Experienced folks wanna help me pick a pedal?
 

Wellgo B103 at $53 + mystery shipping price?
Forte Convert at $52 after shipping.

This is my first set of non-crap stock pedals so I'm not quite sure what to look for. The Forte seem to have good reviews. The Wellgo seem to have slightly better reviews, but not many of them, so I'm not sure. I like the Wellgo better and they weigh 100g less than the Forte, but I question the grip of the pin arrangement being just along the sides. I'd rather have good grip than a little lighter and better looks if it comes down to that but maybe the Wellgo would grip fine?

http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/205...e-FR-Pedal.htm

These instead.

I just now got a package with my Kore Race II's per Zephyr's recommendation. $34 shipped from chainreaction, & just by holding them to the bottom of my shoes they already feel super grippy. Granted they're bricks compared to your other choices at 600g/pair, but they're cheap & seem to be well built/designed.

Between your options, it's a tough call. I like the pin arrangement on the Wellgo's better...more pins focused towards the outside of the pedals. But I prefer the actual pins on the Fortes better...they appear to be smaller & easier to seat in between the crevices of your outsole. The Forte's also look a lot nicer in overall style, but in the end it's grip over style for me (hence me buying my Kore's...they're freakin' hideous) so I'd probably go with the Wellgo's.

^ Being new to this whole thing and not having experience, I thought it seemed like more pins in the center would grip better. So in your experience you think the opposite would be true? That is my one hesitation with the Wellgo's. Those Kore's do actually look pretty good for the price, and I'm also more concerned with good grippy pedals than looks or weight. Hmm...
Those do look nice, but at $70+shipping, they're solidly out of my budget unfortunately. $50 is kind of pushing it, but I didn't want to cheap out too much since I know I wanna keep my feet planted to my bike.

I like the Forte's the best.

Here's another option.

http://www.deitycomponentsstore.com/...nd-pedals.html

I'm new to pedals too, but from what I've read: the ideal pedal design for grip has taller pins on the outside that encompass the perimeter of your foot, & smaller ones on the inside so the ball of your foot can sink into the pedal to keep your feet secure, but still have pins to grip so your feet don't slip/twist at all. That said, neither of these pedals has this sort of design & I haven't seen it on anything <$100 range, but the Wellgo's look the best for grip design.

Welgo MG1.

Sam's talking about concavity. No way do you have to pay >$100 for concave pedals though...I'm looking at my bike with Flatboys now and those pedals are concave, and so far I haven't brought myself to spend over $100 on a pedal. Heck, I'm pretty sure the cheap-o Tenderizer is concave.

Stupid question for ya...what shoes are you wearing? This makes a big difference...perhaps just as much as the pedal itself. Impacts + Tenderizers will grip better than running shoes + Straitlines.

I'd recommend a pair of shinguards too.

I think I go with the Wellgo V12 copy next time I get pedals. I sometimes tear mine up while not paying attention, and don't want to spend too much money. Sealed bearing/easily replaceable pins are the important things to me.

Both of the pedals I'm looking at do get a little thinner in the middle, so I think there's some concavity to them. As for shoes, I just wear skate style shoes. Not too interested in wearing shin guards. That brings to mind an aspect that I didn't really consider though. I think maybe the Forte's would tear my shin up more if I end up in that situation. It's looking more like the Wellgo's are gonna be my choice here.

If you slip a pedal, and you probably will eventually, your shin is gonna be hurting. Depending on how hard you ride it will be more or less painful =P. I have been not using my guards, but I know one of these days coming up I will regret it.

Skate style shoes can be fine, but if they're skate-specific, the tread is probably poor for bike pedals. Is the tread on the bottom of your shoe just a bunch of shallow, wavy lines (or similar design), or is it the waffle-style outsole? The waffle style is the one you want, because the pins need something to grab onto them for the most traction.

The better a pedal bites into the rubber on your shoes, the better it also bites into the skin on your shins! :lol:

I have quite a few scars on my shins from pedals. Seriously, they are a worthwhile investment. Also it's not even just the pins...you're smacking this heavy pedal (that does happen to have pins sticking out of it) into your tibia. Not really something that happens with clipless.

Also skate shoes are usually much more flexible than bike shoes. Just something to consider.

I ride in a pair of skate style "non-slip-grip" work shoes. They grip fairly well now on cheapo pedals that are the plastic in the middle and thin metal plate around the outside kind. Hopefully these nicer pedals will grip better than those and I won't slip off and bash my shins too much. As for the shins, I haven't had any serious incidents yet. If I start bashing and scraping myself up then I'll invest in some shin guards. If I do screw up it won't be anything terribly new to me. I used to skateboard and BMX dirt jump in highschool. Neither of those are particularly shin friendly. And I'll probably pick up some bike shoes sometime in the somewhat near future, but for now it's not in the budget. I'm still working on building up a bike that will stand up to hard riding with some jumps and hucking without spending too much.

I like these

http://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...px?sc=MR08&x=y

http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/115...ium-Pedals.htm

I'm a contrary ass, so I say get THESE!

+1
And look at all the pretty colors!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WELLGO-MG-1-...item45fda7f568
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WELLGO-MG-1-...item43abb3e64d
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WELLGO-MG-1-...item19cba0b4a8
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WELLGO-MG-1-...item45ff266f95
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wellgo-MG-1-...item45ff347926

Or boring white/black/silver

I second the tibia protection. I was just dicking around going to get my son from school and got a bit of air coming off one of the dirt roads here and had a pedal slip. My weight never transferred off the other foot - which meant I hammered the pedal into my shin. Didn't fall, but ended up with 3 nice bleeders on a well tattoo'd leg.

I'm riding on some **** permanent pinned blocks of iron, but intend to put straitlines on my next FSR/HT setup. My shoes piss me off because they're Globes I use for longboarding. The pattern on them is designed for footbraking - not sticking well. So they suck, ultimately, for the kind of riding I've been doing lately.

Wellgo MG-1 looks better for the money, and theyre very light. Or find something similar to them

Woah! Floral print, too.

http://www.bicyclehero.com/media/cat...mg1_flower.jpg

What I do to forgo shin guards is put short toe clips with no straps on the side with the pins. So the pedal is weighted to slip your foot in on the pin side.
I take the pins out of the other side so if i happen to rub my shin against it there is no damage, and if I hit the other side the clip protects my shin.

For any grandmothers DJ bike.

3speed: What pedals did you end up buying?

I'm currently interested in getting either the Forte Convert or Wellgo MG-1

Whatever you do, don't get clipless. I hear that fad is on it's way out.

Do yourself a favor and get some Five Ten shoes too.