Retro ‘Steel Bar’ Pedals Revived: Prototype Testing Looks Promising | Spd Pedals

Moving up in the ranks, we get to Shimano 105 pedals. You can get the pedals to match the full 105 groupset and they’ll perform just as admirably as the rest of the drivetrain does.

That’s perhaps why you might find cyclocross coaches recommending flat pedals for young racers. It’s vital for cyclocrossers to be able to bunny-hop confidently, and properly. Learning the real technique means positioning your feet properly, and managing your bicycle’s weight. Flat pedals force a rider to do exactly that, without allowing clipless pedals to pick up the slack.

But I admit to liking the casual style and all-day comfort they offer, and they’re nice for sightseeing, gravel riding, commuting and the occasional play on the mountain bike, too. The XC5’s long laces (on the smaller sizes) are my biggest complaint of these shoes and, frankly, a simple oversight on Shimano’s part. Assuming the XC5s tick the boxes of what you’re after, they’re cheap enough to allow room in the budget for new laces.

ION RAID Amp II The RAID Amp II has extra padding at the ankle for rowdier days. Claimed weight 400g in size 42. $129 USD.

The only other issue I noticed was durability. While the stainless steel pedals will take a beating, the cleats I received were aluminum. This kept weight down (about 1.5 ounces per cleat), but they quickly took on battle scars. I asked Lohmeyer about this too, and he sent along Pitbull prototype 2.0. These are made of stainless steel and are about twice as heavy as the aluminum option. But their strength is far greater.

This post checks all the boxes. It’s easy to install and competitively priced. Through six months of riding in winter much and summer dust, the Tellis has been flawlessly reliable. SDG’s first dropper post has spent much of that six months on a hardtail, without the benefit of suspension to buff out the trail. The lever has an effortlessly light feel that is the only one I’ve tried to come close to Wolf Tooth’s benchmark ReMote LA. Read the full review of the SDG Tellis dropper post. Read the full review.

We are a bedraggled and somewhat grumpy lot, we who line up the following morning to take advantage of a lull in the weather to actually head out. Old friends and new spend perhaps longer than strictly necessary tweaking and fiddling with pedals, saddles, bar height and brakes. One of our number, Ben, has been lamenting his lack of skill on a mountain bike, hailing as he does from a running and road-riding background. So naturally, once he’s set his Neuron up to his liking, he proceeds to demonstrate a facility with wheelies that belies his alleged noob status. And yes, further questioning yields the fact that he did, in fact, ride mountain bikes years ago. Wheelieing is clearly something that, like bike riding itself, never leaves you. His ease upon the bike is somewhat at odds with mine, as I attach pedals and attempt to assert my authority on my own machine through a fug of last night’s brandy (it’s that sort of hotel).

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Furthermore, consider that the sort of person who plays a Bluetooth speaker while mountain biking has almost certainly driven to the ride, which means they’ve had all that time at home getting ready, plus the drive itself, to pump themselves up by listening to some band that sounds like every member has a braided goatee. Given this, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal for them to take a break from it while they ride their bikes and then fire it back up on the sound-system in the Chevy Avalanche for the drive home. I mean: Why not at least try listening to the sounds of nature while you ride? Taking a shitty bike speaker into the woods with you is like bringing one of those small cans of Pringles to a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Watch the video below to learn our mechanic Al’s top tips on clipless pedal installation and removal.

The only issues I’ve witnessed is with two owners of SRAM etape systems who didn’t charge their batteries, so were stuck with limited years in the Pyrenees, but they could swap the front and rear mech batteries round, so low gears for the climbs and then big gears for the descents. Didn’t seem ideal.

It used to be pretty simple. If you were into downhill riding and dirt jumping, you rode flats. If you were into XC or any other kind of everyday trail riding, you rode clips. That may still be the case for many riders, but as with many aspects of mountain bikes these days, the lines are getting blurrier and blurrier.