Pedals & Seatpost suggestions ?

Nik Gnashers

Hi chaps,
Looking for suggestions please.
I am looking for some decent 'flat' pedals, and am leaning towards Shimano PD-MX80, but should I consider any others around the same price ?
Also a seatpost. The slight design fault with my new Felt Virtue 50 2015, is the long dropper seatpost doesn't really work with the frame design. The frame has a kink/angle halfway down the seat tube, which means the dropper post only goes so far down. With the post fully down as far as the kink, and the dropper fully 'up' / extended, it is way to high for my 32" leg, and probably about 40". This is a bit daft for a medium frame !
So, I am running the dropper fully dropped, and the seatpost raised to maximum, and it fits me fine. This obviously renders the dropper 'function' useless, so I might as well save some weight and shove a nice light 'normal' seatpost on the bike. Any suggestions, there are so many to choose from, I'd like to spend £50 or less if possible.
Thank you for your suggestions.

rockmonkeysc

Can you use a shorter dropper post?
For flat pedals I would go for either Shimano Saints if CRC still have them for £35 or Superstar nanos.

jimothy78

As above, look into other makes and models of dropper post. Those those with shorter drop have a shorter base section, too, but also there's variation between brands in terms of the relative sizes and also how they function (with many, there's no need to actually ride the post at the fully extended position - you can just let it rise up to the right height for you and stop it there). Obviously, you're not getting the full benefit of the drop, then, but likely to be enough.


As for pedals, for the money (£37), nothing comes close to the Superstar Nano - it's 60g lighter than the Saint and thinner too.

Antm81

Another +1 for the nano's, if you want cheaper they also do a plastic version now that's lighter but most of the pins are still replaceable.

peter413

What dropper have you currently got? There are so many options that it might be possible to fit a different one that fits properly. For example Rockshox make a 4 inch drop Reverb that is only 355mm in length.

For pedals I'd highly recommend DMR Vault's if you can afford the extra cost. They're so much better than any other pedal I've used including the Superstar's and MG1's which are some of the more common options. Otherwise I'd look at the new V12 which are similar to the Vault's but a bit smaller. The raised middle of the Superstar's for the axle really affects the grip offered compared to the concave shape of the DMR's. The DMR's are the first pedals I've owned that I haven't had to fit larger pins to get the grip I wanted. If I was buying another pair of flat's I wouldn't even consider the Superstar's even if it meant I couldn't buy the Vault's for a little longer.

Nik Gnashers

Thank you for the replies chaps.

The post fitted is a KS Eten none remote. I have no idea how cheap these are, or how heavy, and to be honest, in my past years of riding, I have always managed without a dropper post (this is the first time I have had a bike with one fitted).

Will check out the pedals suggested, thanks. My main priority would be good foot grip and low maintenance, ie well sealed bearings. The weight is not really that much of an issue for me. I'm happy to pay £50-£70 for pedals, and the same for a seatpost really if needed.

cycleclinic

For a standard post a thomspen elite is the only post I fit to an MTB now, use one on one of my road bikes too.

I have no sugestion on flat pedals as I don't use them but Shimano pedals are reliable. DMR pedals don't seem all that durable which is a shame.

peter413

thecycleclinic wrote:

I have no sugestion on flat pedals as I don't use them but Shimano pedals are reliable. DMR pedals don't seem all that durable which is a shame.

Where have you seen that? I'm assuming it's not your own personal experience? My Vault's have proved to be tougher than my Nano's were. They're plenty durable. Older DMR's weren't that great performance wise but I could never kill my old V8's. Sure they had play in the bearings after a while but all pedals do and no matter what I did they didn't die. In fact they're still going on a friends bike after nearly 10 years of use. If that's not durable I don't know what is.

rockmonkeysc

The V8's I had lasted forever. I wished they would die, I didn't like the shape or lack of grip but couldn't fault them for reliability.

Lewis A

I found V8's to be sh*t, they weighed loads, the bearings were unsealed crap and they weren't very grippy with my shoes. I have the Saints mentioned above, and I love them, really easy to service, not ridiculously heavy (certainly not light), great bearings and are grippy as hell with the washers out and the extra pins in (~30 mins). If they aren't on sale at a good price then I'd go with Nano's or MG-1's.

Nik Gnashers

Thank you for the replies and advice !

In the end I bought Shimano PD-MX80, because they seem to have a good balance of price/value, reliability/brand name, and I like the look.


Still not bought a seatpost yet, not sure if it's worth saving for an expensive carbon one, or just go for a decent aluminium, as the extra weight saving is not that great for the extra expense, and maybe aluminium might be a bit more trustworthy as it is tried and tested for many years ?

CitizenLee

I have Nanos on one bike and Saint MX80s on the other. If you don’t mind the extra weight then the Saints are grippier, but both the Nanos are still grippy. You can’t go wrong with either really. I’m going to get some Burgtec Penthouse MK4s next though, for no other reason than I like them :P

Thomson Elite seatposts are the only ones worth considering. I got mine used for £27 from eBay in almost new condition, stem too