I need some. The pedals on my bike suck and my feet keep slipping.
I'm trying to decide between clips and calf grinders.
To be perfectly honest, clipping in scares the crap out of me. Everyone says they are best thing out there, but I'm too big and old to be hitting the ground.
Make some recommendations.
By clips do you mean the ones with the baskets and straps (clips)? Or the ones with the special shoes and the mechanical attachment (clipless)?
Either way, unless you're racing I'm a huge believer in regular old platform pedals. I use old bear traps and they work great, but there are plenty of newer more expensive alternatives. Like These
Clipping in is pretty good, but if you have bad knees they can be bad because they don't allow as much float/movement.
Then there are standard rat trap pedals with toeclips. These are pretty good also, they give you some of the advantages of clipless but allow more movement of your feet.
There are also platform pedals, which are like rat traps but bigger, and with pegs or small allen screws to hold your feet in place.
Do you want to pull on the upstroke? If so you will want clipless or rat traps.
I prefer platform pedals. I find the Wellgo MG-1 to be a good compromise between cost and durability. Some of the cheap ones are resin/plastic. (note: these are the red pedals on my bike from my build thread)
In reply to Toyman01:
Honestly, if they are tight enough to provide any benefit, toe-clips are harder to get out of than clipless pedals. If you are willing to practice, you are unlikely to crash on riding with clipless pedals. Best bet is to find a doorway or sturdy wall you can lean against to click in and out a few times. The movement to disengage is actually more natural than it seems. You simply move your leg to the outside, heel first. As your foot pivots around the cleat under the ball of your foot, you click out of the pedal.
Clipless is the way to go.
BUT... if you want the easy button, get mountain bike medium sized clipless pedals in Shimano SPD. The mediums are big enough bases to ride a little w/o your clipless shoes for those times you just need to get across the paddock to the john take a dump and don't feel like changing footwear and SPD will find you the widest opportunity for shoes on sale.
I also prefer the mountain biker clipless shoes in "trail" spec as opposed to the roadie versions so you can actually walk around in them a bit off the bike.
Sometimes they are called Hybrids or other jargon too. I don't keep up with the gear like I used to.
Why not get a hybrid pedal with a clipless mechanism on one side of an otherwise regular calf grinder?
How about something like this.
http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-EPDA530L-A530-SPD-Pedals/dp/B00AAOIAQC
Or this.
http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-PD-M324-Clipless-Clip-Pedals/dp/B001AT33CW/ref=sr_1_6?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1431566141&sr=1-6&keywords=Shimano+SPD
I don't care what anyone says. I am a huge fan of rat traps (toe clips).
I like that they hold my foot in position while I am riding, but I also get a bit of side to side flexibility if I want. I don't pull up on the upstroke, but having confidence that my foot will be in the same spot on the pedal every time the pedals come around is awesome.
I haven't yet got caught in mine, but I wear them quite loosely.
Toe clip set and straps is like what? $15 bucks? Beats a new set of pedals and shoes any day.
Finally, I rarely get out on the bike and go for a ride to nowhere. If I'm on the bike, I'm likely transporting myself, and therefore I need pedals that work with any shoe. (I do realize this is pretty abnormal biking behavior for most people).
In reply to Toyman01:
I have the bottom ones pictured there.
I switched to SPD pedals about five years ago and never looked back. I love them. They are very easy to get in and out of. In fact just yesterday, I was able to click right out of them on my way over the handlebars.
You gain a lot of power on the upside of the pedal stroke and the stiff soled shoes really help too. They are much easier on your arches.
The only real downside is that the initial switch is pricey, as you have to buy the pedals and shoes at the same time. I use the same model pedal (PD M520) on my road and mountain bikes, and I wear the same Shimano shoes for both bikes.
Look at the Shimano Click'R setup. It is made for people like you. I have the Click'R shoes and want to try the Click'R pedals since I hear they are much easier to get out of.
I recently moved to clipless on the road and for the first few rides I fell over about once per ride but always at a standstill. I think I have figured it out a little better now and have not fallen over in the last few rides. I am still scared to try them out on some of the MTB trails.
For platforms I use a pair of Wellgo MG-1's and like them. But have messed up my shins a few times with them.
another vote for the Wellgo MG-1, they can be had for under $30.
you can also change to longer set screws for more grip/shin carnage.
I Made the switch over to the Look style pedals earlier this year.
I find they are much better in power transmission and I get consistent pedaling. Here is the thing though, People rode for years without clips and if you are not looking for that 10/10th or doing something like a half century then I really wouldn't worry about it. Since I've been riding to train for my first half century Saturday, I finally got myself a set.
Mine can be a little bit of a pain to get into but once you are in you are locked in place. I wouldn't use them for city riding but for country touring they are really good for me.
Toyman01 wrote: How about something like this.
I have the top ones on my commuter bike. They're great. nice and stiff platforms that aren't huge and easy to feel/flip to the clip side when needed.
clipping in/out is about muscle memory. best thing you can do is to clip in/out 20-30 times for the first few weeks when you get them before riding. it builds the muscle memory so that when you don't think about "clipping out", you just do it.
I have M324's on one of my bikes. They are nice because it is easy to ride it with whatever shoes I have on at the time or I can use my SPD sandals. On my other bikes I have Crank Brothers pedals. If you are going to ride to get somewhere or for fitness, I recommend going clipless. If you are pedaling around the neighborhood with a beer on a coaster brake equipped beach cruiser, then skip the fancy pedals and shoes.
I'm leisurely in my riding, so I don't have fancy pedals, or bikes, or special bike clothes and footwear.
I've found pedals like this to be perfectly useable.
Cheap, effective, available at Walmarts world wide.
These I strongly dislike.
Yes, they're cute on older bikes. But the rubber blocks rotate and your foot comes shooting off them.
These do look interesting
They're moderately cheap on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Retrospec-Bicycles-Strapless-Bicycle-Reflectors/dp/B00MU0L5PM/ref=sr_1_6?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1431611027&sr=1-6&keywords=bicycle+pedals Cheap enough that I think I'll stick them on my wish list, for consideration as filler on my next Amazon order.
When I got into mountain bike racing 20 years ago 
I tried to use the cage/strap setup and quickly realized how obsolete that style was even then. And only stomping on the pedals left me far behind the pack. SPD setups were pretty new then but once I acclimated to them it was like night and day in my speed/power and bike control. If I rode today I absolutely would be running a clipless setup.
+1 for SPD. I have them on my MTB and my Road bike. After the first couple of times, clipping in/out is muscle memory.
I have E36 M3ty plastic platform pedals on the bike I usually ride to the store in my flip flops.
I like Time Alium pedals. They clear mud and obstructions MUCH better than SPD. Also, they haev a larger platform than the SPD pedals if you want to ride without being clipped in.
I'm a big fan of Crank Brothers' Eggbeater clipless pedals. I use them on everything - dual sus MTB, Carbon road racer, and commuter. I have 2 pairs of shoes - the light, stiff MTB shoes get used on the MTB and the carbon racer, and the hike-and-bike shoes on the commuter. I started out years ago on SPDs (Shimano M24s specifically) but I found that they were hard to clip into when grungy, and worse yet they tended to release when I DIDN'T want them too - like mid log hop. The eggbeaters, besides being a neat, simple design, clip in when I want and out when I want I never have to think about them. They're not terrible expensive and are rebuildable. They are not, howerever, very functional without the correct shoes. And they SUCK barefoot.
Also, since they kind of look like an axle with no pedal, I think it makes my commuter less attractive to thieves.
I almost forgot the other issue I had with clipless: the shoes. My feet are wide (like 4E wide) and I never did find clipless compatible shoes that fit correctly.
ultraclyde wrote:
There are great. I use them on my road bike most of the year, but when my knees hurt I use the speedplay X3's they have much more float, they take some getting used to as you feel like you are on ice, but somehow lashed to the bike. But I can ride longer with minimal joint pain.
Toyman01 wrote: I need some. The pedals on my bike suck and my feet keep slipping. I'm trying to decide between clips and calf grinders. To be perfectly honest, clipping in scares the crap out of me. Everyone says they are best thing out there, but I'm too big and old to be hitting the ground. Make some recommendations.
Toe clips (feet belts) suck, clipless rule. I've never had an issue with coming out of them, just whack my leg outward and I'm out of the pedal.
I miss the bike my sister borrowed abd forgot to give back. Just so happened someone stole it. Imagine that.
Great bike. Had big ass steel spiked pedals that would gash your leg. Couldn't beat them. I bet the clipping pedals are hella comfortable, though.
Crank brothers is definitely the way to go. I have candy 3's and absolutely love them
You'll need to log in to post.
