Touring Platform Pedal Recommendation
10-25-11 | 07:43 PM
#26
bragi
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,911
Likes: 3
From: seattle, WA
Bikes: LHT
I'll have to track down what it is I'm running. Basic big platforms with a rubbery coating on top. Loved them in the summer (the rubber seemed to get tacky in the heat, making me stick right too them. They seemed slippery when I got caught in the rain on them recently, but I was wearing shoes I probably won't wear in the rain again until if I get caught out like that in late spring. They didn't feel as smooth as I thought they should when I first got them, I'd still like to work on the bearings.
Before that I was running spiky square BMX style platforms. I was partial to the Redline ones in all silver but it looks like at least Wellgo and probably a number of other companies offered the exact same pedal in a variety of colors as well as with or without reflectors. I got tired of the bear traps beating up my shins. I know some people will say that is a rookie problem, but there's no way you could describe me as a rookie cyclist. The way I see it, putting a foot down constantly in stop-and-go traffic makes it inevitable that this is going to happen occasionally. Riding 100 miles a week means that occasionally comes often enough for it to be annoying. Hence the now rubber coated rather than spiky ones. Hopefully my winter shoes will stick to them okay, if I find they slip off though I'm okay with going back to the bear traps.
I used to always ride with toe-clips all the time. After a hiatus from cycling I don't like them anymore. Riding in the city is very stop-and-go at times and it gets annoying having to get your feet re-situated over and over.
I tried something like power straps recently too. I had high hopes for these, but they were annoying like the toe clips, were going to get torn up from occasionally scraping on the ground and tended to collapse in on themselves, making them hard to get into without stopping and pulling them open with my hands. They also negated one of the main benefits of running flats - that being the ability to wear any kind of shoe with them. It was a pain to adjust the straps to fit a different sized shoe.
YMMV
I also find that MKS and similar are too small for me. In fact, even with pedal extenders on big platforms my feet are barely in the right place.
Before that I was running spiky square BMX style platforms. I was partial to the Redline ones in all silver but it looks like at least Wellgo and probably a number of other companies offered the exact same pedal in a variety of colors as well as with or without reflectors. I got tired of the bear traps beating up my shins. I know some people will say that is a rookie problem, but there's no way you could describe me as a rookie cyclist. The way I see it, putting a foot down constantly in stop-and-go traffic makes it inevitable that this is going to happen occasionally. Riding 100 miles a week means that occasionally comes often enough for it to be annoying. Hence the now rubber coated rather than spiky ones. Hopefully my winter shoes will stick to them okay, if I find they slip off though I'm okay with going back to the bear traps.
I used to always ride with toe-clips all the time. After a hiatus from cycling I don't like them anymore. Riding in the city is very stop-and-go at times and it gets annoying having to get your feet re-situated over and over.
I tried something like power straps recently too. I had high hopes for these, but they were annoying like the toe clips, were going to get torn up from occasionally scraping on the ground and tended to collapse in on themselves, making them hard to get into without stopping and pulling them open with my hands. They also negated one of the main benefits of running flats - that being the ability to wear any kind of shoe with them. It was a pain to adjust the straps to fit a different sized shoe.
YMMV
I also find that MKS and similar are too small for me. In fact, even with pedal extenders on big platforms my feet are barely in the right place.
