Fair enough, stock pedals are garbage, and so is anything involving a toe clip.
But I stand by my assertion that the vast majority of riders would be better off riding a high quality flat pedal.
Toe clips are indeed satan’s work.
I’m actually moving to drop “road” shoes from the shop altogether and filling that spot with some offerings from FiveTen so ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Edit… also as a retailer if the end goal is to get a 20 mile rider happy with as little fuss as possible some cheap Giros and PD-M20s are going to be just fine and far a easier sale than trying to tell them why their expert friend is wrong and the should spend MORE money on shoes and pedals that kindof look like what they already have.
[quote=Wintage Townie]Fair enough, stock pedals are garbage, and so is anything involving a toe clip.
But I stand by my assertion that the vast majority of riders would be better off riding a high quality flat pedal.[/quote]
Toe clips are the worst. Why did we all ride those on our sw8 fixies?
The old style pedals with a square cage that dips in the middle are also terrible. Nice plastic flat with pins for grip is ideal and a flat soled shoe, not a cushy running shoe.
Though… unrelated… just remembered i saw a woman riding an indoor bike at the gym is some faux-fur lined moccasin style shoes that looked like slippers and definitely had a solid wtf? moment…
There’s a guy up here that rides in hand-sewn moccasins, using that MKS rat-trap retro pedal and metal toe clips.
No exaggeration: Selling all of my clipless pedals and buying a buncha cheap plastic platforms was the best cycling decision I’ve made in the past 5 years. I now ride whatever bike I feel like riding, whenever I feel like riding it. I do a lot more spontaneous little trips to the store now because I don’t have to change shoes and junk. Also my beat-up knee hurts a lot less on longer rides when I’m free to let my foot wander around the pedal.
I’m totally willing to admit that this is just my experience though, and i have essentially zero interest in being the super fast bike guy.
I don’t even wear FiveTens. I wear $30 Vans Slipon Pros with some cheap stiff insoles.
vans + insoles is basically the same price as five tens on sale, FWIW.
(i.e. these jawns which are down to only the small sizes at this point http://www.fiveten.com/us/closeouts/bike/freerider-canvas-midnight-indigo)
I still like clipping in on my road bike and my Endpoint will for sure have clipless pedals. I feel faster clipping in in certain circumstances, especially when I’m tired and pedaling sloppy, but there’s something I really love about that feeling of pedaling perfectly on flat pedals.
^ Probably true, but I bought the insoles with my work’s yearly boot buy money, so I didn’t have to pay for them.
At this point, I feel like this is Tarck mantra, but for this reason, having a beater bike with a basket and flat pedals probably changed my riding more than any other bike I’ve owned.
Crocs here, almost exclusively.
Oh, I’ve been rocking these for a while now: http://www.fiveten.com/us/bike/dirt/danny-macaskill-carbon-black
Got them on sale for about $100. I like them enough to wear off the bike as well, which means I can wear them to work or out with friends and not look too much like a bro in puffy skate shoes.
They also fit a lot more snugly than my Freeriders, which are more like skate shoes. The Macaskills actually feel like athletic shoes.
Yeah, I don’t dig the puffy look of my canvas freeriders, but i didnt like the color options in the contact when i ordered mine and i don’t do leather.
Kinda want these for next year:
http://www.fiveten.com/us/bike/all-mountain/freerider-pro-womens-solid-grey
A little lower profile and looks like the vent holes might breath a big more than the thick padded canvas (though i doubt the rest of the shoe breathes much, my feet are used to being a bit warm i think).
I rocked clipless (eggbeaters for the float) for commuting in the rain. That way I could change to dry shoes at my destination, and wear shoe covers. My “waterproof” street shoes never quite worked for commuting with flats.
I’ve done a 400km audax ride in Converse All Stars. Was happy for a shitty bit in the middle where I had to get off and walk for a couple of km. And at the train stations with steps at the start and end. I’m not a racer, I don’t do any proper off-road riding, I don’t see myself ever putting anything but flats on any bike I ever own.
I used to ride with a guy going through a crocs on bike phase. Always brought a smile to my face when things got choppy and crocs started flying.
hey Braden, how do you like those Syzr pedals?
Pretty much love them.
Pros:
Paired with a nice stiff shoe feels like SPD-SLs with the yellow cleats
Float is non-centering and adjustable, which I like
Zero lateral wobble regardless of how minimal a XC shoe you use
Perfect clipless option for long road/touring/yolo rides where you want the feel and support of a road shoe without clickyclack
So far no discernible degradation in engagement or retention with wear
Cons:
NOT CX friendly. Reports about mud clearing abilities are bogus, still using ATACS for trve dirt riding
Cleats can get creaky if left unlubed
They are speedplay so at some point the bearings are probably going to explode
Pricey
Somewhat easy to unclip getting semi-rad so not really a good MTB pedal
Basically it’s the ideal “road” pedal for people who hate road pedals.
socks are a necessity
in bare feet it’s much easier to sweat, and the slightest bit of unabsorbed moisture makes them super slippery, and liable to squirt your bare foot out onto the ground with a lotta force
with socks you don’t notice any sweat much less slip out, and you look even goofier