Kapusta

There is a MASSIVE difference between flat pedals. And I am talking in terms of functionality (durability is its own topic).

The difference in function between old school rat trap pedals, (or cheap plastic pedals with no pins) and modern, quality flat pedals (mostly marketed to MTB) with large platforms and well placed metal pins is huge.

When I read flats-vs-clipless discussions on Road or Commuter forums and see comments about how you can’t pedals circles in flats or about slipping/bouncing off or lack of power transfer, it is obvious to me that they have tried either old designs or cheap new ones and don’t realize how different newer, better designs are. I think that is because the newer better ones are marketed almost entirely to the MTB crowd.

And even among modern quality flat pedals, there are differences. Some are convex, some concave, some truly flat. Some have more/less pins. Pin hieghts vary. Some are especially thin. Some are plastic and other Al (both have advantages)

Mountain bikers are keenly aware how different flat pedals can be.

ofajen

[QUOTE=veganbikes;23202113]Race Face, Crank Bros (again CRANK not rock), MKS, Shimano, Spank, Look, Yoshimura, Odyssey, DMR, One Up, Wolf Tooth, Fyxation, Pembree, Nukeproof, Supacaz, Chromag, E*Thirteen, Deity, Stolen or even Wellgo are good options./QUOTE]

Many of the good pedal names are made in Taiwan. I wonder how many of these are made by VP Components? (Not Shimano or MKS.)

Otto

RoadWearier

Well I took nobody's advice and got these....

If they spontaneously combust or make my foot fall off I give anybody on here the right to say "Toldja so." But I doubt that will happen. Amazon is pretty good about returns so when they arrive on Sunday I'll put em on and do a 20 mile ride and see how they feel.

Kapusta

I mean they are in fact not functionally as good as what I would consider better pedals, but if they are good enough for you, then go for it. Can’t beat the price.

RoadWearier

​​​​​​IS there any data to support what you are saying in terms of functionality and power transfer? Thought so. I admit the expensive pedals MAY have an edge on durability after say many hundreds or thousands of miles or years of use/abuse. But I doubt there's any objective difference in performance. Certainly not at my level anyway.

I'm sure they look better and FEEL more substantial, but Im pretty sure the difference ends there. I guess if I cared enough I could buy both and compare them but I don't.


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Kapusta

Well if "at your level" is just tooling around and not looking for power delivery through more of the pedal stroke and you don't ride in a way that grip on the pedal matters that much, then yeah, it might not make any difference.

You asked if there were differences. Well, there are. Whether they matter to you and are worth the money is a different question.

shelbyfv

Correct. Those pedals are likely just fine for OP. People have different needs and standards for nearly everything. Bikes, autos, clothing, homes, etc. That's why a range of quality/price exists for almost any consumer product. The only way folks can go wrong is by thinking "this is good enough for me, should be good enough for anyone."

smd4

Why would you ask the question, and then dismiss the answers as being meaningless for you? Did you really expect people to say there was absolutely no difference between cheap and expensive pedals?

ScottCommutes

I do have to hand it to the OP - those look like nice pedals for less than $9. And a free wrench.

My son broke a 1/2" kid's pedal and I borrowed a black pair off of a girl's purple Trek I was going to give away. Now I need to buy a pair of kid's pedals in either green (my son wants for his bike), or pink/purple/white (to replace the ones on the girl's bike). Both options are a couple bucks more than $9.

bboy314

+1 for Raceface Rides!

Germany_chris

I prefer a large platform because I have big feet

Kapusta

I have us men's size 8.5 feet, and I also prefer large platforms.

RoadWearier

Not dismissing at all. Just wondering if there's any objective data to back up the performance gains. Sounds like the answer is "no." But if it makes you feel better and motivates you to ride then more power to you! Maybe I'll buy some raceface pedals and compare them. Might be fun.

RoadWearier

Im not sure what your definition of "tooling around" is. I average around 15 mph on a 26 pound hybrid over 25-30 miles. That is, I'm sure, tooling around for a lot of the folks on here. I doubt I'd be any faster with $30 pedals than I am with $10 dollar pedals. I doubt you are any faster with expensive pedals, either. But if the more expensive pedals make you feel faster, great. I'm sure there are people who feel they can run faster if they wear red underwear, too. The placebo effect is very powerful one.

​​​​​​If I cared about speed and "power transfer" as much as you seem to, I'd probably not worry about pedals and get another road bike.
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Also I have ridden hundreds of miles at this point and have never had my feet slide off the pedals. Maybe if I rode during monsoons I'd need the little spikes. But my feet really don't seem to move much during any portion of the pedal stroke. I guess we are all different.

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bboy314

With platform pedals, I’d consider durability and comfort to be the important criteria, rather than speed.

RoadWearier

I agree that durability might be better with the more costly pedal. I just wonder how significant that is. If I have to replace a cheap pedal once every 2-3 years, is that really significant? Unless I'm going to leave this bike to my kids as an heirloom, I doubt it.

GamblerGORD53

Kinda late for April FOOLS isn't it?? Troll.
Have fun scraping yourself off the road. Pfffft

Kapusta

The Dunning Kruger Effect effect is also very strong.

I don't need a controlled study to know that having better grip on a pedal has obvious benefits, including being able to push more over the top and across the bottom of the pedal stroke, as well as making it less likely to slip off. I've actually tried it. I can pedal though stuff I would not have before without getting bounced off.

I've ridden several pedals like the ones you are buying: rounded numbs instead of pins and platforms that have bulges around the axle. Yeah, they work fine for my road/gravel and commuter bikes. Never occurred to me to get anything different. But then I started riding flat pedals for MTB and found (like everyone else does) that different pedals made a huge difference. Diety Deftrap (shown below) was a more affordable option (~$55) that I found I really liked. Why do I prefer it to one like you linked to? Its got a more supportive and very flat platform with no axle bulge in the middle, and pins that actually provide grip. So I stuck a pair on my road/gravel bike. The improvement was immediately obvious to me (albeit not as critical as with MTB). But I still run pedals like yours on my commuter bike, because they are fine for that, and there is no reason to spend the money.




Anyway, I know I'm wasting my time with this, as what you really came here for was to get confirmation for your already solidified opinion and the choice you already decided to make. But it is weird that you are being so argumentative about this, as I'm not even suggesting you made the wrong choice.

ScottCommutes

Everybody is different for sure. Some people are sensitive to cadence. Others are less so or not at all. Some are sensitive to bike fit. Others less so. Some are very particular about their pedals for different reasons. Others less so.

I just upgraded recently cheap pedals to the nicer "Chester" ones. I'm still learning how to use them. It is much harder to change my foot position on the new pedals. That is a good thing but also a bad thing.

RoadWearier

You might very well be right maybe I'll try them

shelbyfv

Potty mouth

RoadWearier

Not to belabor the point but has anyone tried these?

They seem to compare favorably.

https://team.bikeparts.com/2024/01/1...ster%20has%201.

Kapusta

Yeah, when one company rips off another company who did all the development, marketing and building of a popular design’s following, you can buy their rip off product for a good price.

RoadWearier

Ok, so any other wide flat pedals with studs in them are off limits according to you. Ok, sure thing. Got it.
Do you even know who created those types of pedals first? Do you work for Race Face or something?

Kapusta

No, just ones that are a blatant near-exact copy of a well-known model. Totally sponging off of someone else's good work. Company is an F-ing parasite.

You don’t have to work for Race Face to know that they invented the particular model that is being copied. Anyone who rides mtb and has not been living under a rock knows the Race Face Chester. It was the first pedal to show that composite (nylon / plastic) was actually an excellent material for a pedal body.