Clipping in: 5 mistakes I made so you don’t have to | Carbon Fahrrad Umwerfer Installationssatz

Winter is a great time for using flat pedals, we’ve been brushing up on our essential mountain bike skills on them whilst the weather has been chilly and the mud sticky. In turn, this has led to some awesome testing conditions so we can bring you our ‘best in test’. Here are a number of great options for your next flat pedal foray.

I’ve been riding for: Under 5 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

That said, many bike fitters have also long loved the Speedplay system for its adjustability. Four different spindle lengths are available, along with different base plates that afford a huge range of fore-aft adjustability. Speedplay cleats are also the easiest of the four major systems when it comes to compensating for different leg lengths. Only recently has Shimano added a choice in pedal axle lengths (standard or +4mm), and it’s likely Speedplay’s success encouraged such an option.

That said – definitely not a beginnner setup. Tightening the cleat screws even .5nm too much and you can compress part of the housing enough to give you issues with the spring. Breaking in the spring must be a hell of a time for a light rider, and if the missus moves on to them (I have bought her some, but after realising the initial learning curve she lost interest), I’ll have to break the spring in for her. Also actually finding the pedal isn’t just step down and go – you have a few cm wide circle under you foot that you need to mount so like Keo’s etc, you still need to develop muscle memory.

Sounds like a bit of creative accounting occurred before the sale, with a load of “assets” now written off

These are indeed awesome: I still use 520 pedals with the SH56 cleats for my commute; I don’t think they can be beaten for stop-start over mixed terrain.

Albeit, many of us don’t commute in every day because we’re out and about doing journalism and need our cars in case of breaking news.

The UCI’s decision was apparently driven by safety concerns, although it’s not clear that the organization has date showing the frequency of injuries caused by clipless pedals. Anecdotally some BMX fans have seen small riders stuck in their pedals.

If you want to get into the sandal-toting life you can buy the Shimano SD5 sandals pictured from Evans Cycles. If you really want to complete that look, the jazzy socks come courtesy of Stance and the more austere waterproof stockings are from Bridgedale.

As a city dweller, escaping the city limits for a mountain bike ride in the woods is one of my greatest pleasures. There’s nothing quite as soothing as leaves rustling, birds singing, and brooks babbling, all against the backdrop of voluminous knobby tires rolling over singletrack. Granted, most of my off-road exploits still take place within commuting distance of Manhattan, but were it not for the faint thrumming of automobile traffic on some distant expressway, it would be easy to convince myself I was 100 miles away from civilization.

“Spank isn’t the only pedal manufacturer offering pedals in different sizes, but the brand is still very much in a minority, and these Spoon pedals are one of the cheaper options with sizing options. All sizes have a platform length of 105mm, but varying widths, respectively 90, 100 and 110 millimetres for the small, medium and large sizes…” Read the full review here.

Been running these for a while. They are really nicely made but if your shoes are remotely stiff then the pins are pretty pointless. I’ve replaced mine with longer M4 screws.