Have you ever had a truly good set of pedals ...
#26
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Have you ever had a truly good set of pedals ...
Yes. Shimano 600 semi-platform pedals for toeclips. With 2 simple modifications, they make superb fix gear pedals. Completely secure for hilly, even mountainous descents and really easy to get into. (I do the same modifications on any rattrap style pedal for fix gear use; a big, strong tab for pickup and heavy washers in front to get the pedal to hang properly for pickup after that tab is added. But the 600s make those modifications easy and neat. In addition I add an aluminum tab on the inside to keep my shoe from sliding inboard and wearing the crank, also easy to do.
Those pedals are race-worthy, durable and well made and thought out. Toeclips are superior. They handle being stepped on and crunched between the pedal and toe road very well unlike any metal clip. (And those two indignities are simply the life of any fix gear pedal that gets ridden in city traffic unless one is a trackstand guru. (Riding a very high BB bike bike or short cranks will help with the second. I ride 175s and moderate height BBs. Japanese sport bikes of the early '80s and the like.)
I said "Completely secure for hilly, even mountainous descents ..." in the first paragraph. To my mind, only quality toeclips and aluminum slotted cleats qualify. At 200+ RPM, I cannot tell whether my foot is straight or twisted and I tend to twist my inside foot as I take a high-speed corner. In other words, I am coming close to unclipping unknowingly with any clipless pedal. And unclipping and coming off the pedal at speed on a fix gear is one of my nightmares. I've unclipped a number of times with traditional cleats, but the huge blessing is that my foot is still in the toestrap. Sends my HR sky-high but nothing else happens.
Doesn't hurt that those pedals also have very good cornering clearance. I rarely scrape them. And they are built to take such scrapes in stride. They have a chromed steel rattrap that aluminum cleats don't destroy. Aluminum cleat, chromed steel pedal, quality leather toestrap is one of the superior shoe-bike interfaces for high power transmission. (Two straps if you are really strong.) Under pressure, aluminum tends to bind rahter than slide on chrome steel. By contrast, the plastic slotted cleats of the '80s were nightmares. I used to have to pull my toeclips tight to near the point of injury to keep from pulling out on steep grades. (Thank you Exustar for offering those wonderful aluminum cleats for SPD shoes.) My avatar shows me going up a 14% grade with that combo (single strap, Exustar) on a 42-17 gear. It works.
For clipless, I use Performance Forte LOOK-Delta compatibles with the black (no-float) cleats and Shimano MTB SPDs on my gravel setups. I want no-float for my knees. Toeclips/cleats or no-float clipless is a toss for my knees. (I think Wellgo makes the LOOK copies. I'll stay with them as long as I can.) The SPDs I have to set at very high release tension and angle the right cleat to the max. Works but is not ideal. (And yes, as a poster said above, a very high quality cleat. Just with they worked better for me.)
Edit: Just noticed the "under $150 new" bit. I have no idea what the 600s cost new. They were discontinues a decade? before I discovered them (when my last Leotard platform pair died). I don't think I ever paid more than $59 for the Forte pedals. Maybe a little more for the SPDs. (All bike shop prices, no sales.)
Ben
Those pedals are race-worthy, durable and well made and thought out. Toeclips are superior. They handle being stepped on and crunched between the pedal and toe road very well unlike any metal clip. (And those two indignities are simply the life of any fix gear pedal that gets ridden in city traffic unless one is a trackstand guru. (Riding a very high BB bike bike or short cranks will help with the second. I ride 175s and moderate height BBs. Japanese sport bikes of the early '80s and the like.)
I said "Completely secure for hilly, even mountainous descents ..." in the first paragraph. To my mind, only quality toeclips and aluminum slotted cleats qualify. At 200+ RPM, I cannot tell whether my foot is straight or twisted and I tend to twist my inside foot as I take a high-speed corner. In other words, I am coming close to unclipping unknowingly with any clipless pedal. And unclipping and coming off the pedal at speed on a fix gear is one of my nightmares. I've unclipped a number of times with traditional cleats, but the huge blessing is that my foot is still in the toestrap. Sends my HR sky-high but nothing else happens.
Doesn't hurt that those pedals also have very good cornering clearance. I rarely scrape them. And they are built to take such scrapes in stride. They have a chromed steel rattrap that aluminum cleats don't destroy. Aluminum cleat, chromed steel pedal, quality leather toestrap is one of the superior shoe-bike interfaces for high power transmission. (Two straps if you are really strong.) Under pressure, aluminum tends to bind rahter than slide on chrome steel. By contrast, the plastic slotted cleats of the '80s were nightmares. I used to have to pull my toeclips tight to near the point of injury to keep from pulling out on steep grades. (Thank you Exustar for offering those wonderful aluminum cleats for SPD shoes.) My avatar shows me going up a 14% grade with that combo (single strap, Exustar) on a 42-17 gear. It works.
For clipless, I use Performance Forte LOOK-Delta compatibles with the black (no-float) cleats and Shimano MTB SPDs on my gravel setups. I want no-float for my knees. Toeclips/cleats or no-float clipless is a toss for my knees. (I think Wellgo makes the LOOK copies. I'll stay with them as long as I can.) The SPDs I have to set at very high release tension and angle the right cleat to the max. Works but is not ideal. (And yes, as a poster said above, a very high quality cleat. Just with they worked better for me.)
Edit: Just noticed the "under $150 new" bit. I have no idea what the 600s cost new. They were discontinues a decade? before I discovered them (when my last Leotard platform pair died). I don't think I ever paid more than $59 for the Forte pedals. Maybe a little more for the SPDs. (All bike shop prices, no sales.)
Ben
Last edited by 79pmooney; 06-10-19 at 12:09 PM.
#27
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Shimano XT PD-T8000.
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The My Pretty Pony pedals you girls are posting in this thread must work well with the high heels y'all wear when you ride.
Behold manly pedals...
Behold manly pedals...
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I'd rather not be associated with anything named "Xpedo." But whatever floats your boat.
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#30
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Pedals come with a crowbar to disconnect shoes from pedals? I like em by looks.
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I know this is a fun jokey thread to counter our resident troll of the moment but...
I actually love the Shimano Saint pedals I bought winter of 2017/2018. I found them new for like $40 and they are absolutely perfect for what I wanted (grippy platforms I could ride in the woods that wouldn't tear me up too badly when I inevitably whack myself with them). For some reason I like them a lot more than the Velo Orange Sabot pedals I put on my other bike AND the MKS Lambdas on my other other bike.
I actually love the Shimano Saint pedals I bought winter of 2017/2018. I found them new for like $40 and they are absolutely perfect for what I wanted (grippy platforms I could ride in the woods that wouldn't tear me up too badly when I inevitably whack myself with them). For some reason I like them a lot more than the Velo Orange Sabot pedals I put on my other bike AND the MKS Lambdas on my other other bike.
#32
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#33
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I have a set of Xpedo Magnesium. They are a good enough pedal. They do, however, fall far outside the price limit set by wgscott
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#34
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He confused it for weight limit.
#35
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I've never spent anywhere near $150 on pedals, and I've never had a pedal failure. Some have been in service for decades. I think the most I spent was on a set of SunTour Superbe Pro pedals. I don't recall the exact price, but I'm sure it was less than $75. They're still in service, 30 years later. I've had a set of Kyokuto "Pro-Ace" pedals (Campagnolo 1037 copies) in service for over 40 years. I think they were less than $30 when I bought them. Lyotard model 23 pedals still in service for a similar period; less than $20 IIRC. And I still use the original Look clipless pedals from 1985; less than $50, IIRC.
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If you actually pay for pedals you are a deplorable poseur. You should pull pedals from dumpster bikes and give your cash to homeless dogs.
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#37
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The $150 amount is just emulating the absurdity in the following troll-thread:
https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...d-bicycle.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...d-bicycle.html
#38
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[whoops, wrong thread]
Last edited by Cyclist0108; 06-10-19 at 06:53 PM.
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The $150 amount is just emulating the absurdity in the following troll-thread:
https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...d-bicycle.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...d-bicycle.html
These are are important questions!
-Matt
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I was thinking about writing an opera about that thread.
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Maybe it'd be more interesting to ask, "Have you ever bought a really BAD set of pedals?", so not counting the plastic crap that comes on big-box-store bikes.
#44
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Im happy with my rat traps. They look 40yrs old but are all alloy with cro-mo axles, nice and light - teeth like a shark but I've never slipped off.
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Do the ones that lots of shops throw onto bikes you buy count? When I bought my Surly I actually told them not to bother putting them on as I was just going to take them off as soon as I got home. The shop is all of 500 feet from my house so it was an easy enough walk. Felt a bit stupid not riding my new bike out of the shop though...
#46
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I have some CL-sourced Eggbeaters on the Crux, far easier to get in and out of then any SPD derivative I've had.
And because we need some single-sided love in this thread: Keo 2 Max on the Goodship. Love them.
And because we need some single-sided love in this thread: Keo 2 Max on the Goodship. Love them.
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But back to the topic, I never spent more than $69.95 for pedals and those were for Shimano XTR 9020 when Shimano introduced the 9120. I just LOVE when Shimano changes something and the previous generation drops for a few weeks, since no one would ever ride last years pedal...
#48
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I have only used SPD dual platforms due to the versatility and since I mostly ride short city trips. Nashbar Soho were great and cheap at $35. VP-R62 Dual function SPF Platforms I got off Rakuten for $12 shipped. More recently I splurged for some Shimano PD-EH500 at $78 shipped from Back Country which IMO are the best ones even though they are the heaviest at 383g, Nashbar 330g, and VP-R62 360g since I found the VP-R62 to be too narrow and the Nashbar Soho always flipped in the undesired position. PD-EH500 come with removable traction pins and in terms of getting in and out with cleats the Shimano and than Nashbar were the easiest.
If Nashbar Soho pedals still existed hands down they would be my pick since they were only $35, were fairly easy getting in and out of, didn't require a pedal wrench, and were lighter than Shimano brand.
If Nashbar Soho pedals still existed hands down they would be my pick since they were only $35, were fairly easy getting in and out of, didn't require a pedal wrench, and were lighter than Shimano brand.