The best mountain bike flat pedals ridden and tested | Bike Flat Pedals

It’s all about freedom and control. Crankbrothers took the opportunity to release its Stamp pedals at Interbike 2018, in large part because they make a lot of sense for beginner and intermediate riders. For starters, it’s easier to pull a foot off the pedals in a high-speed corner when the rider isn’t clipped in. And flat pedals are now a lot lighter than they used to be. When compared to clipless pedals, flat pedals also tend to be far less expensive, or at least they can be.

Staff at The Arizona Republic took on a carless commute to explore public transit options in the Phoenix area. (Photo: Joshua Bowling/The Republic)

The topic of road versus mountain bike pedals is a hotly debated one and is something we plan to revisit in near time. Until then, here are our picks.

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The Synth shares the same pins, body shape, and spindle as the Scarab. They just lack the customization options of the Scarab.

John D’Anna, a Republic reporter, rode his bike 11 miles to the last light rail stop in Mesa and then took the light rail the rest of the way. 

Even with cleats, the Hellcats work pretty well with flat pedals, thanks to the deep cleat recess in the sole.  I had some concern about the cleat catching on the pedal, but didn’t find this to be an issue in limited testing. This is probably off-label use anyway, so take this with a grain of salt.

We’ve been testing the Deore XT flat pedals with several different shoe types, including Shimano GR7s, Bontrager Flatlines, and Five Ten Freerider Pros. All shoes have been size EU 43-45.

Rode it from Innertkirchen in June, having first done the Grimsel pass in freezing rain & fog. It’s a long old climb, but never feels overly…

And unless you do a lot of sprinting in rainstorms, you’ll sacrifice little to nothing in terms of performance with flat pedals. In fact they’ll probably improve your performance in the long run, given the fit and positioning issues so many riders seem to have with clipless. (If you need a pedal system with lots of float, ask yourself why you’re bothering with it in the first place.)

A SRAM Red eTap front derailleur is £332 whereas a mechanical Red Yaw braze-on front derailleur is £102.

“It works for me,” he said. “I was tired of the driving commute. With the e-bike, it takes me a little longer to get to work, but I feel good about not driving and it saves a lot of gas.”