danallen

Is there any problem running a pedal like this one on a road bike?

Mojo31

It will pedal a bike. Use what you are comfortable using.

danallen

I like the flat pedals, with the screws stick-out to keep my foot from slipping. I don't like any sort of clips or other kind of attaching foot to pedal, because sometimes I use my foot to avoid falling down. In those situations, my foot needs to get off that pedal in a hurry.

I have seen pedals like this marketed as MTB/Road pedals. These are marked only MTB. What is it about these pedals they are not marked for a road bike?

79pmooney

Marketing folk get paid big bucks to decide what names, labels etc. go onto merchandise to maximize sales.

David_Harris

They work just fine.

LesterOfPuppets

They're MTB pedals because approx 70% of MTBs run this type of pedal and approx 2% of road bikes do.

Only drawback of them is you can't pedal through corners as much but that's no big deal.

​​​​​​

PeteHski

They are not typical road pedals with this large size of platform. But you can use them on a road bike without any issue. I use pedals similar to those on my mountain bike, but I prefer clipless pedals on my road bike. If I was commuting on my road bike I would probably use mtb flat pedals for their convenience.

SoSmellyAir

I only swapped from flat pedals with pins to clipless SPD-SL less than a year ago. To me, the most noticeable drawback of the former is not a lesser lean angle, but the increased difficulty to spin (i.e., move the crank at high RPM).

Branko D

Being clipped into road clipless pedals is the best for serious road riding and racing. Hence, they are called road pedals.
​​​​
That said, nothing wrong with MTB pedals on a road bike; I have them on my gravel / allroad bike and they are great for commuting. On my road bike I have a set of Look clipless pedals and when I am commuting on it or riding with my daughter, I generally do it with whatever shoes I'm wearing, and clipless pedals really don't give you a lot of grip with your ordinary shoe.

​​​​​It’s not worth getting worked up about.

freeranger

I sure hope there's no problem!! Flats with pins is what I've been using for over a decade on my road (and mtn) bike.

Zaskar

Don't be an *$#^!%. Most products are developed for specific tasks. Names, descriptors, taglines, copy, etc. help the buyer figure out what is right for them. If Nike marketed all of their shoes as "Shoe", would you know which was for running, for tennis, for basketball? If you say "they all work for all three", then you're not a runner, tennis player or basketball player. But, and it's a good but - you can buy and use any product you want. You're allowed to wear tennis shoes while riding a road bike with mountain bike pedals.

eduskator

There is no problem, no. However, you won't get the maximum efficiency of your legs.

aliasfox

They can be used just fine. Flat pedals have a couple of advantages, such as not needing to train your ankle to get out, or being able to reposition your foot if you get hot spots. And not wearing silly looking shoes and having to walk like a duck (or scratching your floors up, in the case of a steel SPD cleat).

On the other hand, clipless allows you to pedal at higher RPM without slipping, allows you to pull up if you need a few extra watts starting up from a dead stop, and allows for on-bike calf stretches.

I actually find clipping into one-sided road pedals more annoying than clipping out. Dual sided SPD mountain pedals are very easy to get in and out of.

Iride01 

What problem did you imagine? Pedals are pedals, until you find that they don't provide you something you need or desire.

Then you might need to figure out what other type pedal will solve that need or desire.

Garthr

I ride with VP Vice on all my bikes, including my road bike, without reservation or restriction. I currently wear Altra Lone Peak trail shoes whose soft rubber cleated soles allow for permanent indentations from the pins of the pedals. (My feet are size 14, I ride 150mm cranks and place my feet nearer midfoot than ball of the foot.) My feet are effectively "in place" where I want them without being restricted/attached and without slipping, and yes I can spin out as fast as possible without ever losing my feet. I've never had my feet slip regardless of the effort. What I like the best is the Altra shoes are so much more anatomic and comfortable for my feet. Nobody makes a cleated shoes like that. I cringe at all the cramped feet I experienced with cleated shoes dating back when I bought the original Look and then Time shoes and pedals in the mid/late 80's. But still, the shoes and their ill fit were constricting, and feet should never be that. While they are better designed shoes today from the likes of Bont and all, they're still rock hard road shoes. A stiff sole isn't necessarily a best one. Wearing comfortable shoes on the bike and being able to walk around normally is the best thing ever.

I'd say your experience with unattached compared to attached ones is all about the technique/ability of the rider in conjunction with selecting a suitable pedal for that rider and shoes that will offer the proper grip. Having ridden rollers for a long time I became familiar with every nuance of bodily movement on the bike, especially the lower half. There isn't anything a clipless pedal can offer me now that I don't already have with the setup I have. One thing for sure, clipless pedals allow for any technique. That's a good thing for some, not so good for others.

mstateglfr 

Ride what you want- its been said they will help move your road bike forward and thats ultimately what matters most.
Im just chiming in to respond to your comment in red- people that use SPD pedals(clips to the shoe) can get their foot off the pedal just as quickly as if they were on platform pedals. There is no resistance or delay when unclipping. Typically there is little to no concern about having to get a foot down quickly when riding a road bike because there is no technical riding(no logs, creeks, sand on turns, roots, etc).

Again, just mentioning this to clear up confusion, but use what you want.

Polaris OBark

My wife has big Deity platform mountain pedals on her road bike (despite being an Atheist).

The one situation where they become problematic is off-road, where she gets pedal strikes. She has 165mm crank arms, but that isn't enough.

I was thinking of getting some smaller child-sized platforms, or small Spank Spoons, to see if that might help.

FWIW, I find it is easier to release from 2-bolt cleats than it is to pull my 5-10s free of the spikes on flat pedals. Also, spikes on flat pedals restrict float.

eljayski 

For me, cycling is freedom; freedom is maximized with flat pedals.

mstateglfr 

For me, cycling is freedom; freedom is maximized with no brakes to slow me down.
For me, cycling is freedom; freedom is maximized with my hands free.

etc etc. some of us have unique ways of defining freedom.

79pmooney

Don't be an expletive? Yes, the product is designed for a specific purpose (often) but ... the engineers who design the product are, in most companies, not the ones who make the decisions on anything written associated with that product. That's often marketing and the legal team. The engineers often have input but rarely the final say. And more than occasional, those labels leave the engineers shaking their heads.

Jack Tone 

I almost always use my feet for that.

Carbonfiberboy 

We did a tandem ride to which we had to drive a couple weeks ago. I forgot my bike shoes, and we both have SPD pedals. So I pedaled in my street shoes. Man, was that a PITA! Every time we'd pick up the pace a little one of my feet would slip on the pedal and I've have to fiddle around, soft pedaling, until I could get the ball of my foot over the pedal axle again. One gets used to using more of the muscles in one's legs. When I got my first bike with foot retention in '62, it was a revelation. I had no idea what it was possible for my legs to do. I would think that would be even more important on an MTB.

danallen

Thank you for letting me know that certain clis do not hinder foot release.

The occasions where I use my feet usually is where a tire is sliding across the road, and the bike will go down if I don't save it with my leg. This sliding happens in web spots i don't notice or an odd shape in the surface of the road, like a little cliff of pavement were works has been going on.

danallen

I have been wondering that risk. Has not come up yet, but I can see that it could. I just stop peddling if skidding the pedal on the ground seem possible. I do not race, because risk of crashing is too high for my taste. I love the road bike, because of its efficiency and speed.

danallen

I thought its been found that the foot clips do not increase efficiency, contrary to what has been common belief.

In college, I had a road bike with cages wrapping my feet. I was sure I was getting extra power out of those pedals, because I would pull up on the pedals during the backside portion of the pedal stroke. In those days, I did not have trouble getting my foot out quickly enough. That was 40 years ago. When I got the bike I have now, I started out with similar pedal cages but found when the bike is going down, it goes down FAST, so I had to adjust.