The Right Pedals

Pedals can generally be broken down into 3 categories. The best type of pedal will depend on the individual and what kind of riding you do. The table below will give you an overview of your options.

Standard Platform Pedals

Attach to any bike.
Can be used with any foot wear.
Suitable for beginners because they allow you to quickly place your foot on the ground if needed.
Suitable for riding short distances as you don’t have to change your shoes to ride the bike.
Ideal for BMX riders because the sport encourages you to take your feet on and off the bike to perform tricks.

Click-in Pedals

Best way of securing your feet to the bike.
Clicking into the bike allows you to pull up as well as push down through your pedal stroke. The result of this extra control is that you can produce more power through each pedal rotation making you fast and more efficient.
Click-in pedals can be intimidating to people who have never used them before. However, the advantages of using click in pedals make it worth while over coming your concerns. Once you have used click in pedals for a period of time clicking in and out of them becomes second nature.
Highly recommended if you are riding a Road/Racer or a Mountain Bike regularly.
Road/Racer click-in pedals are small as they consist of the clip devise only. Bike shoes are required with these pedals which have cleats that attach to the pedals, similar to snow skis.
Mountain bike click-in pedals come in two styles. The first style is similar to road bike pedals in that the pedal consists of the clip devise only. The other style of mountain bike pedals come with a base around the clip, this means that these pedals can be used as both a platform pedal and click-in pedal, offering the convenience of platform pedals and the performance of click in pedals.

Toe-clip Pedals

Main advantage of using Toe-clip pedals is that they help you to locate your foot in to the correct position on the pedal, which is placing the ball of your foot over the centre of the pedal.
Quickly becoming old fashion. Prior to click-in pedals, toe-clip pedals were the best way of securing your feet to the bike.
Cheap way of securing your feet to the bike because toeclips can be used with any shoe and can be attached to most platform pedals.

Why Pay More?

There are a large number of pedal manufactures which all have their own pedal and cleat designs. All of these designs work on similar principles and the choice normally comes down to personal preference.

Spending more on your pedals will provide you with 3 main advantages. Better pedals will be lighter, have a smoother action, entry and release. Better pedals are usually more adjustable in terms of entry and release tensions.

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The Right Pedals

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