The Beginners Guide To Picking Pedals

I got to ride home in the sunlight (sunset) today. Not that it's relevant, it was just the first time in like three months. I love it.

Like a lot of people, I started riding a bike at five years old in my backyard. I fell a lot but had the comfort of knowing I could take my foot off the pedals (which at the time were almost as big as my foot) to stop me from falling. I've come a long way since then, and now only run clipless pedals on all my bikes (the kind you clip in to, I'll explain soon enough). If you're thinking about making the switch or just want to know more about pedals, this is for you.

I'll start off by covering the pedal axles, stack, and q-factor since it's relevant to any kind of pedal. From what I've seen, pedal axles are made from low-grade steel, Chromoly steel, or titanium, getting more expensive, stiffer, and lighter in that order. The other part of the axle is the bearings. As you get more expensive, they get lighter, smoother, and sealed. This can actually make a difference. Most people don't care too much about weight, and the smoothness of the pedal isn't as noticeable once it's on the bike. That said, next time you're in the local bike shop, ask for the most expensive and least expensive set of pedals, and spin the axles. It can make a pretty big difference. Finally sealed bearings mean that the grease won't come out on rainy days, and dust won't come in on dusty days.

The stack and q-factor affect the feel of the pedals. A lower stack at the pedals (distance from the axle to your foot) looks nicer and gives a better pedalling feel, although this is quite subjective. The q-factor, on the other hand, is a bit more scientific. Remember how in grade school you were taught to squat with your feet and shoulders in line? Same idea. Typically a stock size will work (in the case of road, 12mm is standard) but if you have any issues with your knees, someone at your local bike shop should have a recommendation.

On to the actual pedals, I'll start with the "standard" flats. To the uninitiated, these are the easy option when picking pedals, but it's a bit more complicated than that. In case you missed it up above, I don't actually own any flats, but I still think they have a place. In the mountain biking world, riders spend a lot of time with their feet off the pedals for balance. As a result, a lot of mountain bikers will prefer flat pedals since they can move their feet with less restriction. For mountain biking, look for a large platform and pins on the pedals (to grip your shoes), also shinguards might be a good idea. I've heard a lot of good things about the RaceFace Chesters, they're made of resin, so they're not crazy expensive, but perform really well, have a low stack height, and they come in purple if you're about that.

If you do more city-riding/commuting they also make a lot of sense. In these situations, you're likely to be in plainclothes (hiding your inner hardcore rider) and a nice pair of cycling shoes would COMPLETELY ruin the look. Beyond that, you're stopping a lot, and not everybody likes clipping in and out all the time. Personally, I've gotten a lot of practice track standing ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0VnQJF_WKQ ) so I don't need to clip out as much, but it takes some practice. If you want a bit more efficiency while riding, straps or clips will help. Straps are just a strap around the pedal and your foot, clips are the proper name for the cages that go on the front of your pedals and go the whole way around your toe (typically used with straps). This makes it harder to take your foot on and off the pedals but allows you to wear "normal" shoes.

My road pedals (Yes my bike is missing the front wheel)

Now on to the more complicated ones. Clipless. These got their name from the aforementioned toe clips (I don't understand how it got the name either). Now as confusing as it is, clipless is the one that you clip in to. Clear as mud? Good, moving on. All clipless pedals work broadly similar, you have a pedal and a  Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of clipless pedals, mountain and road. Mountain pedals prioritize ease of clipping in and mud-shedding. I use these for commuting and cyclocross. Road pedals, on the other hand, are made almost exclusively for power transfer.

On the road side, Look's KEO and Shimano's SPD-SL are the dominant platforms. They both work the same way, a clip mechanism on the pedal and a cleat on the shoe, the cleats even attach to the same bolt pattern (although the cleats aren't cross-compatible). Personally, I run Look, purely because I wanted some ballin' 300 dollar pedals that wouldn't clash with my Ultegra drivetrain, and haven't felt a need to switch. For the racers/ballers (either or) out there, I would strongly recommend the Look Keo Blade Carbon (the ballin' 300 dollar ones). To the rest of you, the Keo Classic 3 is a really good option. It isn't quite as stiff, weighs a bit more, and the bearings don't feel quite as smooth, but for a third the price, it's a fantastic option. As an added bonus, both of these pedals are large enough that they can be used as flats if need be (I've done that more times than I'd like to admit).

There are other options out there. Mavic, Time, and Speedplay come to mind, however, I don't really like them (Read: Have never used them and don't like how they look). Speedplay does have the advantage of axle lengths. I don't know them off the top of my head but I've been told that there's a lot, though I'd only start worrying about that after getting a bike fit. They also have a really cool Time Trial pedal, but again I haven't used them. Now I don't mean to rip on Speedplay, I just have preferences, the biggest of which being $30 cleats. In the case of Speedplay, the cleat is attached to the pedal and the clip attaches to your shoe, so stepping on the wrong rock is a much more expensive accident.

PD-M540 pedal stand up to winter, no rust (yet)

In the mountain world, I would argue the biggest player is Shimano, with the SPD standard (SPD stands for Shimano Pedaling Dynamics, the SL on the road side means nothing, the more you know). I use the PD-M540 pedals on my cyclocross bike and my fat bike. I had the PD-M520s when I started but destroyed them after winter riding the (both of the M540s are holding up this winter). Again if you're more on the competitive side, there are more expensive pedals with expensive pedal features, but I use these bikes for when road bikes aren't ideal, so I have no need to spend more. The big feature worth mentioning here is trail pedals. As I mentioned before, mountain bikers take their feet off the pedals a lot (or at least more than a road rider would). Trail pedals add a surface around the clip, so if you can't clip in because of mud, or don't want to because... reasons (I don't mountain bike enough to know any reasons, I'm sure they exist though), you have a larger surface to press on, making it function better as a "flat" pedal. They don't work with normal shoes though. Don't try it. It's very painful. Very.

Crank Brothers also makes a rather compelling pedal. They're four-sided (meaning you can clip into four spots), compared to Shimano's two. Personally, I don't have any issues with two-sided, but you know, more is better. I've also been told that they require more maintenance, but again, I've never used them, it may very well be worth it.

The scratches are for weight savings ;)

The other big thing when picking for clipless pedals is knowing about the shoes. They do require special shoes that typically cost upwards of $130, and I wouldn't want you to waste your money. Road shoes are good for riding road, they are intended to be stiff, light, and comfortable (as the price goes up, they get more stiff, more light, more comfortable). They'll close with some combination of ratchets, boas, straps, and laces. Personally, I prefer laces, but this one is really down to preference (and budget). Laces allow you to tighten the shoe where you want it, straps are inexpensive, boas are really easy to tighten (and have a sick warranty), and ratchets... exist (again not sure about these).

On the mountain side of things, there's a bit more variety. Still using the same closure mechanisms, the shoes branch off into competition (becoming more like a road shoe) and recreational (walkable). They all have some sort of tread on the bottom, allowing you to not do the roadie "Penguin walk", but the competition shoes will prioritize stiffness, whereas recreational shoes prioritize walkability. You'd want to go walkable if you get off your bike a lot on the trail, or stop a lot while riding. Mountain shoes can also be used on the road if you want to use only one system. Some roadies may judge a bit, but it's perfectly functional, and better than flats. As an added benefit, walkable shoes often look more like "normal" shoes, which will be appreciated by the commuters/touring cyclists out there.

Cleats get rusty in the sand, salt, and wet of winter

Since the purpose of this is just to allow for an informed purchase of your next pedal (or perhaps to avoid a purchase all together), I'll leave it at that. If you want my opinion on what kind of pedal system you should run, send me a quick email at KelseyGoesCycling@gmail.com and tell me a bit about your riding. On the other hand, if you have different preferences in pedal, let me know what it is and why down in the comments.

Stay cool internet :)


TL;DR

Flats for city riding
Road pedals for road rides/racing
Mountain pedals for everything else
More expensive pedals are smoother, lighter, and stiffer