Flat Pedal Revolution

[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.