danallen

How do the flat pedals interfere with peddling in corners?

eduskator

Well, flat pedals are typically bigger and wider so yeah the angle to which you can tilt the bike before the pedals touches the ground is shorter than most clipless pedals, but that's kind of irrelevant I think.

Yan 

They are wider so when you lean sharply, they can touch the ground.

rsbob 

There are combo flat pedal on one side and spd on the other depending what you intend to do.

the only negative to spiked flat pedals is when you accidentally hit one pedal with your foot and it spins backwards into your shin. Ask me how I know.

DUHI4GOT

Here's a comparison from GCN

79pmooney

This is an old post, last October, but I keep reading that "peddle lift using clips is anatomically impossible". Disturbing. If true. I've had ongoing hallucinations most bike rides on my 3 toeclip and strap bikes. They seem to only happen when I don't tighten the straps. The illusion is that my foot lifted off the pedal and that my cleat (one of those aluminum slotted deals dinosaurs used to ride) lifted off the pedal and all that was restraining my foot was that loose strap.

I was taught to "pedal circles" nearly 50 years ago, long before the physics of bike riding was known. That included pulling up on the upstroke as that was part of the circle. So I've naively believed that cleat disconnect I seemed to have perceived so many times was just that simple lift of the full circle pedal stroke. Now I know better. If it keeps happening, I should go to a shrink

VegasJen

It's been shown to have extremely minimal advantages is power applications over flats. Enough that if someone pays you to wear their gear, then yes, every little bit helps. If you're paying to wear someone else's gear, maybe not so much.

Invariably the argument always devolves into better control or some such preference. To each their own. Of course, I'm a heretic. I have flats on all my bikes, even my tri bikes.

LesterOfPuppets

I'm surprised everyone in sprint Tri's isn't on flat pedals, assuming you wear your running shoes on the bike, that second transition should be fast and easy!

Polaris OBark

Pedal strikes (as mentioned in my previous post). Those can have very nasty results.

Since that post, my wife had hip replacement surgery, so she has reaffirmed never wanting to use clip-ins (right now she can't).

DangerousDanR

I have Shimano ES 600 on the Scylon. My two commuters have Shimano M 324 dual sided pedals. And some flat pedals on the off road bikes. The Fat bike has some Ti flats that came off of eBay, while the hard tail has Spank Spoons, 110 mm wide.

The tandem is the only one that I will argue strongly for clipless pedals. Using flats on a tandem is asking for an injury. My stoker, who didn't want to go with clipless now will not ride the tandem in plain shoes. Our pedals are some Ritchey micro SPD pedals that they no longer make.

choddo

You can use whatever pedals you want (I will never use flat pedals on a road bike personally, they look terrible and clipless optimise foot position effortlessly and precisely - the tandem comment above is interesting too, never ridden one but that makes a lot of sense)

but what is unconscionable is spelling it “peddles” and “peddling”. That means selling something.

VegasJen

Despite my antipathy to clipping in, I do not wear my running shoes on my bikes. As some have stated above, I find the soles to be a bit too mushy. I wear a shoe with a bit more stiffness in the sole, but something I can still walk in (or run in) if need be.

elcruxio

I've recently found (again) that I don't like the feel of wide mtb platform pedals. I always feel somewhat insecure and disconnected from the bike with them. For me the best option for flat pedal is a fairly narrow pedal (eg. MKS Sylvan) with shoes that have a stacked heel I can put the pedal against.

My dislike for the wide MTB pedals has driven me to use clipless even with my MTB's and during the winter.

But I suppose I will have to get used to the MTB platforms since my touring bike / commuter needs dual sided pedals and I ordered the Shimano PD-T8000's for it.

VegasJen

I'm a fan of the Venzo flat pedals that have SPD compatible clips, available on Amazon. You can get them in a fairly narrow platform.

choddo

While I can’t remember the last time I had to do it, it was probably at a road junction when a car wasn’t visible until the last second, my foot gets out of a Keo cleat very fast indeed. It’s just a matter of practice.

I don’t mind if someone else wants to use these on a road bike but I know for a fact they don’t keep my feet as securely positioned and no way on earth would I do a hundred miler on flats.

SPDs I could just about tolerate.

VegasJen

Yet another reason why I choose flat pedals. Out today and got a puncture that neither the sealant or the plug kit would stop. Called a friend to come pick me up but I still walked 2+ miles before he got to me. Can't imagine even trying that in cleated shoes.

choddo

Cleat covers make it just about doable but yeah, not fun.

VegasJen

I was lucky phone a friend worked out. I still had almost 12 miles left on the ride. I could have walked it but that would have put me on the shoulder of a highway for over an hour after sunset.

ScottCommutes

In my opinion, the MTB pedals are best for almost everybody on the roads - cheaper, safer in certain situations, better footwear, options to move your foot, etc.

The road pedals and shoes have their place. They lock you in and make you one with the bike, much like a race car driver's seat and harness might. Great option if you get your foot position exactly perfect and have no plans on walking or stopping repeatedly. Less chance of a strike or a foot inadvertently slipping off a pedal. Also some performance gains.

zymphad

This is exactly what I'm doing on my old bike. I'm changing out the stem to 17 degree, lowering the seat a little and putting on some flats. I can't wait to just put put around with flats on the old bike.