More Mountain Pedal questions

[Red Rock]

I hope I am not confusing you in how I have asked my questions but I will try to clarify here a bit. I hope this helps.

I am basically looking at what clipless pedals to use to begin with. My only experience so far is what I have on my road bike. Those are the Look Keos. And I love my Sidis. Sidi makes a mountain shoe(s).

From the other threads I have read there are the two camps of what people seem to like. In the mountain clipless area there are no "large platform" clipless pedals. So I was asking why? What is the reasoning behind that?
Will the SPD or Crank brothers work on a Sidi shoe?

I have been hedging toward the SPDs although I have never used them. What is the difference between the SPDs and the Crankbrothers, or any other brand of mountain clipless?

Red Rock

[bike4ever]

SPD's will work with Sidi mountain shoes just fine. A SPD pedal will have float with some the ability to adjust tension. The Crank Brothers pedals have some float also; but you can't adjust the tension.

There are platform pedals for both companies. Crank Brothers has the Mallet. Shimano has multiple platform pedals (PD-324, PD-424 and a couple of others). When truly mountain biking, I feel the platform pedal is just another part that can get caught on something like a rock or root.

[atombessy]

I'm not sure about your shoe question, but I just went through the pedal debate myself. I have spds on my road bike and crank brother mallets (big downhill platform) on my mountain bike. I also tried basic egg beaters on my road bike, but returned them. The small plain egg beaters felt really small (you'd at least want a rather stiff mountain bike shoe) and I HATED how loose they were. I prefer less float on a pedal, and you can't adjust an egg beater like you can an spd (so i have snug spds on the road bike). The mallet is basically an egg beater integrated into a large flat pedal, and since I can be a chicken s*** rider I prefer to be able to clip out completely, and still be able to easily keep riding. And I don't have float issues with the mallets...I think because i have a sneakery mtb shoe and between that and the flat part of the pedal I get enough friction to keep pretty steady and feel secure.

just my two cents! this is the 'less competitive mountain biker' opinion i think, lol!!

[Irulan]

I use both standard spds for mountain and a combo spd/flat pedal.

Why would some people use a combo? Mainly, you can stand on it without being clipped in. If you are doing anything technical, on a rocky trail, downhilling, or just need a broader comfort zone, it gives you more options than a regular SPD. Some people like them as an option in between true flats and a straight clip in. I keep mine on my "adventure" bike that I do small jumps, easy ladders and so on. I find that doing technical riding, sometimes that extra split second it takes to get clipped in can really mess up your timing.

I've never heard of them being a disadvantage in terms of getting whacked on things, but they do weigh more.

As for shoes, I've had the race style plastic soled shoes ( SIDI rampa) and have switched to a more skate/hiking type bike shoe. The main reason is those hard race plastic soles absolutely suck for hike-a-bike. If you are on rocks at all you will get no traction, and if you are on slickrock, you will go skittering and land on your ***. Ask me how I know this. I suppose if you are racing they'd be preferred,but I don't race.

[Red Rock]

Thankyou for all of your inputs. I did not realize that one could adjust the float on the SPDs. That is very good information to know.

Now that it has been mentioned on the platform issue, I can understand not having one. It would not be fun to be riding along and some twig became stuck in the cleat and ends up putting you on the ground.

Is there really any difference on the models and cost? Such as an SPD for $50.00 vs $70.00. Is the more expensive one lighter like everything else in cycling? Is it better to have a lighter pedal which leads to a lighter bike, I guess.

Shoes-Irulan, what shoes did you actually end up going with? I have debated this issue a bit myself, that is the hike n' bike situation. We have a lot of slick rock around here and I could see falling on that would not be fun!!

Thankyou,
Red Rock

[Grog]

Thankyou for all of your inputs. I did not realize that one could adjust the float on the SPDs. That is very good information to know.

Actually, no: you can adjust the tension, NOT the float. There is a some float on the SPD mountain pedal, and you can't change it. The tension is translated in how hard it is to unclip.

Is there really any difference on the models and cost? Such as an SPD for $50.00 vs $70.00. Is the more expensive one lighter like everything else in cycling? Is it better to have a lighter pedal which leads to a lighter bike, I guess.

If you have a chance to see them in person, you can try spinning them on their axle (better pedal spins more easily), that would make a difference. Some pedals are also known to shed mud more easily than others, you can read about that on the MTBRreview web site... Weight I guess would also be part of the price difference.

Good luck!

[Irulan]

t would not be fun to be riding along and some twig became stuck in the cleat and ends up putting you on the ground.

do such things happen?Never seen it in all my years on a mountain bike. I've gotten sticks in my derailler, but never my cleats.

Is there really any difference on the models and cost? Such as an SPD for $50.00 vs $70.00. Is the more expensive one lighter like everything else in cycling? Is it better to have a lighter pedal which leads to a lighter bike, I guess.

Shoes-Irulan, what shoes did you actually end up going with? I have debated this issue a bit myself, that is the hike n' bike situation. We have a lot of slick rock around here and I could see falling on that would not be fun!!

Thankyou,
Red Rock

Sure you can pay a lot for a lighter, more cool pedal. I'm lusting after some dangerboy blue anodized myself, but they only come as flats. But some generic nashbar cheapies do the same thing.

Shoes, I went with a specialized Taho. I forgot to mention that if you have a stickier sole, you can stand on your flat pedals easier that with hard sole shoes.

I.

[bike4ever]

I also haven't gotten anything other than mud stuck in my cleat. I think Red Rock was referring to getting something stuck in the platform pedal.

I have customers regularly complain about smacking their platform on a rock or root while riding. With how some of their pedals look, I know that has definitely happened.