Pedals - flat pedals for road bike
 

The forum helped me to order my first road bike (Canyon Endurace) in over 20 years last weekend and I am looking to start with flat pedals.
No hills. Flat only. No racing yet(maybe duathlons later)...but speed and comfort.
I am not comfortable to directly go clipless pedals.

I looked at:
- Crankbrothers Stamp 1
- Shimano PD8040

Any suggestions?
Which size do I need? Is this the width or length that changes? I dont want to hit the asphalt with the pedals in turns.

I don't think you'll get a lot of advice about platform pedals here because they're not very common in road. Its ok to use them, but it's not a subject this forum probably has a great deal of knowledge in.

Anyway, when you turn, you want your pedals at 6 and 12 o'clock, for the reason you mentioned. :) No matter what kind you use, having the pedal hit in a turn could be bad.

I’ll be honest man with you man. You’ll love clipless. I just started riding 2 months ago and have a Trek Marlin but pushing that thing 20 miles is a chore! I just got my Contend AR 1 today and it was the first time ever riding clipless. I was nervous and I practiced clipping in about 3 times before going out. Went out on a 20 mile ride brotha and it was amazing and stopped here and there to clip in and out. It’s so easy and I was worried for nothing. I did watch a lot of YouTube how to videos also. Get clipless!!

Pedal strikes are EXTREMELY rare, except maybe in crit racing. Don't worry about it.

If you insist on flat pedals, anything except for the cheapest crap will be just fine. Those Crank Bros. pedals will be good.

But trust us. You will want to go clipless. There's a small psychological barrier, I know, but grit your teeth and try to get over it. The pleasurable experience of riding clipless is not just about going faster, it's a more sublime experience. And the learning curve is not steep. It's more of a bunny hill.

@lykbutta. Congratulations on your new bike.

I am riding a hybrid at the moment with the plastic pedals it came with. I am doing 100-120km/wk with the hybrid. I just want decent pedals I can use until I decide if I go clipless or not... I might use them the next 3-5years.
After watching comparison videos (flat vs clipless) I am not sure if the clipless give me that much (if any) advantages for the rides that I do.
If I wouldnt have that much traffic lights or stop signs I probably would directly go clipless.

Clipless is the only way to go. You could learn with SPD pedals. The SH-56 cleats on a nice set of SPD pedals with the retention dialed down are noob friendly and will unclip in a panic.

Guys, I was done with my desicion to go with the flat pedals. Now, you got me thinking again. :mad::mad::mad:

man. I’m the noobest of the n00bs and if I can pick it up you can. I was very cautious with my speed and at stoplights I slowed down early and popped them out. Easy peasy.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...eadf0315f.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...743f0c039.jpeg

Suggestions for both please...
Just that I can review them to have options vs the flat pedals.

One way to go is SPDs, which are 2 bolt mountain bike pedals, but work fine for road also. They are probably the easiest to get in and out of.

It can be confusing. SPDs are 2 bolt MTB pedals, SPD-SLs are 3 bolt road pedals. Totally different designs.

I learned on SPD-SLs, and it was no problem.

SPD are mountain bike pedals, but you're allowed to use them on the road. They have "multi release" cleats that let you out no matter which way you pull. They also have pedals that are platforms on one side and clip in on the other. Those are probably ideal for you.

Clipless doesn't make you faster, it's mostly a safety thing. If your foot comes off the pedal at the wrong moment and hits the pavement, bad things will happen. More important, if you take some care in how you place the cleat under the shoe, it locks your knees into the correct path to prevent repetitive stress injuries.

I ride in a big city and wouldn't want to do it without being clipped in.

If you decide to go that way, you can practice clipping out leaned up against a fence or a post. Or moving at low speed.

The PD-T8000 are very friendly for someone new to clipless. They have a flat side you can use to get started and then after you are rolling, you just flip the pedal over(if needed) and clip in. Piece of cake.

Shoes are a personal thing. You just need to pick a set of shoes you like and fit you that are "2-Bolt compatible". The cleats that you would put on the shoes are SM-SH56 multi-release which can be found all over the web.

Platform pedals often go a lot deeper and wider below the shoe than clipless pedals, which really eats through the pedal strike margin. This also applies to dual-sided pedals, with clipless on one side and platform on the other. When I've got M324 pedals on my Campeur, I need to consciously remember to give myself extra margin on tight corners, because it's easy to kick the rear wheel airborne if I corner the same way as when I have clipless-only pedals installed. I've never crashed from that, but I've given riders around me a bit of a scare.

I stumbled over the Shimano PD-EH500 pedals when I first looked into road bikes earlier this year. I think that are SH56 pedals.
But I probably dont want to look for the "right" side. And either go flats or "full" PDS.
Would the Shimano PD M 540 work? they come with SH51.

Flat pedals all the way.
Can’t go wrong with Crankbrothers :thumb:

I like my FUNN Mambas. They are flat on one side & cleated on the other. I think they make some models w/o cleats entirely. I think they are considered mountain bike pedals but I like them on my road bike. I use them w smooth, flat soled, cleated, MTB shoes w recessed cleats so either side works for me depending on conditions. on my hybrid & mountain bike I use mini cages aka 1/2 cages. good luck w/ your choices!

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...aac3b6a52e.jpg

Why don't you start with dual-sided SPDs instead? Best of both worlds.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...485744be26.jpg

I also recommend an Shimano SPD pedal like what eduskator referenced rather than the SPD-SL road pedals that most roadies use. By using SPD pedals, you can wear shoes that you can actually walk in as the cleats are recessed and many SPD pedals are dual-sided, making it much easier to clip-in.

If a pedal works with SH51 they will also work with SH56.

Trust us, the dual sided pedals would meet your current needs. Based on your initial post, your future needs will most likely require you to ride clipless and last thing you want is having to buy another set of pedals in a year or so. The Shimano PD-EH500 are great. I bought them for my dad & tried them last week after servicing his bike; you don't have to ''look'' for the right side. It's actually more intuitive than I thought it would be.

I've wondered why more sprint triathletes don't just use platform pedals. The time saved changing shoes over that distance (typically like a 5k run and a 15-20 mile bike) would seem to outweigh the benefits of clipless pedals if you don't have a round pedal stroke, which most people don't have.

You'll probably get hot spots on your foot with SPDs - lots of foot pressure over a very limited area. Probably fewer hot spots with road pedals, perhaps, or with Speedplays. It's much harder to get hot spots with pinned flats and, say, Five Ten Freeriders, and you don't need special shoes with pinned flats, anyway. There are lots of good pinned flats. I'd go with the Crank Brothers of the 2 you mention. In fact, there are so many choices that you'll save yourself a lot of time and energy if you just pick one that fits your budget.

That's an overgeneralization. I've logged thousands of miles on SPDs without ever experiencing hotspots. Thousands of people ride SPDs without a problem. Your experience or the anecdotal experience of some of your friends does not justify the statement "You'll probably...". Perhaps "You might..." would be more apt.

That's what I've been told as well, but I have never heard of anyone having experienced such pressure points . Might just be one of those argument they use to sell you SPD-SLs.