Best electric bikes 2018: top e-bikes for commuters, cheap e-bikes and e-road and e-MTB | Bike Flat Pedals

Unclipping “toe in” is not an option when the crankarm is in the 6-o’clock position, even with the cleat slammed all the way forward or back. photo: Leah Barber

The 34-minute light rail ride left me a 5-minute walk to work at @azcentral. Door to door: 90 minutes, including a really nice walk. All caught up on the news and my emails, too. #CarlessCommutepic.twitter.com/LLYkAFS53x

I run Time ATAC pedals on both hardtail and FS bikes, as I have for many years. I find they clear well in my local Cotswold mud. I wear stiff shoes with these: Sidi Dominators & Northwave GTX for winter.

I own four bikes but do not own a car. I ride my commuter bike at least five days a week, my road bike whenever I can, and my mountain bike rarely. Revelations in bicycling seem to be incremental. Riding a 29er — a mountain bike with large wheel diameter — was a nice surprise. Same goes for some suspension systems.

Ridiculous as that may sound, signs of change are a(bare)foot — beloved B-list Instagram cycle-touring celeb-influencer Ultraromance has done the seemingly impossible in raising Bedrock Sandals to a status of coolness in certain circles. Stranger things!

I hope there is a solution. I don’t have a problem with the expense but I have not found the info. on the Shimano web site that says it will work. I have seen the XTR Di2 derailleurs but I couldn’t find the information that said Di2 road shifters would work a triple and the info seems to restrict the front derailleur to 40T. What size is your largest chainring?

Both the 11s and the 7s use a forged 6061-T6 aluminium body, which is just 13mm deep for improved ground clearance. The 11s house 10 pins per side (which can be shortened or extended) and two igus LL-glide bearings.

The speed I can clip in now off the lights is wicked. Actually feels a bit show-offy it’s that smooth and fast. I also rub a little lube on the cleat spring every weekend, that makes it super smooth to clip in too now.

There isn’t a triple option for EPS. In fact I don’t think there’s a triple option for any e-shifting system.

Right now though, you’re spoilt for choice and there will be a flat pedal to suit both your feet and your pockets. So much of what we’re told and sold in bikes is about extremes, and it’s easy to take that into assuming you need the stickiest shoes combined with the gnarliest pedals. You might, but you probably don’t.

I use flats on my road bike as well as my MTB thanks to having dodgy knees in the past, which used to benefit from my moving my feet around on the pedals slightly when I felt ‘tension’ behind my knee caps. I think I’m nervous about upsetting them again by trying clipless.

The toe area is lightly reinforced, with some protection given to the big toes. I managed to test this out on both gravel and mountain bike rides, where rocks flipped up were deflected away without a stubbed toe.