Help me buy my first pair of flats

After 30 years of SPD riding I am now the proud owner of some shiny 5:10 Freeriders thanks to the Evans PSA. I now need some pedals. Any PSA bargains around? I might not get on with flats so don’t want to spend much this time round.

Got some Burgtec composite you can borrow if you just want to try flats?

Cheers Stu, that’s kind of you. I’ll be passing pedals on to my lad at some point so will buy some as they won’t go to waste.

I quite like the nukeproof electron/neutron? Composites. Thinner than the burgtecs and cheaper. I do run the burgtecs on one bike.

Nukeproof Neutron EVO (Electron EVO) Flat Pedals

You’ll need to open two tabs.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale.html

I’m very happy with DMR V11 and Burtgec Composite.

Burgtecs here too. Nukeproof are great too in a composite.

One-up composite. Much better than the nukeproof which were pretty good to start with.

The Nukeproof neutron Evo composite pedals are only £9.99 in mustard colour at chain reaction. Might be worth a try at that price.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/nukeproof-neutron-evo-flat-pedals?color=mustard&sizeStandard=One+Size

Superstar Nano Evo’s are decent

And just started using some Nukeproof Horizon Sam Hills (discounted at CRC) which are very grippy with five tens

The Nukeproof Neutron composite are great and cheap at the moment. Those with your 5.10’s will be more than good enough.

Was about to post a link to the Neutrons but see I’m late to the party. Already got a pair but picked up one of those mustard pairs for 9.99 the other day as a spare. Certainly don’t think you can go wrong for that price at all.

E thirteen Base composite pedals. Much grippier than the Nukeproof or Superstar composite pedals.
Nice big platforms too 😎 few new pairs on eBay for £20ish.

Supercaz – the pins are really good and they don’t destroy the soles of your shoes like most others.

Another fan of the Nukeproof Neutrons here. Been using them for a few years on all of my bikes. I’m about 86kg, and they’ve taken a fair bit of abuse, including casing any attempt at jumping at our velosolutions pumptrack here in Sheffield. They are easy to service too.

Just bought a new pair, plus a service kit from CRC, due to the very low price.

Gusset slim Jim’s . Had them years, never missed a beat

Just love my Tmacs

As a recent dabbler in flat pedals I’ve found that the “ideal” pedal is what works for you. 

If you pedal with the ball of your foot over the spindle then concave pedals will probably do the job (DMR, etc), but if you pedal with the spindle more under your arch then a flatter pedal shape, with pins in the middle may be better (kona wahwah2, marin oso, oneup composite).

Width and length are largely determined by shoe size, you don’t want pins that don’t touch your shoes! 

After that, who knows! I use large oneup composites with some 5:10 impacts and love the combination. Same shoes and V11s didn’t work for me as my pedaling foot position was wrong for the concavity. 

Good options already suggested, just don’t forget some shin protection!

DMR V12s are a good place to start (five years ago I’d have said V8, but time moves on!).

Depends a bit on your footsize – I’m a 12 and my feet turn out lots, so I want square, big pedals – pedalstrikes be damned.

The Kona Wah Wah composite is good. I’d consider the new Crank Brothers’ Stamp but haven’t tried.

I mostly run DMR Vaults as I have about 10 year’s worth of bearings and bushings in the garage so a bit locked into their paradigm. That being said, despite being a little small for me they are very angular and have nice pins so plenty good.

Some people say the bearings aren’t great, which I get, but you can spend silly money to get a triple mega sealed Hope F22 – its nice to have nice things, but I’d cap myself around £100, because otherwise when do you stop?!?

I’ve just bought 2 pairs of the nukeproof’s.

First impression, might have to file the pins down as I like to be able to slip my feet around on them a bit even with harder shoes than the Evans bargain 5.10’s.

I wouldn’t get too hung up on the choice, I’ve got Wellgo MG-1’s on my other bike which are decidedly old school. They still work perfectly well though. Thinner pedals would smack the ground less, be a bit more forgiving of not dropping your ankles, and bigger platforms offer more grip. But once you get the technique dialed I don’t often need/want that extra OTT grip.

So, 6 months in and I reckon I’m going to go back to clipless. Nothing wrong with flats but I am just not feeling any gains. I reckon 30 years of riding on SPD’s has hardwired them into my brain and I am just happier with clipless.

I might get some of the enduro style XT SPD’s with a cage but I think my flats experiment is over.

I found riding flats with the middle of my foot over the spindle made riding with flats make sense.

I’ve been on clips since 2004 and had one bike with flats for 2 years.

I love the feel of my Shimano PD-GR500 👌🏻

Specialized Boomslangs.  Crank Brothers Stamp 7 and Stamp 1.  They have all ridden well and are grippy with my 5.10 Freerider Pro’s, Sleuths and Trailcross GTX shoes.