What parallels are there between the pedal vote and Brexit? Fortunately, none at all: Which pedals you ultimately choose is purely an individual matter, not a political decision. As the pedals are known to be one of the three points of contact between the rider and the bike, the result is important, but it has no Europe-wide consequences.
What is important for pedals? They lead a hard life and are constantly trampled on, but should still function reliably and last as long as possible. Important selection criteria are their bearings, their weight, the price-performance ratio, their area of use, ergonomics, slip resistance and possibly also their appearance.
All pedals in our selection have good bearings. Most use industrial bearings, some are also equipped with replaceable cartridge bearings. Because cheap entry-level pedals are often equipped with plain bearings, they have a bad reputation, but there are also high-quality plain bearings. The 2016 Double Shot pedals, for example, use a combination of a high-quality Enduro industrial bearing on the outside and Igus LL bearings on the inside. The seals and the weight of the pedals are also important - after all, they are rotating mass.
Pedals with clipless bindings, elaborate features or milled aluminium bodies naturally cost more than simple plastic platform pedals. The cheapest pedals that are still of acceptable quality start at around 20 euros. The twelve pedals in our selection cost between just under €30 and €99. This time we have deliberately avoided models that cost more than 100 euros.
Ergonomics: If you have small feet, you can make do with correspondingly smaller pedals, while the author with his shoe size 48 will tend to look for larger pedals. Some pedals offer concave treads, while the Moto pedals can be offset 5 mm inwards or outwards. The Spank Spoon is available in three sizes S, M and L - very good! In general, you can see that many new pedal models have become larger.
Platform pedals often use knobs or serrated surfaces to achieve better grip and slip resistance. Ergotec and Moto pedals, on the other hand, use a sandpaper-like surface - they can even be ridden barefoot. Many sporty cyclists prefer pedals with as many screw-in "pins" as possible. Although these provide aggressively good grip, they can also be quite painful if a pedal accidentally hits your shin.
Clipless pedals require special shoes with integrated cleats. In the trekking and touring sector, the vast majority of clipless pedals are compatible with Shimano SPD, some riders also use the "Eggbeater" bindings from Crank Brothers. Clipless pedals are great because you don't slip off the pedals so easily and can ride more efficiently. If you haven't dared to try them yet, you should take a look at the Click'R pedals from Shimano.
Conclusion
The article was published in Trekkingbike issue 5/2016.
You can download the individual articles as PDF files here.
