Pedals?

[EebStrider]

The shop fitted the regular Cube plastic pedals to my bike when I picked it up. Are plastic pedals really that bad?

What’s the advantage of metal pedals, and what do you guys recommend?

 

[118]

I ride both. Flat composites, metal clipless. Horses for courses

 

[pgtips]

What’s the advantage of metal pedals, and what do you guys recommend?

The plastic pedals have no grip between the pedal and the sole of your shoe as there is no metal pins which is a very important contact point with your bike.
But they hurt less when you shin them

 

[R120]

There are two main types of proper MTB Flat Pedals, Composite (plastic) and Metal.

The shop will have likely fitted some generic plastic commuter pedals on the bike as stock, these will not be up to the job as not enough grip and poor build quality.

You do not need to spend a lot of money on decent pedals, as a lot of the composite options out there are some of the best pedals on the market. For example the HT PA03A's are the some of the cheapest, but also best pedals in terms of grip and performance. Pedal choice comes down to personal preference, and a good pair of grippy shoes is as important as the pedal itself.

Spending a lot of money doesn't necessarily mean you are getting a better pedal - a lot of the very expensive ones are aimed at weight weenies who want the lightest components, but this isn't really relevant to EMTB.

If you have big feet a larger pedal is worth going for.

Here is a good article listing out some of the better pedals on the market right now - there are a lot of other good pedals though that are not mentioned in the article.

Best mountain bike pedals | 18 of our favourites tried and tested

Here is a pic of some of my pedal collection, from left to right:

HT PA03A, One Up Alloy, Unite Components Intend, Burgtec MK4, Crank Brothers Stamp 3

Apart from the One Ups which take a slightly different approach, you can see that the basic "ingredients" of the pedals are big pins and a wide platform.

I would recommend the HT's as a good place to start, and they come in lots of colours, and can be had for about 35 quid

HT

 

[Pdoz]

My daughters bike has these - one up components absolutely amazing plastic pedals with more than enough shin destroying metallic torture devices...

Composite Pedals

But generic plastic commuter pedals are evil devices that tell you how little your lbs values your safety.

edit - it looks like cube plastic pedals gave adjustable metal pins - see how you like them

 

[#lazy]

I’ve been using the superstar nanos for about 5years , they are super grippy , look good and are cheap ! They might not last as long as the bearing pedals but will easily outlast the pins . Easy get 2/3 years of abuse plus they’re British made so the best ?

 

[R120]

Also pedal choice may depend on the riding you are doing, i.e if you are not riding fast and aggressively you may not want the grippiest pedals out there, especially as a lot of them have pins like daggers! If you are just looking for a decent pedal for general riding on fireroads, bridleways, simple single track then something like a DMR V6 may be a good choice

V6

 

[WildGuy]

I’ve been using the superstar nanos for about 5years , they are super grippy , look good and are cheap ! They might not last as long as the bearing pedals but will easily outlast the pins . Easy get 2/3 years of abuse plus they’re British made so the best ?

I recently bought two pairs of them, they seem fantastic and I'd have expected them to cost much more, you even get short and long pins so you can configure as you wish. Glad to hear they've served you well; hope me too. My previous pedals were Nukeproof Neutron Evo, they seem to sell a lot of them on CRC judging from how many reviews, but neither of my pairs were very good - just sort by one star reviews to see the real story! Yes 90 percent of the reviews are good, but that's because CRC send out chasers to review things too early (they always do with me anyway, but I don't review to order). They're nice enough pedals and cheap so people give them a good review when they've only had them a few days. Should never review anything until you've had it a year IMHO.

Agree with R120 about the type of riding though. Because of lockdown I've been doing nothing other than riding up and down the road outside the house trying to wheelie. For this I found the superstar pedals gripped so well I was sticking a bit too much to them when I needed an emergency foot down/hop off the back, so I put the plastic pedals which came with the bike back on because for this purpose I found them much more suitable. Think I can put a set of my Superstar pedals back on soon though, because after ... wait for it ... over 150kms! ... in 3 weeks nothing than up and down the same bit of road, I now seem to be able to do a pretty long wheelie to demand. So thank you coronavirus, it would never have happened without your help!

 

[EebStrider]

The Superstars look good. Has anyone seen any discount codes for these?

 

[EebStrider]

Order placed for the superstars. Cheers folks.

 

[urastus]

It isn't that plastic pedals are bad - it's the pins! Wait till you ride pedals with plastic pins in the wet - it's scary. The best pins are the ones that screw in with an allen key - they seem to have the best shoe holding ability. They're also carnivorous