First Look: Ride Concepts Livewire Flat Pedal Mountain Bike Shoe | Bike Flat Pedals

After cobbling together a few hundred quid during his student days off the back of a hard winter selling hats (long story), Jack bought his first road bike at the age of 20 and has been hooked ever since.  He joined road.cc in 2017, having previously worked for 220 Triathlon magazine. Jack’s preferred events are time trials, sportives, triathlons and pogo sticking (the latter being another long story), and on Sunday afternoons he can often be found on an M5 service station indulging in his favourite post-race meal of 20 chicken nuggets, a sausage roll, caramel shortbread and a large strawberry milkshake. 

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.

These could potentially be salvaged by using a helicoil kit, but it’s still a bummer given that this is a product that is basically going to spend its life getting intimate with rocks and roots on the trail. With a platform that’s as large and as thick as these, those encounters are going to happen more frequently than they would with thinner-bodied pedals.

You can buy shoes such as these Japanthers from 45NRTH which are specially designed to keep the wet and cold out so best for winter only.

That difference is a factor in which system’s best for you. If you’re clipping and unclipping a lot — while commuting, for example — then the easier clip-in action of two-bolt systems means you won’t find yourself fumbling with the pedals as you set off from the lights.

What is it about the extremities of cyclists that causes such heat?  Helmets, and now, apparently, cleats.

Flat pedals can also work as an educational tool. If you’ve ridden clipless pedals long enough, you know you can simply pull up on them to get you and your bike over an obstacle. Switching back to flat pedals forces a rider to learn how to actually bunny-hop in a controlled manner, without the clipped-in crutch.

“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.

Flat in shape, the laces offer a little stretch, enough to help lock them in place. Annoyingly, the laces themselves are obscenely long which, I suspect, is due to Shimano using the same length lace across its full size range. Laced up and tucked through the elastic lace holder, the loops would sit over my toes and flap in the wind. Make smaller loops and the plastic crimped ends would tap against the crank arms. At least with my EU43 samples, the laces are simply too long.

Along with pins, the pedal surface is key to the amount of grip. A concave surface lets your shoes settle in more under your weight, better resisting any forces that try to push them off the pedal.

The Maltese Falcon has a skate-style feel similar to the company’s Freerider Pro but is a bit narrower and has a stiffer feeling sole. Despite the narrower last, it’s still roomier than other comparable shoes, but the padding around the ankle and on the tongue keeps the fit snug. This shoe excels at repelling mud and water, and even when it does end up in a puddle, it dries pretty quickly. While out riding, the only time I was able to notice a major difference between the Freerider Pro and Maltese Falcon was on rock gardens; the SPD cleat on the latter gave me that little extra from each pedal stroke to get me through.

Shimano GR9 The GR9 has an armored lace shield that provides protection from debris, and the synthetic upper dries super fast after wet rides. Claimed weight 365g in size 42. €149.