I just got a road bike with clips and straps on the pedals. I don't want to use them and I don't want clipless either. I am just looking for some small regular pedals. Smaller than say a cruiser or mountain bike.
Is there such a thing as a small sporty plain pedal for a road bike? Any recommendations or links would be appreciated..................Thanks.

Most all of the time you can unscrew the clips and straps and remove them. This would leave you with a regular platform. It can be done very quickly by just about anyone using basic household tools.

Why no clipless? If you want my suggestion go clipless. I know you dont want but seriously, and I bet Im not the only person to think this but try it.

go clipless, come back in 6 months, and tell me you want platforms...I won't believe you

I went clipless, lasted about a year, switched bikes (and riding style) and I LOVE platforms...

Lies...I know it

Platforms....are regular type pedals? are they smaller than regular?

They vary in size..platforms are generally deemed any pedal that is just a flat level piece of something to put your foot on

The best pedals for most riders and most bikes are BMX pedals. They are as wide as your foot, providing a broad base of support, without the "pain" associated with half dollar sized road pedals. They hold your foot securing in place, whether you are wearing tennis shoes, sandals, or wingtip dress shoes. They even work with cycling shoes.

My favorites are a set of BMX pedals that I bought recently that are covered with thick rubber pads, and use rubber spikes instead of metal spikes. The most comfortable pedals I've ever used. And, the large dual reflectors look like yellow strobes firing when vehicles approach from behind at night.

Those itty-bitty road pedals may or may not be helpful to Pro riders. And, they may or may not have something to do with the number of Pro riders getting knee surgery. But, their ONLY significant benefit for "Joe Average" is the "fashion show"...the "Look Like Lance" thang so popular with week-end roadies.

Did the same thing with my Mongoose when I brought it home. I'll probably reattach the climps later, but they came off with two bolts each.

You might want to check-out the Rivendell on-line store, wwwrivendellbicycles.com. They have a couple of different types of flat pedals. I bought the "touring" pedals and put them on my TREK1000. Tried them for a couple of weeks and just couldn't get used to them so I re-installed my LOOK396 pedals which are great. Flat pedals have their place. I would never remove the flat pedals on my 1973 Raleigh Sports 3-speed and put on clipless pedals; that would be totally out of place.

My LBS stocks a set which is an ordinary platform pedal on one side, and clipless on the other. Seems like a reasonably good idea to me, since all you have to do is rotate the pedal to switch configurations.

Thanks for setting me straight. I didn't realize that a more secure connection to the pedal, float/rotation so that my knees don't get messed up, and ease of use were not beneficial. I'll go remove all of my clipless pedals now and have my wife pick up 4 pairs of platform pedals for me from WalMart on her way home.

Again, thanks for telling me what's good for me.

I know you don't want to go clipless, but what about those pedals that are clipless on one side and platform on the other?

Koffee

Touchy subject here, mate. My .02 cents is always going to be platforms.
I,for medical reasons,simply can not be "attached" to the bike in any manner.

That said, it really would not matter to me anyway...... I'd buy whatever pedal,or
other equipment, that made sense to me no matter what others thought.

If you find getting in and out of the cages a problem, an option is to remove the strap, leaving the cage. You get some of the benefit of the cage but easier in/out.

Woh there tiger, you just made a HHHUUUGGGEEE generalization right there.

I went clipless for cheap recently (45$ for pedals and shoes on ebay), and love it.

But on my tall bikes I use BMX pedals, cause you really don't want to be hooked onto something 6 feet in the air. They do a good job!

There are bikes that make the most sense with platforms, but those bikes aren't usually road bikes. I support people getting the stuff that is the most comfortable to them, but sometimes you have to wonder if the person bought the right tool for the job...

If I went to the hardware store and bought a sledge hammer, and then came back four more times so I could buy tools to shave the handle down, and cut the head up so it would be smaller, they might wonder why I didn't just buy a regular claw hammer in the first place..

If you want relaxed riding, there are hybrids and comfort bikes that do that without having to do any 'downgrading/sidegrading'. And the platform pedals come with them.

If you want to take advantage of the performance benefits of a true road bike, you might want to consider clips and straps or clipless. If not, you are spending a lot of energy whittling down a sledge hammer, when you really just want a ball peen.

peace,
sam

Top quality BMX pedals are not sold at Wal-Mart. Gotta go to an LBS that carries BMX products. And they are not especially cheap. Good BMX pedals cost $30, $50, and up. But, where can you get knee surgery for just $50? And, knee surgery is where many cyclists who ride several thousand miles each year are headed with their "Be Like Lance" half dollar sized pedals.

I ride about three hundred days a year. Being comfortable is a top priority, because my feet and knees don't benefit from the "five days of rest" that week-end riders get between rides.

This week, I've used my road bike with "dress" shoes to go to a business meeting, with running shoes to the park and with sandals to the coffee shop. Folks would ride MUCH more often if they were not forced to wear "bike" shoes each time they ride their bike.

A comfortable saddle needs to be as wide as your rear. A comfortble pedal needs to be as wide as your foot. After you have been on the road a few weeks with pedals that don't cause pain in your feet or hurt your knees you will be happy to throw away your "Lance" pedals.

Maybe it's JUST me, but I would hate to go back to platforms.

This is pretty puzzling. Previously, I have gotten the impression that you are pretty knowledgable and unbiased, but this is just odd. Clipless pedals and cleats can be adjusted to a wide variety of positions, not to mention float. Personally, I find clipless much more comfortable than platform, and yes, I have ridden thousands of miles on each.

Let me enumerate the benefits of clipless pedals over platforms:
1) Foot automatically stays in efficient position, eliminating need for micro-managing feet on slippery wet pedals
2) More muscles available, increasing power and stamina
3) Less risk of slipping off the pedal when out of the saddle
4) This could just apply to me, but the shoes are more comfortable for cycling, as they're not loose and can be tightened comfortably, and have stiffer soles.

Disadvantages:
1) Requires special shoes
2) Requires a couple seconds when you start to get clipped in
3) Must remember to clip out

Properly adjusted clipless pedals are not any more likely to cause injuries than platforms. Slightly less I would suspect, though it's probably negligible. I'm guessing you've had some bad experience with pedals or something. It's pretty rare that you ever hear from someone who has gone from platforms to clipless, and then switched back.

Interceptor,

Here's as good a selection of pedals as I've seen: https://sheldonbrown.com/harris/pedals.html

Thanks phinney.