PaulRivers

Hi,

My brother bike periodically, but not particularly frequently. Last night I picked his bike up for a trip this weekend, and had a chance to briefly ride around on it. The platform pedals it came with are *terrible*. Really not a "flat platform" for anyone's foot.

Since I'm always looking for birthday presents, I thought I might buy him replacement flat pedals for his bike. It just doesn't make sense to buy him clipless pedals and shoes since he only bike 3-5 times a year it seems like. At the same time, it's a present and I wanted to get something decent.

But looking into flat pedals, it seems like they're all either cheap and crappy (<$30, look like they have a terrible surface for your foot) or expensive with the pins (> $80). Well - Crank Brother's sells a "5050" pedal for a little less, but more than 50% of the reviews were about the pedal breaking so I'd be hesitant to go that way.

Does anyone have a particular flat pedal they like for road biking? I know there's plenty of people who prefer to stay away from clipless or straps, I figure someone probably has a favorite.

The most expensive ones I've see are the Speedplay Drillium's, but they seem way overkill for just road biking ($110 I think). Seems like every flat pedal except the Crank Brothers ones are hard to find - I've found ones make by Shimano, Specialized (they look discontinued), Cannondale (they also look discontinued), Wellgo...

Wondering what I could get that would be comfortable, efficient (your foot contacts the pedal platform for all of it), and perhaps not to expensive...are there options I'm not aware of, or do you use a particular pedal and find it great?

EKW in DC

$110 for flat/platform pedals?! The world never ceases to amaze me.

coffeecake

SO had a decent pair of flat BMX pedals with pins on his bike while he waited for eggbeaters to come in. I can't remember the brand, but they were around $50 or so. I like the BMX style for casual biking because they're nice and solid under your foot and your shoes don't slip. Basically anything that's metal and around $30-50 would be fine for casual biking, I imagine. No need to go all out since he only rides a couple of times per year.

PaulRivers

Yeah, that's what I mean - platform pedals all seem to cost either $10-$30, or $70 to $110.

It seems like there was a fad for a while to make platform pedals for some sort of heavy duty riding...bmx? Mountain bike? I dunno. Seems like it hit a year or two ago, because that's when all these pedals showed up - and then the fad burned out within the last year and half the pedals are being discontinued.

Here's the Drilliums, for example:
https://www.speedplay.com/index.cfm?f...=home.drillium



They call it "The ultimate racing flat". On Amazon it says "Speedplay's Drillium pedals are the ultimate platform pedals for downhill, slalom and BMX". Dunno.

I just want something decent - as I mentioned, I think the peddles currently on the bike are pretty terrible.

PaulRivers

Any chance you'd know of a particular model? I'm having some trouble finding any in that price range, like I mentioned.

politicalgeek

Velo Orange has some decent ones in the $30-40 range. Just picked up the MKS GR-9s off there and like them so far.

coffeecake

I have Evo's on the xtracycle, but I can't remember what the LBS has here. I'm at work so I can't check. If I'm the shop this week, I'll write it down. Sorry to be so vague.

PaulRivers

These weren't exactly what I had in mind -



"EVO Sport Pedal Set"
https://www.kmdtuning.com/index.php?_...productId=1084

:-D :-D

PaulRivers

And that's nuttin'. Check out these babies on Competitive Cyclist -
https://www.competitivecyclist.com/mo...542.463.1.html



Price? $269.99

qualla

I like these https://www.benscycle.net/index.php?m...oducts_id=9512 -- plastic (polycarbonate, so they are tough), comfortable and secure. Available is several colors. Oh, and they are cheap ($17 US) but they feel better under my feet than much more expensive platforms.

ddez

Rivendell has some called Grip Kings.$54US if i remember correctly. I like them,can wear any shoe with them.

dscheidt

It's known as the MKS lambda anywhere else, not that your LBS is likely to stock it. MKS also make a model called the touring, which is nice. There are any number of BMX pedals that are cheap, cheerful, and will be perfectly serviceable for a casual rider. There's really not that much to pedals; they're an axle with a platform on it. Unless you're trying to save every possible gram, it's hard to screw up. People manage, but they have to try.

One thing to remember is that older cheap platform pedals are often one sided, and the wrong side doesn't have a good surface.

gerv 

MKS touring pedals on all my bikes. Think they cost less than $30.

Greyryder

The Sun Ringle Zu Zu pedals are considered (by people who actually ride, not by marketers) to be some of the best flat pedals around. They're pretty close to fifty bucks, though. Odyssey Trail Mix pedals should be available for less than forty, unless you spring for the sealed bearing version.

You should check BMX specific online stores, like J&R, or Dan's Comp. Flats are alive and well in BMX. A lot of racers don't like clipless, and nothing but flats makes sense for freestyle.

Johnny Alien

I have checked out a ton of platform pedals and the hands down best bang for the buck platform pedal IMO is the Rivendell Sneaker pedal.

Less than $30 and comparing it to the MKS Lambda it is the winner.

Nice and wide and also pretty darn grippy.

https://www.rivbike.com/products/show...-pedals/14-047

bkrownd

Try eBay. The stock platform pedals on my 2004 Fuji were nice. I've never seen any plantforms as nice for sale individually. The closest in appearance is the "MKS Touring/Cyclocross" that appear somewhat narrower.

jayfromqns

Paul,
I've had luck with Tioga Suefoot 8 platforms on my commuter. I paid about $60 USD for from e-bike stop:
https://www.ebikestop.com/tioga_suref...ack-PD2510.php

They come with two sets of pins-flt and and sharp-I ended going with the flat pins. They really are grippy I also considered the MKS Grip Kings:
https://www.rivbike.com/products/show...g-pedal/14-053

The only reason I went with the Tiogas is because the Grip Kings didn't come in black.

Chris_in_Miami

I've got these Wellgo WG-5 platforms on my tandem and they're great for casual riding. They're less than $14 at Niagara Cycles.



These two look like they'd do the job also:

amckimmey

$49
Velo Orange
https://www.velo-orange.com/petoeclandac.html

mhifoe

I use DMR V8s which are great, and fairly cheap.

aggiegrads

+1

buck65

as mentioned above, the MKS touring pedals are good. I've also got a set of MKS RMX pedals...those are good too. Both of these are relatively inexpensive and they're very durables (been using my touring pedals for 3 years and they're in great shape)

Rob_E

I had the opposite experience. I got the sneaker pedal because the Grip King was out of stock. It's a good, serviceable pedal, but once the Grip King started showing up as the MKS Lamdba, I was able to get a pair, swapped out the sneaker pedals, and never even considered switching back. Except in the rain, where any any non-pin pedal can slip, the lamdba/Grip King pedals are great. There's even instructions on adding pins to them, if you're an all-weather rider, which it sounds like PaulRivers's brother is not. I am, and I can see where in really wet weather some pins might be nice, but I haven't done it, and I still find the pedals to be great. So much surface area, it's almost like standing on the floor. I have used and liked pedals like the MKS Touring pedals in the past, too, and liked them, but with a softer, rubber-soled shoe, you can feel that your foot is only supported by the edges of the pedals, but with a firmer soled shoe, they're great.

But if I had my druthers, I'd put Grip King/Lamdbas on all my bikes. And, if memory serves, they're not terribly expensive compared to some of the "high end" pedals mentioned. Maybe around $50? There are definitely cheaper pedals, too, but none I've found that I like better.

xtrajack

I like the MKS GR9's.

Seattle Forrest

Wait ... slalom pedals? Turning back and forth a lot to get around a bunch of obstacles needs a lot of handling and all, but the last time I crashed at it, what went through my mind was not "If only I had better pedals!"

Sorry I can't say anything at all about what a good set would be - I just found that Amazon blurb a little surprising.