is there an advantage of flat pedals over standard

motopatter

finally my V12's have given up on me and I had to ride home on a spindle with the pedal in my hand

I have thrown some old 'standard' mtb pedals I had laying around (after a clean and re-grease). Just wondering if it's worth anything replacing the flatties with same or similar.

I guess I'll be able to make my own mind up within a few rides, but is there any science as to whether any particular clipless pedal would be better than a dissimilar design?

nicklouse

flat is normal used to describ a pedal that does not have a clip in system

such as SPDs SPD-R etc

normal pedals are "flats".

motopatter

sorry

I am meaning

these - http://www.evanscycles.com/products/dmr ... s-ec005308

and these - http://www.evanscycles.com/products/mks ... s-ec005312

difference really is surface area - so more surface area = more grip
would the larger pedal transfer more power or have any other advantage at all? Is it just urban cool for the kidz?

EKE_38BPM

motopatter wrote:

...would the larger pedal transfer more power or have any other advantage at all?

There is only a maximum amount of power to be transferred to the pedals from your legs/feet and that is irrespective of the surface area of the pedals.
Look at Egg Beaters. The surface area is tiny, but because they are clipped in and the shoes have pretty stiff soles, you don't notice how little of your foot is in contact with the pedal.

Flat pedals have an advantage of comfort but lose out on grip (especially in wet/muddy conditions)
The BMX/MTB style flats will give more grip because of the 'spikes' digging into your shoes but are not as comfortable.

Headhuunter

motopatter wrote:

sorry

I am meaning

these - http://www.evanscycles.com/products/dmr ... s-ec005308

and these - http://www.evanscycles.com/products/mks ... s-ec005312

difference really is surface area - so more surface area = more grip
would the larger pedal transfer more power or have any other advantage at all? Is it just urban cool for the kidz?

A larger pedal surface area might make a difference to comfort on long rides but I shouldn't think it would make a difference to power transfer. The one advantage of flats over clipless I suppose is that you aren't going to experience clipless moments (AKA falling over whilst still clipped to the pedal).....

MichaelW

I'm wondering what kind of a failure can render a BMX pedal useless.
My MKS Sylivian Touring have been used through thick and thin, commuting, on and off road, long distance touring, with never a though to them "going wrong"

One of the big advantages of a traditional platform pedal over clip-in style (clipless!) pedals is that there is nothing to go wrong and when it does, you can still pedal.

V12s use a cartridge bearing system, perhaps you should clean or replace the cartridges.

snailracer

^^
The V12's are advertised as "MTB" pedals. I don't expect them to be quite as tough as actual BMX pedals, which, amongst other abuses, are deliberately scraped against the ground for certain tricks :shock:

snailracer

motopatter wrote:

sorry

I am meaning

these - http://www.evanscycles.com/products/dmr ... s-ec005308

and these - http://www.evanscycles.com/products/mks ... s-ec005312

difference really is surface area - so more surface area = more grip
would the larger pedal transfer more power or have any other advantage at all? Is it just urban cool for the kidz?

Using the strong/cheap/light rating:

V12: stronger
MT Lux: cheaper, lighter

The efficiency probably depends more on what shoes you prefer to wear, but is negligible in any case.

kurako

Unless you've got quite firm and/or thick soles the MT Lux will probably be quite uncomfortable. I had similar for a while and they killed my feet when wearing cheapo trainers.

motopatter

MichaelW wrote:

I'm wondering what kind of a failure can render a BMX pedal useless.

V12s use a cartridge bearing system, perhaps you should clean or replace the cartridges.

Embarrassingly :oops: it was a hamfisted (but please read full explanation) attempt at releaving a creak out of the left hand side when pedalling.

I took off the crank arm and cleaned the mating surfaces (it's the old style square taper bb) and while I was there I thought I'd service the pedals to make sure it wasn't them. (At the end of the day I bought them for the sealed bearings and bombproofness, so shouldn't have bothered as I didn't really suspect the pedal).

When putting the LH pedal back there was some play (2-3mm) on the spindle so I used more force to try and nip it up. This stripped the thread to a degree which became obvious later. It turns out the aluminum 'cap' that goes on (usually it's just a plastic dust cover) to cover the nut on the spindle pulled the whole lot together.

I didn't realise I'd stripped the thread at all when putting it back together as there was no loosening - I just did it all up nice and tight and everything was fine and smooth . Next commute I immediately felt something not quite right, and it got a bit worse and then I coasted and reached down and the pedal came off in my hand. Fortunately being sealed bearings nothing was lost down the road.

Anyway when I got home I switched the pedals with some old ones I had laying around (after a re-grease ) and then set about fixing the V12's - I thought it may have been the nylon lock nut that had got stripped, but it was a bit of the spindle too, so any new nut offerings just span up after a gentle nip. Best bodge of all - some metal Araldite onto the threads and nipped up, left overnight and jobs a good un 8) Albeit another bad bodge. But realistically these pedals shouldn't go wrong, and I don't believe I really had any need to muck about with them in the first place.

Creak gone btw

jejv

motopatter wrote:

is there any science as to whether any particular clipless pedal would be better than a dissimilar design?

motopatter wrote:

difference really is surface area - so more surface area = more grip
would the larger pedal transfer more power or have any other advantage at all?

If you're pushing on the pedals to stop your feet sliding off, you're wasting your strength.

To get more power, you want some kind of foot retention device, which doesn't have to be Speedplay - but that would be good.

Something like SystemEX EM9D, with "strapless toeclips" would do to start with. Should be less than £20 for that lot.

Main point is, you can unload the pedals on the upstroke without your feet flying off - so you have more torque for less effort at the same rpm, and you can pedal faster without your feet flying off - so more rpm.

After toeclips, you can go clipless, if you want to, and optimise the position of your foot on the pedal - now into bike setup land.