RockiesDad

Not wanting to start a war between flat and clip-in pedals but just wondering how many of you out there use flat/platform pedals? Never used clip-in pedals before while on my mountain bike for the last 30 years and I don't think I want to start now.

I just got myself a cyclocross bike and will keep using these flat pedals for road, gravel and some single track riding. Teaching this old dog a new trick might be okay but I will play it safe and just drop my feet down on the ground whenever without ever having to think about it (not to mention a slight investment $$$ into shoes/pedal just to try it).

Anyone else?

70sSanO

I use platforms on my mountain/urban bikes. I use toe clips and straps "without the cleat" on my road bike.

Both work great for me.

John

I-Like-To-Bike

Yes. I have used flat pedals for the last 63 years and have been quite satisfied for my 100% non-competitive cycling. I haven't missed the alleged "lost" efficiency of pedal-foot attachment systems.

GerryinHouston

I use platform BMX magnesium pedals. They have metal nubs on the platform which 'grabs' the sole of my sneakers. I can maintain contact for 270 degrees with the other foot being off the pedal. I don't have a problem with sole slippage in the rare occasions that I get too much mud on my sneakers.

I did have trouble a couple of times 'disengaging' quickly with BMX pedals, so I am not going for cleats.

Robot Check

OldsCOOL

I am still cliplessless, having no intention of clipping in.

Here is my thread from a few years back....

https://www.bikeforums.net/fifty-plus...plessless.html

ironwood

I used the traditional toe clips and straps for many years, now I use flat pedals and pedal free on most of my bikes. I have never used clipless system. I think this is best in town where I have to stop at lights etc.

I have a knee that doesn't like my foot to be fixed in one position all the time.

Grant Petersen has written a lot about riding unattached. He doesn't think there is any real advantage to being attached for most cyclists. In his opinion it's all about getting you to but stuff you don't really need.

otg 

Flat pedal fan here, never had any problems. I'm 60.

chasm54

Grant Petersen is, for the most part, full of ****, imo. However, on this he has a point.

I've ridden clipless and before that, with clips and straps, for many years. Having a good system of foot retention helps, and the harder you go, the more it helps. In competition, (at least on the track and in road racing, I don't know about mtb racing) it's essential, one would be a danger to oneself and to fellow-competitors without it.

However, the notion that it makes you more efficient is largely false and has been debunked by testing. There's a GCN vidoe on YouTube showing a racing cyclist, to his own surprise, is just as efficient with platforms. Obviously that isn't the case in a full-on sprint or hammering out of the saddle on a climb, because having a secure attachment allows one to go harder, but for just riding around, efficiency is pretty much a wash.

So for touring, and tootling around town, I use platforms. It saves wearing cycling shoes. That's its only advantage, but the disadvantages are small.

fietsbob

One Guy but several Bikes so equipped . I wear shoes I can stand on Concrete floors and rubber ones when It Rains.


Of Note, my Cross Bike Has Lyotard 460D pedals.. But there were toe clips added .. extra stiff Cyclocross Ones .

Pretty much what they used BITD before the SPuD takeover..

Steel Record pedals and Toe clips on my Tour bike (tricked out pedal so the bottom of the pedal is Ok
for getting me across the intersection, before Flipping it over and stuffing my foot in..


Ergon on 2 bikes And Campag BMX on my Brompton (when Their Folding pedal is Un Needed )
and an MKS rubber Block 'Dutch' pedal..



I expect the 'Out There' Populace is Many times larger than the posters on This Forum

Gerryattrick

Flat pedals with toe-clips (the strapless types). I find them extremely comfortable when set up correctly, and they keep my feet in the right position.

I am happy to accept that that clipless do provide advantages for many cyclists, especially racers, but I don't race or worry about increasing my speed, plus I often ride my bikes in "civilian" clothes so don't want to go to the unnecessary (to me, at least) expense of changing the pedals on a couple of my bikes and buying special shoes.

Rick@OCRR

I use flat pedals (no clips or straps) on my Hercules 3-Spd. which I use for grocery shopping (panniers front and rear) but on my other bikes I use clipless.

Rick / OCRR

CrankyOne

Our daily bikes are all Dutch city bikes with basic platform pedals. We ride in everything from bare feet to wing tips to boots. My road and track bikes are now all Speedplay Zero clipless. Some of the older road & track did once have toe straps and I still have shoes with the old notched cleat (and a couple of leather helmets to go with them).

Phil_gretz

Posting just to root for the underdog in this thread...

I changed to clipless in 1992, when I was only 33 years old. Deep into my 50s now, I would never go back to anything else. Well, maybe when I hit 95 years old. I appreciate what clipless pedals have done for me.

700

This thread was a test and you've all been "Voted off the Island"

naw!

I ride flat pedals. Flat hard rubber pedals. I don't even like the idea of attaching my feet to the crank - but I might if I raced.

OldsCOOL

I like straps and could make the switch to clipless easy enough but it doesnt seem right with classic racers. Long distance, TT style, hills, doesnt matter, just having good retention for the unweighting the upstroke pedal and when digging hard on an interval is why I have them.

Retro Grouch 

I've got a set of double sided pedals on my beater. I use the platform side for short trips to the convenience market and the like. For anything over two or three miles I take the time to chance into shoes with SPD cleats on the bottom.

OldsCOOL

This is the Shimano 600 used on the '76 Fuji "The Finest"

The Campagnolo Superlegerra used on the '77 Colnago

The Trek 760 has a similar style Suntour Superbe (no pics).

rkerider

I tried clipless on my commuter and did not like being that attached to the bike for the 5 mile ride. Especially, with the stop/starts it got annoying. I gave it a few weeks but never fully saw the benefit. I did aggravate an old injury when I could not unclip and went down on my left side, which dislocated my shoulder due to trying catch myself. My vote is null since I'm still 12 years before joining 50+ club.

VegasTriker

Yes. And I do it on a recumbent trike, just using strapless toe clips for positioning the foot. Anyone who reads about recumbent trikes will be soon bombarded with cautions about the dreaded "foot suck" where your foot slips off the pedal, gets caught in front of the frame crosspiece and you get seriously hurt. The only cure is to use clipless pedals and special shoes. It is just not so. If it had, I would have many broken bones and to date I've never been in a cast.

jskash

I use the platform pedals that came on my Giant Escape. I just don't think having to clip out of a pedal would work very well for me when trying to stop.

plumberroy

Platform only for me not worried about fast I have been known to wear water/wading shoes on bikes. Tenkara fly fishing creeks along some of the local mops off a single speed is one of my favorite things

skidder

One more 50+ platform pedal aficionado here. BMX pedals similar to what GerryinHouston posted above with the 'pins'.

- Crank Bros 50/50s (the older model that was A LOT cheaper than the current model)
- Nashbar Verge (no longer offered)

martianone

like MKS touring and MKS road pedals. also have a Shimano MX flat pedal on my commuter, those pedals were expensive, but have lasted, and lasted.

ltxi

Shimano Saint flat pedals on my Townie. Toe clips with straps on every thing else. Never used clipless nor have any desire to do so.

canklecat

Platform pedals and whatever shoes I feel like wearing. For now.

Years ago I used toe clips and Detto Pietros for my 95% smooth pavement riding, and preferred it for that type of commuting and long distance riding. I might consider clipless if I add a road bike to the game.

But for my comfy/hybrid bike that does everything from local errands to playing around off pavement, platform pedals and having my feet free suits me. A few times I've had to quickly dab a toe down to stay upright and prefer it for now. If my conditioning improves enough that I could benefit from a niche mountain-ish bike, I might consider clipless. But I'm a long way from that now.