Flat Pedal Revolution

[Catrin]

I could have sworn that at one time you were on the hunt for sticky soled shoes for this very concern--based on your riding partner's observation that your feet weren't staying put. But maybe I'm misremembering....

I was hunting for them because I knew so many people who strongly recommended them and I trusted their opinion - and I thought they might be useful for longer trail rides. Now that you mention it there WAS one time on Limekiln when both feet came off the pedals at the same time but I can no longer remember if it was a traction issue or if my foot hit something. I had forgotten that event!

[TigerMom]

As usual, Irulan has very wise advice.

I tried out my husband's SPD that are built into flat pedals, Shimano M424, a few times. I even tried riding downhill unclipped on the flat part of the pedals because I know that I cannot unclip fast enough if I fall.

My "frozen with fear" body on the downhill switchbacks was not worth the 10% uphill improvement being clipped in.

Back to my beautiful Campon flat pedals I go.

[Becky]

Total thread bump, for anyone who's looking for some shoe feedback:

I ended up buying a pair of flat shoes in preparation for an upcoming trip to Ray's Indoor MTB Park. Ok, actually, I bought three pairs and sent two back. I learned that my size in Five Tens and Vans is 1.5 sizes smaller than my running/cycling shoes. So, for my size 8.5 foot, I ended up wearing a men's size 7. I also learned that, of the two pairs of Five-Tens I ordered, the Danny Macaskills are slightly lower in volume than the Freerider VXis. As a result, I ended up keeping the DMs. The uppers on the DMs are quite stiff, but are breaking in well after just a couple of wearings around the office (much to the amusement of my coworkers ).

[Irulan]

Good feedback! The folks at 5/10 told me the Freerider VXi was reformulated for a better fit and would likely fit a low volume foot like mine.

[Becky]

Good feedback! The folks at 5/10 told me the Freerider VXi was reformulated for a better fit and would likely fit a low volume foot like mine.

I don't know if I had a pair that were pre-redesign or redesigned, but I wouldn't call them low-volume. I had tons of room in the toebox, height moreso than width. Between the stiff uppers and the volume, I had to do that uncomfortable "yank on the laces till the forefoot buckles and stabs you in the metatarsals" thing. Then again, I'm the one putting 5-Iron in my hiking boots to soak up some volume. YMMV.

It was a shame because they fit well otherwise and I think I would have preferred the slick spot on the VXis to the fully-treaded DMs.