Im new to the whole mountian biking scene and i was just wondering if some of yall veterans could tell me what yall think about pedals. I have just basic pedals right now but i was thinking about geting some caged ones. What would yall suggest
By cage ones I assume you mean pedals with toe clips and straps (aka Quill Pedals?) or do you mean clipless pedals (aka clip-in or step-in). Here are some quick pros and cons:
Quill Pedals: Are cheap Don't require special footwear Offer many of the benefits of clip-less pedals Can kill you when you can't get your foot out of the strap :)
Clipless Pedals: Are more espensive Require special footwear to use (with cleats on the bottom) Offer all of the benefits of Quill pedals (especially if you use a clip-less pedal with a large frame) Are easier to get your foot out of than quill pedals (especially if you use multi-directional release cleats)
In a nutshell, if you have the money (approx. $200) buy decent Shimano shoes and the more basic clipless pedals (M324 or M424) until you can decide for yourself how to best adjust the cleats and the pedal spring tension to get the right balance of performane versus safety.
Go clipless, you will only regret when you fall the first time without removing your foot. Otherwise They are it. I use xtr on my epic and have a set of eggbeaters if I ever get more competive. They (xtr) work great here in the high desert mountains. The cages Dont get em
I agree with going clipless - unless all you're doing is riding downhill.
I ride crankbrothers pedals, and absolutely love them. Have a pair of candys on my Titus, and a pair of Mallets on my Kona. For shoes, I use Shimano SPD's.
They definitely take some getting used to, and I would strongly suggest practicing on some grass - just getting used to clipping in and out. Once you get the hang of it, you'll love the advantages you gain when climbing.
Around here Time Aliums or Attacks are pretty popular. If you have never ridden clipless pedals practice in a nice open field until you get the knack of unclipping. Once you learn you will be hooked. Good Luck
I now appreciate my clipless pedals. I bought them for the tandem my girlfriend & I rode. She would not use them. (She barely used the pedals she had...) When I found out how much more power I got out of my stroke from attaching my feet to the pedals I was hooked. I am around 50 (or so they say) and heck I need every advantage I can get. Clipless pedals are definately an equilizer to hills that had previously made me dismount.
My first MTB I just used flat pedals. Then I used cages and found they scraped the dirt too much when starting up. Then I went to the power grips and used those for a year or so. Great idea. When set right they train you to twist out (like clip in pedals) and still give some upward pull on the rotation.
Then I went to SPD's. A week into using them I stopped at a rest stop with some riders and went over in cholla cactus. I turned my heal to unclip and nothing happened. So I was glued to the bike and fell. 200 needles later I was recovering and figured out the problem. The cleat shifted on the shoe and thus no spring action on the pedal to unclip. It shifted because after a week of use, the cleat sunk into the plastic shoe and loostened up. Shimano now warns about this.
From there I went to Crank Brothers Eggbeaters and have been very happy ever since.
I won't even consider riding unless I am clipped in. When I'm on the bike, I'm ON THE BIKE. Being clipped in has saved my bacon many times and getting out of the eggbeaters is so easy its a sin.
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