Review: There’s no need for disco slippers when the Giro Chamber II shoes are so good | Bike Flat Pedals

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.

nxgater: Yes, it’s important to look after one’s knees. Perfect set up with clipless pedals seems crucial for avoiding problems in such an important part of the body, presumably lots of people manage that though.

The clipless pedal powerhouse has a challenger, and you can call it a comeback: Flat pedals are back.

Our official grumpy Northerner, John has been riding bikes for over 30 years since discovering as an uncoordinated teen that a sport could be fun if it didn’t require you to catch a ball or get in the way of a hulking prop forward.

With a footprint of 110mm x 105mm and a low profile, these pedals inspire confidence while barreling through the rockiest of trails.

You might get a little bit of occasional chain rub on the chain set because the chain won’t sit quite straight on the chainwheel sometimes, and…

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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.

As well as the shifters and derailleurs, with SRAM eTap you’ll need only a Charger Power Pack that retails at £63 (and an eTap Firmware Update Dongle, but only if SRAM ever makes firmware updates).

The fit is superb, the size 45 shoes fitting my feet as good as any other top-end shoe I’ve ever tested and sizing well compared to other brands. The twin Boa dials let you adjust the fit with precision and pressure is spread very evenly over the entire foot. There are no hot spots or pinch points. The Boa dials can be easily tightened and loosed on the fly too, and popping them up releases the tension so you can easily and quickly get out of them.

Unlike Shimano’s old Saint and DX flat pedals though, the pins used on the XT body don’t thread in from the back. Instead, Shimano uses steel grub screws that thread directly into the pedal body. This presents an issue if you grind a pin against a rock, as you’re also grinding away the surface that you would insert a 2mm hex key into for installing or removing the pins. Once this happens, it’s a case of getting out the ‘negotiator’ (pliers) to remove those busted pins.

There’s no denying that Speedplay has some real benefits, but as Matt states, they’re the highest maintenance option suggested here and are therefore not for everyone. The pedals themselves run on tiny needle bearings and need periodic greasing (easily done with a grease gun). Likewise, as Neal noted, you need to be especially careful of what you step in to prevent fouling the cleat mechanism with debris, and on occasion, it’s suggested to lube the cleats with a dry lube. I remember a bike fitter friend used to say “Speedplay are not a pedal for Sydney”, a reference to the reliability issues that would surface through constant clipping in and out at lights.