Pedals for fixed mountain riding?
 

I've got a fixed gear 29er that I use for commuting, but now that the weather's getting summery I want to start taking it out on trails outside the city. I've never ridden fixed on trails but I hear it's quite a ride. My problem is pedals. Right now I use MKS commuter pedals with toe clips/straps, which I wouldn't want for trail riding in case I have to bail off my bike in a hurry. But clips/straps is how you slow down a fixed bike, so...

I've got good disc brakes on the bike, do I just get platforms and use the brakes to slow down? Is there another option? PS I don't want cleats or a clipless setup

You are right that riding a fixed gear off road is a blast. It is a totally different experience than riding free.

As you mentioned, resisting the pedals is how you slow and stop on a fixed gear. While it is possible to ride without some form of foot retention, it is sketchy, at best on the road. Off road I would call it either stupid or suicidal. Hitting a root or rock the wrong way can cause your foot to slip off the pedal and crash. I would certainly reccomend that you use toe clips at the very least, but would strongly encourage the use of clipless pedals. YMMV

-Rob.

I find clipless a lot of fun on my fixed 29er (spds to be exact). The gear inches are so low that with foot retention I get so much control. It's a lot of fun skidding on really phat tires.

Having foot retention on a fixed always makes sense no matter off road or on the road.

I have ridden on almost all of Shimano's SPD pedals intended for mountain bikes, although I use them mostly on the street.

I have found the inexpensive double-sided PD-M520 pedals equal in usability and reliability in comparison to the very expensive PD-M970 pedals, except for weight.

You can get the 520's for about $50 and the 970's for about $180:

http://www.bikesomewhere.com/bikesom...duct/9/27/1026

http://www.bikesomewhere.com/bikesom...uct/9/27/19641

Try the 520's first.

As an alternative, Shimano makes a mountain bike pedal that has a conventional platform on one side and an SPD binding mechanism on the other side (PD-M324), and this costs about $85:

http://www.bikesomewhere.com/bikesom...roduct/9/27/44

I tried the 324's on my ice bike for those situations where I thought I might want to get free of the pedals even quicker than SPD's would allow.

It didn't work too well because I had to devote too much attention to which side of the pedal I had under my foot.

Again, try the 520's first.

All of the Shimano pedals I listed above work well even in the mud and ice and snow.

I love my Crank Bro 50/50 XX's they freakin rock for street and trail use!

I second this. I have about 10 sets of 520s and have never had any problems. When I first got a fixed gear bike I tried platforms because I was afraid of being clipped in. After a couple of rides where my feet came off the pedals, I came to my senses and got some 520s and haven't looked back. Much safer and a much better ride all around, at least for me.

Cheers,

OP: why do you not want clipless?

I just don't like dedicated cleats, I want to wear my own shoes. It's just something I'm picky and weird about. I catch hell from all my friends about it...they're just jealous. :)

Crank Bros Mallets.

WTB Momentum pedals:
http://wtb.com/img/components/ped/momentumpedals.jpg
http://wtb.com/products/components/p...omentumpedals/

Strong, lots of grip, designed to work w/ clips & straps, plus they have grease injection ports so you can keep the bearings running smoothly really easily.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Jz4f840sc_...0/100_2331.JPG

Sorry for the thread jack but have you actually tried SPDs or are you just assuming you'll like your street shoes better? I love my clipless shoes with their rigid soles I get superior power transfer, a strong connection to the bike, but I don't worry about a strap breaking my ankle if I fall. I ♥ my clipless pedals and you can pry them from my cold dead feet!

As for non-clipless options, What about Power Grips?
http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/power_grips_sm.jpg

Wear Shimano mountain bike shoes or sandals and you won't notice the cleats.

BMX pedals are what I prefer.

On a MTB, I feel much safer riding clipless than cages. When I fall, I just come out of them...cages, not necessarily the story.

BMX pedals?

What feature or quality makes a BMX pedal a BMX pedal?

Does toytech mean platform pedals?

Why not just use your MKS? I guess I'm just old-fashioned, but I love clips/straps for riding trails. Before dishing out a fistfull of dollars for new pedals, try out what you have (just my opinion).

Big ass block pedals, kind of oversize platforms with teeth. I have very big feet though. I have never been that comfortable riding clipless or in toe straps really, I think they have advantages for the hard core guys out there but I like to just hop on and ride.

IMO, running fixed without retention, especially offroad is a recipe for pain.

in 38 years riding my worst bonks by far have been with retention due to not being clear of the bike.
I grew up on bmx bikes though flying through the air, landing wrong more often than not, so getting off the bike was more important than protecting your shins from pedal bite. I also ride single not fixed. (personal preference, I have ridden both ways) your results may vary ;)

Imagine hopping over something or hitting a drop at speed and trying to keep your feet on the pedals while in the cranks are still spinning....

Speaking as someone who's got a bit of experience riding singlespeeds offroad (gratuitous bike pics to follow):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3575/...39fa73.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3086/...64c484.jpg?v=0

I couldn't imagine riding singlespeed XC without proper foot retention. If you're just hitting the dirt jump course or the skills park then by all means ride flats, but there's NO WAY I'd make it up some of the ravine climbs in my area if I couldn't pull up on one pedal as hard I was was pushing down with the other.

PS. I used Power Grips "back in the day" when I first started riding offroad. They worked pretty well and I think I'd be more confident with those than toe clips/straps if I absolutely wasn't willing to ride clipless.

I rode clipless for a while, I just don't do anything to challenging on 2 wheel anymore. At 44 I don't heal to well anymore :D