Bicycle Pedals

Once you jump into the world of cycling, you can get pretty overwhelmed by the number of available choices and brands. This guide is meant as a leaping-off point to help keep your head above water and your wheels spinning. You'll find some technical explainations of the major variety of pedals, as well as common terms and even a breakdown of the basic pedal parts you'll want to know.

Top Picks

To help you get started, here are some top road and mountain pedal picks by Kevin Weiss, About.com's bicycling guide:

Top Picks - Road and Mountain Pedals
Time ATAC Carbon : the pedal of choice for mountain bikers over the past few years. Dual-sided entry, easy release and full-float design make it a great choice, even under muddy conditions. Price: $279 to $289	Crank Brother's Eggbeaters : eye-catching minimalist design. Lightweight, four-sided entry and an open design that easily sheds mud. Excellent choice if you ride in wet conditions. Price: $85 to $440	Look CX7 : The pedal you'll see used most in professional road races. Fully adjustable and lightweight, with adjustable "Q-Factor," which is the distance from the pedal to the crank. Ideally, you'll want to minimize the Q-factor, while keeping the shoe from rubbing. Price: $269 to $599	Speedplay Zero Titanium : First choice for road pedals, the Zero has a lot to offer the lightweight road cyclist who wants a lightweight pedal. Minimalist design, very lightweight and offers adjustable float. Price: $285 to $510

Basic Pedals

If you're just starting to get into cycling, there are some basic terms and mechanical concepts you'll want to know before you shop. Pedals are perhaps one of the most understated components of the bicycle. I mean, ostensibly you put your feet on them and push them around to get where you want to go -- so it's no surprise they'd have a lowly status among neophyte riders. But experienced riders know the benefits of different types of pedals to fit the right kinds of riding.

Pedals are made up of three components: spindle, body and cage.

• The spindle is a thin metal rod that threads onto the crank arm and holds the bearings. The inside end of the spindle (the part that threads onto the crank arms) typically has larger, more durable bearings than the outside end. The threading usually has a diameter of 9/16" with 20 threads to the inch; known as an English thread.
• The body is usually a cast-aluminum housing for the spindle and the bearings.
• The cage, usually made of steel or aluminum, is a thin metal band that toe clips and reflectors bolt onto. The cage is attached to the body via pedal braces.
• Additional standard features on pedals are toe flips, small metal protrusions bent outward that helps rotate the pedal backward when using toe clips.

Basic Types of Pedals
Toe-Clip Pedals  The most common types of pedals used in road bikes. Have a small platform and cage to attach toe-clips and straps. Will increase overall pedal efficiency when using toe-clips. Allows for easy entry and exit if you get in emergencies, while keeping your feet securely in the pedals.	Clipless Pedals  These have a special mechanism that attaches your foot to the pedal using a specialized cleat mounted on the bottom of your shoe. Improves connection between you and your bike, and more efficiently distributes power throughout the whole pedal stroke. Clipless mountain pedals are usually double-sided, while clipless road pedals are single-sided. Can cause knee injuries if cleats are incorrectly situated in the pedals. Look for pedals with a small amount of float, which allows your foot to move from side to side, instead of being fixed in place. Sometimes known as SPDs, after Shimano's  brand of clipless pedals. Require purchase of a special bike shoe.  See the bike shoes guide.	Platform Pedals  The classic pedal. Usually have a wider surface area and are very versatile. Best suited for leisure and non-competitive riding.

Specialized Pedals

Pedals begin to diverge at this point as they become more specialized and geared toward specific types of riding. For example, BMX riders will use a variation of the classic platform pedal, but with much wider surface area and spiky grips protruding from the pedal itself. Clipless pedals also vary by discipline: mountain bikes  (MTBs) will often use a pedal that houses the clip and very little surface area, while road bikes use a pedal that's slightly larger and lighter. At the same time, downhill MTBs will sometimes use a pedal that resembles those used on BMX bikes.  So there's a lot of variation out there, and there are even more choices once you narrow down your style of riding. Check the chart below for more detailed information on the different types of pedals.

Clipless Road Pedals

Most road bicycles will use clipless pedals,  which are slightly different than the clipless mountain bike pedals you'll see below. The cleat area is larger, often covering 1/3 of the shoe. The greater surface area helps distribute downward force as you pedal, allowing for more evenly balanced strokes. This is especially valuable because road bikes often use a bigger gear range, and bigger gears, than mountain bikes. Clipless road bike pedals are often one-sided, meaning the clip area is only on one side of the pedal. Classic road pedals are made by Look  and Shimano.  Campagnolo,  Bianchi  and Speedplay  also makes clipless pedals. The new Shimano Dura-Ace pedals  are very nice, and work well. Look's new Keo  pedals seem to be a big improvement over the old ones. However, they aren't backwards compatible. They are a little smaller and a lot lighter. The older Look pedals, such as the Look CX6  work well. Criticisms are that they occasionally get squeaky and that they are not terribly light.

Mountain Bike Pedals

Mountain Bike Pedals  have a little more range in shapes and sizes than the clipless road bike ones, since there's more terrain variety within the group (excluding the potholes, bad streets and aggro drivers road bikers deal with in their urban environment). Most MTB riders will use a small clip with little surface area -- which makes the pedal look more like just the clip mechanism and nothing else. MTB Downhill  riders will use a pedal with slightly more surface area, like Crank Brothers Mallet  pedals. These are essentially clip-in pedals with a metal or plastic cage around them and they're good if you're constantly clipping in and out of your pedals and gives you more leeway to find the clipping mechanism. Some downhill riders will use a BMX-style pedal like the Shimano M545,  or just a straight BMX pedal, for easy exits when they ride into trouble. Shimano,  Crank Brothers,  Xpedo,  Bianchi,  Time,  Wellgo  and PowerPlay  all make high-quality MTB and downhill pedals.

BMX Pedals

BMX Pedals  use a wider, platform-style pedal, but with little pins protruding from them which gives extra grip without actually attaching your foot to the pedal. BMX spindles are often a different size than MTB and road pedal spindles. However most BMX pedals have interchangeable axles so they can be used on either MTBs or BMX bikes. Some BMX riders will use clipless pedals for more power. Shimano MX30  pedals are a good choice, as are pedals from Wellgo.

Track Pedals
	Because of the geometry of track bikes (also known as fixed-gears, used for fast racing in velodromes), track pedals  need to have good ground clearance and, since they're constantly moving, the pedals need to be easy to get in and out of. Be sure to use toe clips with these pedals. MKS  and Wellgo  both make affordable and quality track bike pedals, as well as some higher-end pedals.

Platform Pedals
	Platform Pedals  are the classic pedal style and can be used in pretty much any application, though you might find the more specialized types are better suited depending on your setup. These pedals offer no attachment to your foot, but are fast and easy to dismount, inexpensive and pretty much maintenance-free. Look for MKS  and Push  for a classic and quality platform pedal.

Related Buying Guides

Bike Shoes	Mountain Bikes	Road Bikes	Tires

External Links

• Bonthrone Bikes -- A UK site with lots of information on types of pedals and just about every other aspect of bicycling. This is a retail site for the UK.
• Gear Guy -- Short Q&A about pedals, with some good points.
• Bike Pro -- Site hasn't been updated in a while, but still contains good information on the basics on bicycle pedals.
• About.com -- Has a lot of general bicycling information in the left margins, a little lacking in the pedal department, but a good overall resource.
• Bicycling.com -- Great magazine with a lot of good information, including a guide on how to maintain your pedals.