Pedals for walking boots ?

[slowster]

For me this is a matter of choosing between compromises. I would not use bulky walking boots when cycling, unless the need for the extra protection and grip when walking trumped the negatives of significant extra weight and bulk when cycling, e.g. cycling along a track before leaving the bike to scramble/walk up a Munro. I think the walkers' old adage of 1lb on the feet is worth 5lb on your back similarly applies to some extent to cycling with heavy footwear.

For the riding I do where the walking is occasional/incidental to the cycling, I would not want anything heavier than a typical lightweight fabric walking boot, and from the range of boots available that would fit my feet, I choose those which have a toe box which has a low profile (not tall at the tip) and which therefore is most likely to be compatible with toe clips.

Even then, the toe clips themselves need to be tall. MKS helpfully provide the dimensions for each of their toe clip models on their website - https://www.mkspedal.com/?q=en/product/term/13. The half clip Bmblbzzz has linked to above and the cage half clip (https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/toe-clips-s ... toe-clips/) have the largest openings, with some small variations between them in length/depth and height. Unfortunately I don't think the full sized versions of either are available in the UK, and in their absence the Zefal plastic MTB toe clips are probably the next best option for anyone wanting to use full size toe clips.

[jimlews]

Thank you Slowster, some interesting and useful links.

I'm very tempted by those wire half clips paired with these MKS beartraps:-

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/pedals-clea ... als-black/

Rather more spendy than the Welgo that I was initially thinking of, but a bit nicer looking.

[slowster]

I'm very tempted by those wire half clips paired with these MKS beartraps:-

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/pedals-clea ... als-black/

I would only consider those in preference to the MKS Sylvan Touring if I determined that I needed the extra pedal length (90mm vs 62mm for the Sylvan Touring) in order to position the toe clip 14mm further forward (28mm difference divided by 2). Otherwise for me the cage features would be largely negative:

- Not designed for toe clips (curved cage surface and with only large slots, as opposed to holes, for the bolts).
- Excessively aggressive cage teeth (at least for my shins - I am a spinner rather than grinder, and get enough traction from the much less aggressive Sylvan Touring cage, and I suspect that combination reduces the likelihood of the teeth damaging my footwear with rubber soles).
- I think large pedals like the MKS XC-III Bear Traps and MKS Lambda pedals etc. suit riding with the ball of the foot well forward of the pedal axle (too far forward to be suitable with toe clips). I suspect that I would find the large unsupported gap between the front and rear of the cage uncomfortable/painful if the ball of my foot was over the axle.

Another possible issue is that the MKS XC-III Bear Traps are probably cup and cone, and MKS's cup and cone pedals have shields rather than proper seals for the inboard bearing. I use MKS Sylvan Touring pedals with cup and cone off-road in summer and in dry conditions (and on-road in winter on roads that have mostly not been gritted), but I would be wary of choosing a pedal with unsealed cup and cone for a lot of grotty/wet/winter off-road riding (or I would seriously consider drilling the pedal body to be able to easily and routinely pump fresh grease into the outboard bearing). For that I would choose either Sylvan Touring Next pedals with sealed cartridge bearings (despite the fact that the bearings are not designed to be serviced or adjusted) or a Shimano pedal which is both well sealed and relatively easily re-greased/serviced/adjusted, e.g. such as the PD-GR500 (even though I am not a fan of pedals with pins).

[Slowroad]

I've been on a few walking/cycling holidays, and also commute wearing steel toecapped boots (community gardener...) So I have oversized plastic toeclips on the commuter and the tourer, which gives me some of the advantages of being attached to the bike. I'm not an ambitious cyclist...

[jimlews]

I have MKS touring pedals on my Raleigh Randonneur and I like them. I've paired them with medium Christophe toe-clips & leather straps. However, they do have their "charms". notably an occasional tendency to let go of the foot on the backstroke (between 5 & 9 o'clock) when applying power with the opposing pedal. I had never realised that I powered on the backstroke before using these pedals. The teeth on the cage have a radius; they are probably pressed out over a die, rather than cut. Thus, the teeth have no sharp edges; they are less aggressive (grippy).

I used to use the old Sun-Tour bear traps in the eighties, so I'm reasonably familiar with them. I'm pretty certain I fitted them with toe-clips and straps. I don't remember having any issues with the fitment. If I run into problems, it is not a big deal for me to make up a couple of spacers with one flat side and one concave to conform to the radius of the pedal cage. I'd most likely re-purpose a worn out chain wheel.
Installing grease nipples is a nice idea and I might well do that. But I would install them on the dust covers, not drill through the body of the pedal. The sjs pictures seem to suggest that the dust covers are standard size MKS items; albeit black plastic (probably nylon) items. I'd swap the black ones for (silver) hard plastic replacements that have a nice flat end all ready to receive a nipple.

[deeferdonk]

I've been using MKS Lambda pedals for a month now. I've worn trainers, wellies and walking boots and really like them. They've stopped cramp-inducing flex with trainers and give lots of grip and support with the different boots.

I have used lambdas in the past but more recently I've been using MKS Gamma pedals which are the same weird shape as the lambdas but have pegs in so find are even more grippy.
I bought 2 sets from Blue Lug in Japan and worked out cheaper than buying in UK (postage cost probably not as efficient if i had just bought one set) and they had some colours/finishes that were not available in UK. Worth doing a price comparison if buying any MKS pedals (or other Japanese bits) as long as you stay below the customs allowance.

[EdT]

The original query was about suitable flat pedals, which for me is something similar to this.

https://int.crankbrothers.com/collections/stamp

[zenitb]

Have given up on SPDs for touring now because I do more of the sightseeing stuff where its nice to have walking shoes rather than clopping around. So I now use double sided "spikey" MTB style flats.. Shimano do these with the same easy to service bearing system that they use on SPD pedals so mine are still spin perfectly.

Mine are branded "Shimano Saint" and were quite pricey however Shimano still sell them as the slightly more dour Shimano pd-gr500 pedals. The main difference is just finish .. mine have fancy gold anodising on the axle.

The spikes can be adjusted and replaced and seem to work very well with my Brasher walking shoes.

PS Note that (amazingly) Shimano offer pedal reflectors for these .. you can see them on my photo.

[jimlews]

Thanks "zenitb"

You say the bearings are easy to service, that sounds promising.
I have heard rumour that some pedals of that style have bearings that are marginal; plain bushings and suchlike.

[zenitb]

Thanks "zenitb"

You say the bearings are easy to service, that sounds promising.
I have heard rumour that some pedals of that style have bearings that are marginal; plain bushings and suchlike.

Yes there are lots of cheap pedals of this type on the market .. often they say things like "Rugged DU bushings". The "DU bushing" is a moulded polymer (plastic) bearing. My son's friend had one of those on his mountain bike and I noticed it failed after aggressive use. There was no way of swapping or servicing the bearings of course. My MX80 pedals can be serviced in the same way as my other Shimano pedals (SPD ones) in that the whole bearing assembly unscrews and comes out for servicing as shown below:

You can also see the optional pedal reflectors in the Shimano drawing above, as well as the internal construction of the pedal.

These pedals have real ball bearings (admittedly small ones, but lots of them) and the general experience here on the forum, including mine, is that this design is very long lasting. Indeed my MX80s have taken three years of all year canal cycle commuting and are now going touring with me .. but are still very smooth.

In the past I have smashed the body on this design of pedal before having to change the bearings. On my blog post about my old PD-M747 you can see how you remove the internals of the pedal, with all the bearings still in place, for inspection or lubrication. The MX80 is essentially the same bearing design as this. See: https://zenit-b.blogspot.com/2020/12/sh ... hment.html

The Shimano Saint MX80 pedals got superceded by a newer Saint model which I think are thinner (because thats fashionable now) and I cant speak for those. However I have hoarded a pair of new Shimano PD-GR500 pedals in my "gear stash" and they look to be functionally identical to my Saint MX80 pedals, just with a less "bling" finish - so I would recommend those.

Cheers

George

[Cowsham]

Raceface ride are now my goto pedal. ( when on special offer )
Race Face | Ride Flat Pedals | Flat Pedals | SportsDirect.com https://share.google/8Rz1P59hi98E6VWAY

Bearing kits can be bought for them too. I got fed up with ball bearing pedals failing. These have moulded in pins so no steel pins to rip the shins or calfs off ye.

[Boyonabike]

...
Does anyone have recommendations for use with walking boots.
At present I use toe clips and straps, but it is difficult/ impossible to get the bulkier boots into these.
..

Would the toes of your boots fit into those plastic shovels?

For example:


Jonathan

Never seen anything like those Zefals before but I've been really struggling with toeclips on my new tourer, not being used to them. So thought I'd give them a go on the basis of your post and some reading around it. I like to be able to cycle in pretty much any kind of shoe I happen to be wearing.

They're fantastic.

[Gearoidmuar]

As above

[Brucey]

..... I got fed up with ball bearing pedals failing.......

what do you mean, exactly? AIUI the Raceface pedals turn on an outboard ball-bearing and an inboard 'DU bushing'.The 'DU bushing' is notable in several respects, one of which is that they have a frictional coefficient that is at least ~x100 more than a good ball-bearing. Kind of ironic really, considering that the mass-production of ball-bearings started 150 years ago, primarily so that better bicycle bearings could be made. The use of DU bushings' is arguably a step backwards.

[Cowsham]

..... I got fed up with ball bearing pedals failing.......

what do you mean, exactly? AIUI the Raceface pedals turn on an outboard ball-bearing and an inboard 'DU bushing'.The 'DU bushing' is notable in several respects, one of which is that they have a frictional coefficient that is at least ~x100 more than a good ball-bearing. Kind of ironic really, considering that the mass-production of ball-bearings started 150 years ago, primarily so that better bicycle bearings could be made. The use of DU bushings' is arguably a step backwards.

The problem with ball bearing pedals is that any half decent ones are expensive and are metal which I don't like. I want plastic pedals with good bearings -- I don't think it's a thing.