​25 Milestones Every New Cyclist Can’t Wait to Hit | Bike Flat Pedals

OWN FR-01 The Kevlar upper is bonded to a Vibram sole, reportedly making this a light and super durable high top. €110.

These shoes are a specific shoe to be used with flat mountain bike pedals. They have a flat sole with no opportunity to bolt on a cleat. The soles of these shoes are usually very tacky to grip the pins of the pedals. The design usually errs more towards the skate style of shoes as these are most often worn by trail riders and downhillers.

Sixpack Racing is known for its high-quality flat pedals, but earlier this year it released the affordably-priced Vertic Trail pedal to cater for clip-in riders too. We got a set out to Julia Hobson – an experienced mountain bike guide who churns out the miles riding technical, high alpine singletrack – to see how the Vertic pedals fared. Over to Julia!

As the first clip-in pedal to wear the coveted Saint name, the Saint uses a fixed mechanism that allows it to take a thinner 20.5mm profile, with a robust construction that’s designed to see off plenty of whacks and scrapes. The classic dual-sided SPD mechanism remains, and so do the twin-bolt cleats with their 4° of float. Tension is adjusted via a 3mm hex key, and each side gets removable traction pins.

Mavic now sells wheel ‘systems’. If you buy a set of their wheels, they come equipped with matching tyres. It makes the shopping experience that much easier (pick some wheels, don’t worry about tyres) and, because Mavic puts as much effort into the tyres as the rest, the results are consistently good across such diverse disciplines as road, gravel and MTB. UST (Universal System Tubeless) is Mavic’s label for tubeless, both on road and off. The mountain bike side of UST has been around for many years, but the road versions are new.

MacArthur, a researcher associate in Portland State University’s Transportation Research and Education Center, was the lead investigator for a study published in March: “A North American Survey of Electric Bicycle Owners.” The study, conducted with University of Tennessee researchers, was based on responses of 1,796 people to survey questions in 2017, compared with findings of a similar survey in 2013.

Within the six-model line of Xpresso pedals, the 199-gram 10 is the first version that uses a carbon pedal body. The 10 features a hollow-steel axle and rotates on steel bearings. Time introduced the patented Iclic design that sets it apart from its competition. This system holds the retention system open until the cleat is in place. The Xpresso 10 utilizes a carbon-blade tension system with three adjustable settings. Time touts their low stack height (from the centerline of the spindle to the base of the shoe) as another key feature.

Can you handle that? No-one here is saying Surly sucks and didn’t know how to use Speedplays. So don’t take offence. We’re not saying we’re more skilled than you, or more technical than you, or better riders than you. We just got on with them, you didn’t.

+1 for Speedplay. But if you’re not using Keepon Kovers with them then you probably have a death wish; the naked metal plates are like walking on ice.

The brand will need to address the walkability and dial in the durability to really woo the market. But if it does, as Lohmeyer has said he has, Pitbull pedals may well find their way into group rides and weekend pelotons.

Can you handle that? No-one here is saying Surly sucks and didn’t know how to use Speedplays. So don’t take offence. We’re not saying we’re more skilled than you, or more technical than you, or better riders than you. We just got on with them, you didn’t.

Earlier this year, Dan Herrigstad said a silent “uh-oh” when he heard about extensive summer road construction projects in Portland. He took action.