5 arch supports and why your cycling feet need them | Road Bike Clipless Pedals

Crank Brothers have long been a popular alternative to Shimano’s dominance in the clipless pedal market, and the latest Mallet E takes the good bits from the Mallet DH pedal and bakes them into a lighter and slimmer down package that is well suited to trail riding and enduro racing. In taking the core ingredients of the successful Mallet DH and dropping a bit of weight and adding robust bearings and the traction pads, the Mallet E suit the demands of trail riding and enduro racing well, with a narrower Q-factor that feels more natural when pedalling over longer distances. 

The clipless pedal powerhouse has a challenger, and you can call it a comeback: Flat pedals are back.

You might think flat pedals are a solved problem, but the answer is ‘not quite’. In mountain biking and BMX history, flat pedal design has zeroed in on a couple of distinct pedal shapes, but is still evolving. Let me take you through a few bits of terminology and engineering.

I’m quite relaxed – and calm, its a long weekend after all - and I promise I have a very firm grip. Although I am confused why you get to slate things but I don’t, and by the way your responses drift into ad hominem attacks. I don’t care that you think I suck (you’ll be unsurprised to learn that you aren’t alone). I’m relaxed that you don’t think I know how to use speedplays. You are probably more skilled/more technical/a better rider than me (you certainly aren’t unique in that regard).  I still think speedplays are shit (and you still think they are great) and because it’s the internet I get to say so (and so do you) and neither of us are forced to change our views. 

While his first preference is Shimano, James did throw in a suggestion for Time pedals. They’re very lightweight, the lower-priced options are very appealing in terms of value for the money, their unique retention system is especially easy to engage, the float is particularly smooth in feel and generous in range, and recent changes to the cleats have made them nearly as good to walk in as Shimano.

Flats as that’s what I’ve always run. Even use them on the road bike/commuter. Everyone tells me to go clipless but I like the fact that I can dismount nice and easily. Having seen various failed dismounts from people trying clipless for the first time I’m not bothered.

Here’s a look at some of the options on the market that we recommend. With each product is a ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Best Deal’ link. If you click on this then we may receive a small amount of money from the retailer when you purchase the item. This doesn’t affect the amount you pay.

Before hitting the trail for the first time, I removed all of the stock pins and fitted the 5mm pins that come inside the box. The threads already come prepped with blue Loctite, which makes them firm to screw in. Once in place though, they aren’t likely to go anywhere.

As the M530 is to the M520, the M8020 is to the M8000. Incomprehensible Shimano numbers aside, the XT Trail pedal adds a metal cage to provide your foot with more support, and additional purchase area if you find yourself hurtling down the trail with a foot unclipped.

I think If you have lights front and rear and clothing with some refelctive trim you are extremely unlikely to be stopped for not having reflective pedals, even though they are a legal requirement technically.

I opted for the larger of the two sizes, which gave me 114x111mm of surface area to slap my feet onto. I really appreciated this when scrabbling to get a foot back on in tricky terrain. 

Taking that into account, the A600’s support platform is actually fairly wide. The four degrees of free float also feels rather, well, free — not quite as silky-smooth as a set of fresh and clean road pedals and cleats, mind you, but not too far off, either.