What pedals for fixed commuting?

craker
craker Posts: 1,739
edited January 2019 in Commuting general
I've had a couple of accidental unclipping moments since my fixie became the commuter of choice. I've had double sided spuds - once ended up sprawled all over the verge as I gave it some welly away from the traffic lights. So I switched to SPD-SL, which is a bit of a learning curve as you've got to kick the pedal over as you start and clip in as you're picking up speed. Something went wrong with that last week and I did a superman dive into the middle of the A38 ahead of two lanes of traffic I'd just pushed my way through. Felt like a bit if a twat picking up my bike and wheeling it to the pavement to sort myself out.

Anyway, both incidents are exacerbated by worn cleats. I'm not sure I trust SPDs on a powerful upstroke, but I do find SPD-SLs wear very quickly. These are six months old or so (every day commuting though).

Any other suggestions? I've got Delta cleats on some shoes I take to the velodrome, could get some pedals if I thought they were a better prospect. Speedplay seems like quite an investment.

Comments

  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    I have time atac MTB on my fixed. Never had any incidents. Bombproof.
  • WTF
    WTF Posts: 52
    SPD SLs are ok for road rides where you will exit a few times. SPDs for the win every other time.
  • murrencs
    murrencs Posts: 17
    Hello,

    I've just got a Shimano mt5 shoes for xmas. I'm commuting in London with a hybrid bike with the original flat pedals. This shoes is very slippery on these pedals. What pedals would you recommend? I don't really want to go clipless as I don't feel it safe in central London.
    Thanks in advance.
  • joe_totale-2
    joe_totale-2 Posts: 1,333
    murrencs wrote:
    Hello,

    I've just got a Shimano mt5 shoes for xmas. I'm commuting in London with a hybrid bike with the original flat pedals. This shoes is very slippery on these pedals. What pedals would you recommend? I don't really want to go clipless as I don't feel it safe in central London.
    Thanks in advance.

    Clipless is perfectly safe in Central London. I use Shimano M520's on my commuter bike, ride through London all the time and have never had an incident. If you're worried about safety then set the tensions low or even buy the Clickr pedals that allows you to yank your foot out.

    Back to the original topic the commuter bike is fixed and I've never had my foot disengage on the upstroke, personally I like the tensions quite high which probably helps.
  • gbsahne001
    gbsahne001 Posts: 1,973
    I use M540s on all my bikes, with the exception of 1 set of PD-T8000 (spd with reflectors) and have never had an instance of upstroke disengagement.
    Winter Hack
    Everyday Commuter
  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,702
    What cleats were you using on the SPDs? There's 2 types of Shimano cleats. SH51 release by twisting your foot outwards, and are fine for all purposes (but also check the release tension, which can make a big difference to how they feel). SH56 release in most directions given enough force, and should be carefully placed into the nearest bin immediately.

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