The Ultimate Flat Pedal Mountain Bike Shoe Guide: Find the Best Kicks for Your Riding Style | Bike Flat Pedals

Look clearly you’re ranting and couldn’t get to grips with them, which is fair enough. But what’s problematic is that if someone else has a positive experience with them, you try to contort their experience into a negative. That’s a bit childish. 

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.

Just make sure you get the right size and valve type, and that your gift recipient doesn’t ride tubeless. Or, if they do ride tubeless, you can always buy them a bottle of sealant instead, which is seasonally appropriate as it’s exactly the same color and consistency of egg nog. (Warning: do not attempt to drink sealant—or egg nog for that matter.)

The release on both systems is distinct, and neither leads to unwanted exit. Due to its Iclic system, once the Time releases, it doesn’t feel like it wants to pull you back in if you are unclipping slow before a stop. The Look, on the other hand, always wants to maintain its closed position.

Racer’s Motion knee pads stand out for two main reasons. They fit my lanky twig-legs and feature full-zip so you can put them on without having to take your shoes off mid-ride. The pads are a good length, have excellent side of knee protection and quality construction. Through summer heat and soaking wet December mud-fests, the pads have stayed put and stayed comfortable. Read the full review.

I decided to take a deeper look at e-bikes because of their potential to make life easier for some of the nearly 70,000 commuters who travel between Clark County and Oregon. Would increased e-bike usage make a significant dent in the large volumes of people driving from their Point A Southwest Washington homes in to Point B Oregon jobs, plus the return trip?

Yet again Canyon has no idea about their own mudguards and recommend clip-on guards as a temporary solution… for a bike out for a year with…

Providing a platform this wide in a dual-sided pedal would not only make for a lot of aluminum (which would make the pedals heavy), but also adversely affect pedal clearance through corners. Getting a set of dual-sided SPD-type pedals this light would also mean spending a lot more money. Whereas retail price for a pair of A600s is just US$110 (and the street price is much lower), only Shimano’s XTR Race pedals are similarly svelte, and those retail for US$180. Sure, lighter dual-sided MTB pedals exist outside of the Shimano catalog, but few offer the same combination of pedal body and proven durability. Replacement cleats are dirt cheap, too, and they’re infrequently needed, anyway.

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In terms of price and functionality, these pedals sit in between Shimano’s entry-level GR500 flat pedal (£59), and the high-end Saint M828 flat pedal (£129).

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My understanding of current thinking is that you should not be trying to pull up (damaging to knees being the reason) only "getting your feet out of the way" during the up stroke. You should still be actively kicking forward at the top of the stroke and pulling your foot back at the bottom – these would be sensible reasons why a cleat would seem to be an advantage over flat pedals. Having said that good flat pedals with decent raised grips (the little bolt style ones especially) used with flat rubber-soled shoes are nearly as good for kicking  forward and pulling back.