ride with normal shoes and no helmet, screw all this biker stuff :lol:

So you stand on steep hills on platforms. ? Not being critical/ but, I just can't imagine feeling secure. I just find on certain grades, I get more power when standing. Heck, I can stumble about just walking about. Of course, I have riden in just toe clips, that gave me some sense of security.

I am a klutz. When riding platforms all I manage to do is smack the crap out of my shins. D'oh!
That and it is a tad difficult to spin at 90-100+ rpm with platform pedals.
Anyhow, I would also like a beat up cruiser for around town spur of the moment riding with platform pedals. I would think this would be more appropriate for wandering around town with my kid on his little 12" bike.

I have experienced the same thing. I was hit by a truck a couple of weeks ago, and I'm in the process of healing. My left knee is a bit sore, and when I rode my town bike with clipless pedals I had discomfort. The cleat evidently put my knee in a bad position, and unclipping hurt a bit. So I decided to ride my MTB which has DK Iron Cross BMX pedals. Man, what a difference. No pain at all.

As noted above, I have gone entirely to platforms on all my bicycles. I was at Gregg's Cycles the other day and bought a pair of strapless mini toe clips. They seem to be made of pretty indestructible plastic. I am going to mount them on my FS MTB and see what happens.

A couple of decades ago, I used the Christophe metal clips and leather straps on my roadies, so it will be interesting to compare these strapless clips to those.

Ha Ha....I spend 1/3 of my commute standing !
You just get used to it. Pinned BMX platforms have
alot of grip ! :D
I will always choose simplicity over common sense and practicality :roflmao:

:lol:

maybe, i'd understand If I knew what pinned bmx platforms were like and how they felt. I also agree from my first bike experiences as a kid ; those bruised up chins as the pedals came around and wacked me on the knee. and that was on the flats.
The pinned platforms, they are successful on a 3 % up to a 8% grade, without getting beat up chins.

Lately I've been digging the platform pedals with a fixed drivetrain. It seems to be the best of both worlds. I can wear my "normal" shoes and still enjoy the speed mod. benefit of the fixed gear.

Thanks to this thread I bought a pair of powergrips this weekend and used it on my commuter this morning. It does make a big difference. My feet used to lose contact with my flats when the road is bumpy and I have to keep readjusting my foot position on the pedals to save my knees. Now, I no longer have to do any of that except maybe for the initial slide into the grips. Thanks everyone for this excellent thread. :D

I have had power grips on an old hybrid. I liked them.

I use platforms all the time and like them well enough. Perhaps one day when I get a road bike I'll try the new fangled pedals, but I enjoy my rides (which are all less than an hour anyhow) just fine the way they are.

The limitation of my platforms is slipping at high cadence. I lose grip when I try to pump it up above 85 rpm or so for anything over a couple of minutes. I tend to go btw 65 and 75. I know that's not optimal, but I just can't get going for long in a nice cadence above that. I brought it up in case others have different experience--do you regularly crank at higher rpm with platforms? Any secrets to share?:D

Just wondering, are you using the platform pedals that were stock on your Breezer?

Yes.

I think that might be your problem. I really disliked those pedals and slipped anytime a drop of rain fell from the sky. I even slipped in good weather. The teeth on the MKS sylvan tourings I replaced them with has made all the difference, even without the PowerGrips.

^+1

theDave...I came upon this wack methodology during my Fixt commupance.
Can you imagine an old Bio-Pace chainring from the early 80's ? Painful, but try :roflmao:
I tilt my feet at about a 47 degree angle and spin in ovals. The power/downstroke starting
at 2 o'clock sort of 'pulling all the way to the 7'oclock are where the opposite foot picks
up again with a down stroke. After a while it becomes very mechanical and smooth.
Did that make any sense at all ? :rolleyes:
Using the circular/ oval method with pinned BMX pedals I can flat out haul on a bike that
gets laffed at about twice a week :D

I'm the techno-type, being an engineer and all, yet I will never, ever, get out a protractor to measure my foot angle on my pedal stroke. :eek:

Besides that, I don't get the rest of your message either, despite the fact that I speak fluent English and I've been posting here for two years.:eek: :p :eek: :rolleyes: Funny! No offense, mind you, it's just not sinking in.

:lol: that's precise dude

Doc says it is a nerve I've aggravated, in between my outer toes (actually the 2nd and 3rd toes). Since it's healing she recommended some toe stretches, and a small pad to put in my shoe to get some pressure off the affected area. She said I can ride clipless as long as the pain doesn't return...

The wonderful suggestions in this thread led me to pickup some MKS touring pedals and Powergrips. I got the XL straps fearing my size 12s would be too much for the normal length straps. As another poster noted earlier, I probably should have got the regular straps. I have the XLs at the tightest setting, and I could still probably punch an extra hole or two. I've put these on the Breezer for now, and I really enjoy it. It's a little loose for some of my shoes, but fits the wider ones pretty well... time to drill some holes and try to tighten them up.

As soon as I can get the straps a little tighter, I'll give this setup a try on my fixed gear commuter. I also have some XL toeclips on the way, going to give those a shot and compare the different platform options. I really hope I can move over to some of platform pedals for my daily city bikes and leave the clipless on my weekend warriors.

I have never clipped in, I ride fixed, geared, everything. I'm still waiting for a good reason why I should clip in. I saw a mate of mine go flying ass over off road while still clipped in and it wasn't pretty. I ride an easy gear fixed and don't skid much but I don't see what the fuss is 'you must ride clipped while riding fixed...'. I commute to work in the shoes I wear into the office so platforms help there too.

thanks again for the tip. Maybe I only need normal size now. Crap, this sux. I wish I could find a shop here that sells them so I could check them out. Oh well, I'll just have to suck it and see.

and you don't have to wear those pixie shoes and click-clack everywhere and walk like you have a frozen chicken stuck up the proverbial.