My wife is about to get her 1st gravel bike but she absolutely doesn't want cleats
What flat pedals are the ones to go for ? She has hope.f16's on her mtn bike so shall I get another pair of them or are there better options for a gravel bike ?
She will be mainly be riding roads, gravel paths and hard pack no gnarly stuff
Any really, but obviously you don't really need DH tough heavy pedals
I use the same ones as on my mtb.
I use the same ones as on my mtb.
Same for me, mainly because I have all the tools for servicing them
Xpedo Spry. Silly light (270g/pr), decent size, not silly expensive (~£60 iirc)
Don't belong on a gravel bike
Same as MTB - same pedals, same shoes, same clothes though it you normally wear a full face and armour that might be going too far.
I’d just get her another pair of the Hope pedals in whichever colour she wants them in. She’s obviously happy with them and I’ve found that a happy wife equals happy bike rides.
Don't belong on a gravel bike
And baseless closed minded opinions on what other people should or shouldn't do have no place in modern society... But here we are, for the umpteenth time, explaining to someone once again whose opinion doesn't matter a jot, that the OP (and their wife) are free to do exactly as they choose...
Until I found two old sets hidden away in my spares boxes, I was going to try a pair of DMR V6s, start from £9.99 for the earth brown set
+1 for "same as you'd put on a mountain bike", I've not had a gravel bike but I used to do mountain biking stuff on my cross bike so I guess it's the same thing, I couldn't see any advantage to fitting a less good pedal
I had burgtec composites on my gravel bike for a bit . Did the job fine
I put a pair of DMR Flat 4 pedals on my gravel thing for a bikepacking trip across Normandy last year. I didn't want to ride with clipless pedals as we knew we would be on and off the bikes a lot to look at and walk around landmarks and memorials so wanted to wear flat shoes.
They are very good. Smaller than regular flat pedals and with the option to use with or without pins.
I use Rose MTB pedals on mine, which are a rebrand of original SuperStar Nanos (or more likely, a rebrand of HT) taken on off my old full suss when I was changing the colour scheme. They've done over 2500 miles in all weathers and still spin perfectly despite never being serviced.
If I was buying again though, I'd just get some composite pedals with decent bearings and metal pins like RaceFace Chester, Deity Deftrap, PNW Range, NukeProof Neutron, OneUP Composites, Crankbrothers Stamp (available in smaller sizes) or eThirteen Base (which is what I use on my MTB). Any of the composites will be good from the usual brands, it's just case of picking your shape/size/concave etc.
...or buy her the same as she has on her MTB 🙂
Don't belong on a gravel bike
Could you explain your reasoning please? I've always used flats on my gravel and have never considered anything else. Why would you think they don't belong?
I've recently swapped from spds to flats on my gravel bike (V6). The upsides/downsides aren't the same as for mountain biking (especially winch'n'plummet type mountain biking), but it's still a useful option for lots of reasons.
I've just got a pair of Nukeproof composite ones on mine.
I'm sure that if you're a high speed, technical rider, the right pedals probably matter, but for a humble pootler like myself, as long as they fit my feet, they seem fine.
The cheap Nukeproof ones are fine with plenty of grip for gravel.
And baseless closed minded opinions on what other people should or shouldn't do have no place in modern society... But here we are, for the umpteenth time, explaining to someone once again whose opinion doesn't matter a jot, that the OP (and their wife) are free to do exactly as they choose...
A tad harsh perhaps.
The OP asked for opinions and whoever you're castigating gave an opinion, which he's quite entitled to do. Ok, it might be phrased a bit strongly, but why shut someone down just because they disagree with the consensus.
I use either Burgtec mk5’s or the newer version of the hope pedals. The pins on the hope are on the longer side. Burgtec the winner for me but use both across my bikes.
If it must be flats then whatever flats she's happy with. I'd favour a big platform but then I've got wide size 11's and my only advice would be probably not something with massive pins that might cause hotspots. I've run cheap Wellgo's, some DX flats and some DMR V12s at various points on mine. None were substantially better or worse to pedal.
I know the view is no SPDs but as someone who rides his gravel bike over much more time and distance than an MTB I'll just throw this into the pot (although bear in mind I use my gravel bike mainly as a rough road and general road bike).
At 40-50 miles on flats and 5-10's my arches used to really ache and I got hot spots from pedal pins. It took some of the enjoyment out.
SPD shoes are stiffer and more easily fitted for arch support. That was my tipping point converting from flats to SPDs. It wasn't the pedal, it was the shoe/foot support.
Something maybe to think about but otherwise first paragraph applies IMO. 🙂
thanks all - i got her some crank brothers stamps - they will do to start and hopefully i will convince her that cleats are the way to go 🙂 they are going to look strange on a pinarello gravel bike but each to their own 🙂
I asked Sonder to chuck a set of their cheapo placcy ones on my Camino and they're actually really, really good. I'd say they're probably more grippy than the Unites on my full sus.
That said, I'm thinking I might put some SPDs on my gravel bike. Not ridden clips for 10+ years but the sort of stuff I ride on the Camino feels like it'd suit being clipped in (ie, nothing too bonkers)