Quote Originally Posted by AnnieBikes View Post
The double sided pedals, flat and SPD would give her both options, and maybe satisfy dad, too.
ACK PLEASE NO! Not the double sided pedals. They are just hard to deal with. Either the platform is always up and they are hard to clip into or the clip is always up and they are hard to use as platforms. It's hard for ME to concentrate on flipping a pedal and catching it on the right side. I can't imagine it would be anything but frustrating for an 8 yr old that's trying to learn to maneuver on singletrack.

The idea is good though. If something like this is the route you want to go then I'd recommend getting a pedal that is both clipless and has a platform ON BOTH SIDES. Shimano makes a downhill pedal that would fit this bill nicely (in fact it's what I used to learn to ride clipless, and yes, with some learning you can ride them even with clipless shoes without being clipped in); crankbros does as well, but their eggbeater style engagement sticks up above the platform worse than the SPD (and the SPDs can be set to release under very little tension, which is nice).