Which pedals: nylon or metal?

In article ,
Rick Onanian wrote:

On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 07:16:49 -0700, Ryan Cousineau wrote:
But except for clips and straps, I can't think of a pedal model that will
both hold your foot well and not make a big mess if you hit your shin
against it.

1. Clipless pedals -- not all of them will destroy your shin

Yeah, I guess a Speedplay pedal might be okay, though I still wouldn't
want it to hit my shin. Most mainstream pedals, SPDs for sure (I can
prove it...) will take a nasty chunk out of your shin.

2. Shoes with ballsy soles, with less aggressive plastic
pedals -- Baseball cleats worked for me, but golf
shoes (with their replacable metal spikes) would do
even better

Hm. Interesting idea. Maybe this will be the latest trend.

But that last solution means you need funny shoes, just like clipless.
Most people with pegged platform pedals are using them either because
they don't want to be attached to their bicycle--they are already
wearing shin guards. The rest are using them because they work with
street shoes. They aren't wearing shin guards, but they don't want to
wear funny shoes. If they're really worried about their shins, these
people just go to rubber block pedals and take the grip penalty.

If I was going to set up a bike for use in civilian shoes, I'd pick
pegged platforms. rubber pedals would annoy me, and my experience with
road bike leads me to believe that I wouldn't bang my shins against the
pedals often enough to matter.

--
Ryan Cousineau, http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

Rick Onanian wrote in message ...

There are multitudes of SPD shoes you _can_ wear to church,
without looking, sounding, or feeling bad, unless you mean
real dress shoes; but I expect you wouldn't wear really nice
Sunday dress clothes on a bike, even on the way to church.

I could easily be wrong about that.

at home, it's not very far to ride, so yes, I do. In the absence of a
trouser clip, the old London commuter trick of tucking the cuffs of
your trousers into your socks works in a pinch.

Also, oddly, nice dress shoes make passable cycling shoes; it's the
stiff sole, see...

-luigi

Ryan Cousineau wrote:

In article ,
Rick Onanian wrote:

On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 07:16:49 -0700, Ryan Cousineau wrote:
But except for clips and straps, I can't think of a pedal model that will
both hold your foot well and not make a big mess if you hit your shin
against it.

1. Clipless pedals -- not all of them will destroy your shin

Yeah, I guess a Speedplay pedal might be okay, though I still wouldn't
want it to hit my shin. Most mainstream pedals, SPDs for sure (I can
prove it...) will take a nasty chunk out of your shin.

2. Shoes with ballsy soles, with less aggressive plastic
pedals -- Baseball cleats worked for me, but golf
shoes (with their replacable metal spikes) would do
even better

Hm. Interesting idea. Maybe this will be the latest trend.

But that last solution means you need funny shoes, just like clipless.
Most people with pegged platform pedals are using them either because
they don't want to be attached to their bicycle--they are already
wearing shin guards. The rest are using them because they work with
street shoes. They aren't wearing shin guards, but they don't want to
wear funny shoes. If they're really worried about their shins, these
people just go to rubber block pedals and take the grip penalty.

If I was going to set up a bike for use in civilian shoes, I'd pick
pegged platforms. rubber pedals would annoy me, and my experience with
road bike leads me to believe that I wouldn't bang my shins against the
pedals often enough to matter.

--
Ryan Cousineau, http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

Geez! I keep telling you. Just use toe clips less straps or Mt. Zefal toe
cups. Any shoe will fit, you won't slip out, will spin as fast as you choose,
even on rough ground, rr tracks, whatever and will not lose your footing on the
pedal. What's wrong with that?
Bernie

"Bernie" wrote in message
...

Geez! I keep telling you. Just use toe clips less straps or Mt. Zefal
toe
cups. Any shoe will fit, you won't slip out, will spin as fast as you
choose,
even on rough ground, rr tracks, whatever and will not lose your footing
on the
pedal. What's wrong with that?

I suppose it depends on how often you ride with toe clips and straps. I
tried out those toe cups for a few weeks. I kept forgetting that just
because I had some pressure on my toe it did not mean that I could pull up.
I had a number of incidents where I tried to pull up and ended up getting
all squirrelly when my foot lifted completely of the pedal. I went back to
full clips and straps on my commuter.

The big trick for me is to use mountain clips which have a wider top to
spread the strap. I ride in everything from cross-trainers to dress shoes
and rarely have a problem. It also helps that I use an aggressive all-metal
"rat-trap" style pedal. I found that nylon pedals get a little too slick
when combined with certain shoes. Of course, I still have clipless pedals on
my mountain and road bikes....

-Buck

Buck wrote:

"Bernie" wrote in message
...

Geez! I keep telling you. Just use toe clips less straps or Mt. Zefal
toe
cups. Any shoe will fit, you won't slip out, will spin as fast as you
choose,
even on rough ground, rr tracks, whatever and will not lose your footing
on the
pedal. What's wrong with that?

I suppose it depends on how often you ride with toe clips and straps. I
tried out those toe cups for a few weeks. I kept forgetting that just
because I had some pressure on my toe it did not mean that I could pull up.
I had a number of incidents where I tried to pull up and ended up getting
all squirrelly when my foot lifted completely of the pedal. I went back to
full clips and straps on my commuter.

The big trick for me is to use mountain clips which have a wider top to
spread the strap. I ride in everything from cross-trainers to dress shoes
and rarely have a problem. It also helps that I use an aggressive all-metal
"rat-trap" style pedal. I found that nylon pedals get a little too slick
when combined with certain shoes. Of course, I still have clipless pedals on
my mountain and road bikes....

-Buck

Each to his own taste of course. I find them such a no brainer easy ride
accessory that I doubt I will change to clips with straps at any time. If I
finally do get a decent road bike then I'll choke spring for clipless pedals
and shoes. Til then I'm good with the aforementioned.
I agree the metal pedals give the securest grip.
Bernie

Who cares, either metal or nylon are both poor. The design is what
counts and it is just bad. Why don't you look at the progress of pedal
design over the last 50 years, say clips.


David Kerber wrote in message ...
In article ,
says...

...

I'm sure. At the moment though I'm shie-ing away from the whole
clipless thing... being able to jump on the bike with any shoes I
happen to have on is a plus; having to put on a particular pair of
shoes just to get on the bike is a bit much for me at this point.
After my crash I can see the safety benefit of clipless (had I been
strapped in, I would have tumbled with the bike and god only knows how
beat-up I would have been) but that still doesn't sell it to me.
Can't go to church in cleated shoes, after all.

FYI, Shimano makes a double-sided pedal, with a standard platform on one
side, and SPD-compatible mechanism on the other side. You can also get
(from Nashbar, etc) a gizmo which clips into your spd pedals and gives
you a standard platform to use with regular shoes.