Pedals: Flats vs. Clip in, and home mechanic work stnds
Robbe Smith
August 22, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes
In today’s send I’m going to talk about pedal choices. Are flats or clipless right for me. I will also talk about workstands for the home mechanic. You don’t have to spend a ton for a solid stand.
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Pedals: Flats Vs. Clipless
When it comes to pedals you have three basic options, flats, clipless and toeclips. Of those three, only two are really commonly used today. Toeclips aren’t really used much anymore. They are a flat pedal with a toe cage/clip to keep your foot in place. They are the worst of both other options smashed together. They don’t hold your foot well on the pull up, and they can be hard to get your feet out.
Flat pedals are just like they sound. It’s a flat platform, usually with something to help hold onto your foot. These have pros and cons. The pros: hold on to your foot pretty well, easier to bail sometimes, and unlimited foot positions. The cons: pedal bites. The pins that help hold your foot in place can and will tear up your ankle or shins. Cheaper plastic and metal versions will have molded pins to hold your feet. Of the flats these are the worst. They don’t hold your foot that well, and they can easily break off if they come in contact with a rock, root etc. The only advantage is that pedal bites aren’t bad.
The next option is a plastic pedal body with metal pins. These are a solid lower priced options. They are not as durable as their metal counterparts. However, they can be a half to a third the cost of the metal options. They hold onto your foot well, and they come in a rainbow of color options. Pedal bites from these will get your attention. The Race Face Chester and the OneUp Components Composite Pedal are two solid options.
The last option is the metal flat pedal. Most of the these will have replaceable metal pins that hold your foot in place. These are usually very durable, and they hold onto your foot well. If you happen to bend or break a pin, they are replaceable. These are also the most durable option you will have. With that, the pedal bites are the worst. In addition to having metal smash into your shin, you also get a metal pins/screws to tear you up. The Crank Brothers Stamp and the OneUp Components Aluminum Pedal.
The next option is clipless pedals. The name can be a little confusing since you actually have a cleat on the bottom of your shoe that clips into the pedal. They are called clipless since there is no toeclip.
You might think it’s crazy to be attached to your bike especially when riding in the woods. Once you spend a little time on clipless pedals, getting in and out of the pedals becomes second nature. Over the years, being clipped in has saved me more often than leading to a wreck.
People tend to ride clipped in for two reasons. One is the efficiency, and the second is keeping your feet on the pedals in high speed tech. There is a reason a lot of downhill racers ride clipped in. The efficiency comes with the ability to both push and pull on the pedals during the pedal stroke.
There are lots of options with clipless pedals. The most common is SPD which stands for Shimano Pedaling Dynamics. Shimano has licensed this design to countless companies over the years. Then there are the others. The non-SPD options out there are good. I have found that most offer more knee float than their SPD counterparts. They all work the same way. You step in to lock in place, and twist your ankle to release. The Crank Brothers Mallet E and Shimano XT 8120 are both solid options.
Bike I’m Eyeing: Santa Cruz Bronson
Here’s why…..this bike was just released yesterday by SC. There were rumors that it was going to be missing the wired rear derailleur ports like the Stumpjumper 15 that just came out, but this generation seems to be holding on to all the ports necessary for any drivetrain option.
Santa Cruz Bronson
Home mechanic work stands
Years ago I got tired of paying other people to fix my bike, so I learned how to do it. It was a slow process that took a lot of time and patience to learn. The base of all that knowledge was a good home work stand. A good work stand doesn’t have to be expensive. My first one was around $100, and it lasted me 15 years.
Looking at all the tools needed to be a home mechanic can seem daunting based on the number of tools and knowledge needed. I found it best to focus on the repair I was trying to accomplish at that moment in time. I would ask myself what tools I needed, and what do I have vs. what I need. Then I had to decided if they made sense to buy. With this approach over the years I have collected a decent set of bike tools. With the exception of some specific tools, bike tools are metric hex wrenches, metric crescent wrenches etc.
I am sure this will date me, but way back when I decided to learn how to fix a bike I purchased a book on bike maintenance. It was a decent way to learn. As the internet evolved and grew I discovered Youtube which is a great resource on most bike related repairs. If I am planning on doing something I haven’t done in a while I will watch it on Youtube first.
My first stand was a version of this one. It was branded under a different name, but the basic function of it is the same. I have used the stand for everything from basic chain lubing to a full frame up build, and everything in between. Since then I have upgraded to this Feedback Sports Ultralight Bike Repair Stand. It can handle some of the heavier bikes from today, and it can easily hold the bike by the seatpost, seattube, downtube etc.
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