Review: Bontrager Flatline Flat Pedal Shoes | Road Bike Clipless Pedals

She spent 12 of those minutes walking to and waiting for the light rail, which she said was "long enough time for the man standing next to me to ask where he should depart the train to get to the county courthouse." She also heard from the man about why he was going to the courthouse, "a synopsis of his life, his three marriages and his real-estate purchases."

Tension is adjustable, though accessing the 3mm hex bolt is awkward. The level varies from tight, to really-friggin-tight. I certainly wouldn’t put a new rider on these pedals, because their tenacious hold can be intimidating. As the cleats wore in and I got used to them though, I steadily increased the tension to about halfway. Any more than that and you might dislocate your knee trying to unclip.

Disagree with the Speedplay comments above. I moved to them this year and yes I hated them for a few weeks and was considering eBaying them.

It may not have some of the fancier features like colour mapping or a touch screen. But what the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt does do, it does really well. The menus and buttons are intuitive and easy to use. The mapping is incredibly simple to read and understand on the fly, and it pairs super easily with heart rate monitors and power meters.

With a closed toe, the perforated synthetic leather upper is breathable, but not at all breezy. Arguably this is nice to keep your toes dry through stream crossings and puddles, but you’ll quickly get clammy socks on a hot summer’s day.

Disagree with the Speedplay comments above. I moved to them this year and yes I hated them for a few weeks and was considering eBaying them.

“Sixpack Racing makes a lot of its own CNCed components in house. The Skywalker is the brands flagship pedal, and as such packs in a lot of features with a premium price. The most distinctive feature is the exposed axle, with a sealed compartment at each end for bearings. Those cutouts on the centre of the axle help…” Read the full review here.

The Infinito X1 is basically a mountain bike version of the range-topping Infinito R1 road shoe. It shares the same upper but it’s bonded to an aggressive rubber sole with a two-bolt cleat drilling and optional stud mounts up front. That’s ideal for cyclocross racing, but not a lot else. Between the upper and the tread is a unidirectional carbon fibre outsole that is designed to provide maximum power transfer. It’s vented and there’s plenty of clearance around the cleat recess to avoid clogging.

Really I’d only recommend them to riders who will find that learning curve worth the touch of extra speed off the lights or side of the road. To me it was.

The inevitable 30-something MAMIL transition saw him shift to skinny tyres and these days he lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

Even if you find you don’t like flats, all of the things you’ll learn from them you’ll take back to clipless pedals as a better rider. The snobby ‘flats are for beginners’ insult is only true in the sense that we’re all beginners at something on a bike, and flat pedals are an absolutely great tool for learning and having fun with that.

Sixpack has drawn on many years of expertise when it comes to the pedal body and bearing, using only high-quality materials and components with the aim of providing reliability and durability. The pedal body is made from 6061-T6 CNC milled aluminum. Hardened coated CrMo steel is used for the axles, and the bearing consists of a combination of sealed industrial bearings and IGUS bushings.