TiHabanero

For the past 6 months I have been riding my touring bike on day trips using platforms and street shoes, and have grown to like the combo. Thinking of moving away from clipless set up in favor of this. Back in the day on long tours we used platforms with street shoes. Any long distance riders have experience with this? If so, are there any serious drawbacks?

DropBarFan

I like "double-sided" pedals like Crank Bros DoubleShot or Shimano where one side is for binding & other side is platform. Sometimes pedaling all day with the same shoe can get uncomfortable so I alternate between bike shoes & street shoes. Also one can switch according to conditions. Bike shoes for big climbs, street shoes for sight-seeing days etc.

raria

I think you refer to the Shimano A530 double sided pedal with a platform on one side? The idea is nice but the execution poor. The platform is too small and the surface too slippery.

OP the best combination of platform and shoe is a platform with some small "teeth" on the pedal and a soft rubber sole which the teeth can bite into. That provides tremendous grip so you can climb out of the saddle with no safety concerns. I often ride some of my tours (when its hot) in sandles with this combination.


cu

indyfabz

It's personal. I crossed the country with a strong rider wearing regular old sneakers. I would never do that because my feet hurt after too may miles without a stiff sole. But maybe you won't mine.

Papa Tom

What do you consider a "long rider?" I do 50-mile rides in sneakers and platforms all the time. To me, that's a tour. To others, it's a lunch-break ride!

In any event, I used clips ("cages" is what I've always called them) for many years and then switched to platforms on a whim. Although people warned me I would lose all kinds of power not being able to "pull up" on the pedals, I didn't notice any change -- perhaps because I'm not so powerful a rider to begin with. As others have said, the main advantage is being able to hop off the bike and run into a 7-11 without looking like you've got a load in your shorts.

Tourist in MSN

If you want to go with platform only, nothing wrong with that. I have done some all day rides on platforms when for one reason or another I did not want to wear my shoes with SPD cleats. I tour with both SPD cleated cycling shoes and a pair of hiking or trail running shoes.

And there also is the pre-cleat era version of cycling shoes and toe clips on platform pedals. I usually use toe clips on my folding bike.

The A530 and the M324 are old favorites. I wrote up a comparison of those two some time back, located at this link:
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/1...l#post18306425

That link also has some discussion from others about other combination platform/SPD combinations.

ironwood

You could ask yourself if there are any real advantages to having your foot attached. There might be for a trained racer, but I believe there have been studies that show no real advantage for the average cyclist by being attached to the pedal. I can't cite these studies however.

J.Higgins 

I like riding clipped in on my road bikes because I think it helps me concentrate on my form and other stuff - you know - "everything locked-in and battened-down" so to speak. One less worry.

However all my other riding is done with flat soles. Right now my favorite setup is mtb shoes designed for use with flats. Mine are Adidas with stealth rubber soles. Very grippy on studded flats. Solid firm soles that grip the pedals and provide a comfortable cradle for my feet. There are many mtb shoes available, so search for the ones that have walking soles and you should be fine. Best of both worlds.

saddlesores

you could have stopped right there.

might as well ask coke or pepsi, boxers or briefs, original recipe or extra crispy, etc.

it's all personal choice. you need to try a long tour with platforms and street shoes (loafers? croks? running shoes? trainers? thongs?) and decide for yourself.

bikenh

The only trouble with platform pedals is you can't pull up on the pedals. What happens, yes it's happen to me, when you strip out a crank arm bolt or the pedal bearing fail on you while on a ride nowhere near home. Do you just walk home. I don't I ride one-legged. I can because I can pull up on the pedal and get a full pedal stroke. With platform pedals you can't do that. You are now screwed and hoping someone passing by will pick you and your bike up and give you a lift to the nearest bike shop. I had the crank arm bolt strip out on me doing a first day of winter ride back in 2011. A little over a year later I broke my ankle. After a month of being stuck at home, I don't own a car, I said the heck with and figured out how I could mount the crutches to bike and I started riding on the road one-legged until I got the cast off and was able to go back to riding two legged again. The only way I could it was by being able to pull up on the pedal because I was using clipless pedals and not platforms.

saddlesores

seems an unreasonable reason to choose pedal/shoe types. what are the odds of stripping out a crank bolt? too many zeroes to calculate.

but if it happens? simple.....walk in street shoes.

J.Higgins 

I just met a guy yesterday who has only one leg and rides his bike with platform pedals. He said he lost his right leg in a car wreck. I asked him how difficult it is for him to ride with only one leg, and he said its easy. I tried last night and I cant do it.

fietsbob

I brought a second pair of sightseeing shoes , to wear walking around towns ..

I did not use SPuD pedals/shoes on the bike..
but what made the bike shoes good(stiffness) did not help walking

other than the occasional get off and push, hills...

in summary; just bring a second pair of shoes..

Pulling up on the up stroke is illusory.. downstroke lifting up the other foot more like it..


my feet more comfortable in loose fitting , so not circulation restricting.. shoes ..

clipless shoes you pull your foot out of the shoe , then ..

toe clips let me have more comfortable feet..



...

gerryl

I use platform pedals with regular footwear. Last summer I started wearing sandals, liked it a lot. This year's tour I'm wearing sandals with platform pedals. I see no real advantage to clipless pedals.

phughes

I have always used platform pedals on my touring and commuting bikes. I did my last tour with a pair of Crocs Off Roads. Long days are no issue with the right pedals. The key is to get a good pair of pedals with a large enough base. I use something like the Welgo mountain bike pedals. They are large enough ti be comfortable, and the pins prevent my feet from slipping. https://www.amazon.com/Wellgo-Magnes...latform+pedals

phughes

Sort of a ridiculous reason to choose clipless pedals. I will also say that I can ride my LHT with one leg, using mountain bike pedals with pins, and a pair of Crocs. You really do not need to pull up as much as pull back and up, which I can do with the pedals I have. Once again, this is a very remote possibility, and if it is happening to you on a recurring basis, you have bigger problems than pedal design choice.

mev

Agree those conditions are rare and typically one needs to get things fixed anyways.

In some miles of touring, I've had three occasions that might match that description:
- January 1st, 1995; 12 miles from New Smyrna Beach, Florida. My right pedal shears off at the spindle. I ride with one foot to New Smyrna Beach and next morning I'm at the bike shop to buy new pedals (journal link: Atlantic Coast '95)
- November 2nd, 2002; 13 miles from Houston, Mississippi. My right pedal shears off at the spindle. I ride with one foot to Houston. No bike shop and it is Sunday afternoon. After some exploration, I buy an extra long spark plug, screw it into the right crank. I cycle the next two days down the Natchez Trace to Jackson where I buy new pedals (journal link: Natchez Trace, October 30th to November 4th, 2002)
- May 23rd, 2004; Paris Tennessee. My mistake in mis-threading my pedal in the dark after I arrived in Memphis results in the right pedal stripping out of the crank as I cycle through town. It is Sunday so I find a motel. The next morning, I go to the local auto dealership, rent a car and bring the bike to a bike shop to replace the crank and continue the tour (journal link: Memphis to Cincinnati)

In all three of those cases I did have toe clips and hence could ride short distances with one leg. However, one fairly quickly discovers that is extremely awkward particularly if you have no perch to place your other foot (hence the spark plug). Furthermore, it really is a problem that needs to get fixed, so one is mostly figuring out how to get to a spot where it gets fixed.

I've also had pedals seize up and go bad while on tour. However, the failure modes were more typical that I would get some warning, e.g. pedals sticking, so I had enough advance notice to get replacement pedals before it happened. Also on some more remote tours, I've also carried extra pedals. So even with experiencing some of these failures, I'm not sure that is a particularly important reason behind pedal selection. I agree it is more of a personal preference thing. I've been touring long enough that in my case, I still have cases of using toe straps and I also have a bike with double-sided pedals.

reppans

dh024

I went back to platform pedals a couple years ago and then realized that I found no benefit to clipless pedals for touring or commuting. But the benefits of being able to wear comfy street shoes or sandals are huge. It also completely alleviated the foot problems I was having from a neuroma. Some people really, really love their clipless pedals, as did I, but I wonder if a good chunk of them would change their opinion if they were forced to use good platforms for a year.

prathmann

I've found my Shimano SPD sandals to be comfortable enough for walking that I don't carry any other shoes when touring. Recently even wore them on a rocky 9 mile hike without any issues.

Happy Feet

I have done both.

I only take one pair of shoes on a tour so if I plan to be more off road or do a lot of walking/hiking I do platform/light hiking shoe. If the main goal is to ride I do clipless/shoe with a walking tread.
For pedals I have either wide platform pedals with pins or the platform/clipless combo type. I like those as a bit of insurance in case something goes wrong with the clipless system or cleat.
I commute with platforms to work for the same reason - I only take one pair of shoes

I can definitely tell a difference between clipless and platform pedals in terms of not needing to think about foot placement on long rides. The same can be accomplished with toe cages/straps or those straps that go across the instep. To me it all depends on what the focus of the tour is mainly about. On high mileage tours focused on riding I also wear bibs and cycling jerseys. Imagine that!

Leebo

I used keen sandals and flat pedals on my 3 state bike packing trip this past week. Good thing the water just drains out of them, Serious amounts of rain. Serious.

DropBarFan

Some reviewers noted a wish for larger platform & more grip. The road-style DoubleShot works OK for me but with bulkier shoes/technical riding I certainly could see the advantage of a larger platform/more grip. Nobody makes an MTB-style double-sided pedal?

manapua_man

I have a pair of Shimano PD-T8000 pedals that I'm pretty happy with on my do-everything CX bike.

raria

Shimano A520 https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano...AaArLOEALw_wcB