guadzilla

Hello all - now that my steel bike is almost fully converted to a gravel beast, i also need to change the pedals. Speedplay Zeros cleat and mud/dirt dont mix.

My requirements:
- Dual-sided. My muscle memory is used to that with Speedplays
- A decent platform for using with sneakers or flip-flops for short spins
- If possible, adjustable float angles - I dont need a lot of float but i do need to be able to position my feet with the toes slightly outwards.
- a Q-factor closer to road bikes - my gravel beast will still be 80% on tarmac
- Reasonably secure and not too easy to pop out
- Something that will not rust too easily in a hot tropical sea-side climate

Looking at Crankbrothers - open to thoughts on Mallet vs Candys. Also open to other suggestions.

TIA!

fietsbob

I'm Post Clipless myself.. now JRA ... not needing 'performance' anymore..

seeing Magnetic Pedals in the shop they look good

https://www.magped.us/?v=7516fd43adaa

& https://maglockbikepedal.com/
wear the 'Spud' shoes with a steel piece for the cleat that wont wear and stop working ..

wear any other shoes & its just a pedal ,,

May they attract small hardware in the street ? IDK .




...

caloso

Subscribing to see what gets recommended. I've been using my CX bike as a commuter and would like to have an option with a platform so I can just hop on with regular shoes.

guadzilla

A friend recommended Look X-Track En-Rage by a roadie friend who uses them on his gravel. Looking at them, they seem to fit the bill.

fietsbob - thanks for that. Would prefer clipless, as i see myself training on the bike as well.

Prodigy4299

I have experience with three different combi clipless pedals (Wellgo, Shimano M324 and Shimano EH500), and would highly recommend the EH500. It's what I run on my current gravel bike and I love it. The platform is a bit smaller than on the 324, but the (optional) metal spikes add incredible traction when riding them on the platform side.

trailangel

https://www.rei.com/product/116154/s...000-spd-pedals

mstateglfr 

Shimano A530 is what I have on my gravel bike and touring/commute bike since I use those for family rides to parks, ice cream, etc.

wheelsmcgee

I have had a pair on my AWOL for a couple years now and think for the price* they are a great pedal.

*On second thought, let’s say “the price in 2017”. I’m pretty sure I paid well under $50, all I’m seeing now is $200+ (WTH ?!?)

Makes me wonder if they have been discontinued...PD-EH500 is similar, but with pins on the flat side (which could always be removed)

mstateglfr 

Good call, I didn't realize the A530 was no longer made..

Looks like this eh500 is the same thing but with pins, as you mentioned. Thst solves the one complaint about the A530 which was not great traction on the flat side. I've never had an issue, but im not using the flat side while riding in rain or anything like that.

msu2001la

I've never had a big issue doing short rides in street shoes on XT and XTR pedals. I wouldn't want to do a 10 mile ride like that, but I frequently run errands around town for 10-20 minute rides in regular shoes and it's fine.

I have both on my CX bikes and they work pretty good in mud/dirt. XT's are hard to beat for $100. XTR's are double the cost, and there seems to be minimal difference between them.

Shimano makes a short-spindle version of the XTR pedal to keep the Q factor closer to road. They also have a platform for these pedals if that's your thing.

https://bikerumor.com/2019/02/04/han...pedal-options/

Steve B.

The Shimano 424 is dual SPD as well as a dual sided platform with pins.

https://bike.shimano.com/en-US/produ...0/PD-M424.html

guadzilla

Any love for the 8120 pedal? Or even the M530, which seem to be the lower variant of the same thing?

(And FFS, why does Shimano make so many damn variations of the pedals, half of which are nearly identical to each other??)

DorkDisk

EH500 pedals are nice; I've a pair for city use. The flats are very nice, and the SPD is the usual. They scratch easily and the color doesn't match anything else though, except maybe the blue Deore LX.

caloso

Anyone with experience with the ISSI Flip?

msu2001la

Good question.
I had a pair of M540's on my bike for a while (which I think are the M530 without the extra platform). I still have them in a box somewhere. They were functionally indistinguishable from XT's. My understanding is that these pedals all run the same bearings, and I've never had an issue with any Shimano SPD MTB pedal, so I think the only difference is weight (which is very minor).

woofy

I am running Shimano PD-T8000 on my CX bike. Platform is good, support underfoot for SPD very good.

Not light, but not overly heavy.

I did not like the look at first, but that grew on me.

I do like the Shimano PD EH500 and A530s, though the latter do not look to have the kind of grip the EH500's have. This is what I would put on a road bike.[/h3]The next thing I will try in this genre is Xpedo Ambix. Cheers!

woof!

BluesDawg

My limited experiences with dual sided pedals has not been good. It seemed to me that the pedal never had the side I wanted up when I would start out, so I would have to flip it over. My solution, which is not ideal, has been a set of XT Trail SPD pedals and a set of Race Face Chester flat pedals which I swap between my gravel bike and my mountain bike. If I have a real preference for a particular ride and the wrong pedals are mounted, I'll swap them. If it doesn't really matter, I'll go with whichever is mounted. As I said, it is not ideal, but it works out better than I thought it would, sacrificing some convenience for less compromise. The hardest part is remembering to get the right shoes.

RC1991

So I saw your post and decided to check out the Magpeds which looked intriguing as I never wore bike shoes and was also concerned about no being able to unclip and falling. I decided to get a pair of the Magped Ultras to use on a new Roubaix Comp as they were only a bit heavier than the road pedals and used MTB shoes. I bought a pair of used Pearl Izumi MTB shoes from REI that were in pretty much new condition for $50 and tried out the set-up today. They worked very well - shoes were comfortable and the pedals worked well!

Smitty2k1

I got a pair of Shimano PD-T8000 on my gravel bike when I got my first pair of SPD shoes. Loved them. The fact they return to vertical when you take your foot off makes it super easy to find the side you want (platform or SPD). Living in the city I also appreciated the built in reflectors.

That said they are a "wider" instead of "longer" pedal, and my bike has a very low bottom bracket. My typical ride is a 2-3 ride on local paved trails and I was getting a few too many pedal strikes aggressively pedaling through corners.

I ended up getting a pair of ISSI Flip 3 pedals instead as they are narrower. Still get the occasional pedal strike but far fewer. I miss the auto rotate feature of the PD-T8000 but still happy with the Flips.

Either way you go make sure you get a pedal that has replaceable traction pins on the platform side. Riding in wet conditions the traction pins are a MUST! The Shimano PD-Eh500 also fits the bill as others have said.

trailangel

Seems the Shimano PD EH500 is discontinued.

MPE

I run the ISSI Flip pedals on my gravel bike and like them alot. They work better clipped in than as flats, but for a casual ride, the flat side works fine. They have good colors too.

Mike
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MPE

I run the ISSi Flips on my gravel bike, but I also have Funn Mambas on my fat bike. https://www.funnmtb.com/products/mamba/?id=152

They work really well as flats and pretty good clipped in. I might put them back on my gravel bike sometime. Let us know what you decide on.

Take care,
Mike
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