Hi all,
Have recently become flat pedal curious after years riding clipped in, but so far my experience has been pretty crappy. I have gotten very used to my foot always being in the right place, and am finding it difficult to keep it there when I ride flats.
My question is: have others been through this and managed to find a flat pedal/shoe combo that is grippy enough that your foot doesn’t constantly get blown off when pedalling through rough stuff/downshifting at speed? I have been riding in Vans Eras (good old waffle sole but extremely flexible) and tried a few different pedals - oneup plastic w metal pins, spank spoon, old specialized. I realise a lot of this is down to personal preference, so here is some more context (feel free to skip this bit if you have a good answer already!)
I rode BMX for years, then about ten years ago started riding “big bikes” a lot. It took me a few years to switch to clipless, but once I did there was no looking back. Have done plenty of touring, randonneuring, bikepacking, and trail riding, but only recently got a dually. I love clipless pedals, and don’t have issues with them riding jumps, DH etc, but the dually has got me riding more and more tech stuff, things like low speed, high risk features where I am gonna have to bail out sooner or later. I don’t normally have issues ejecting from my pedals, but I can see it happening eventually. On the flipside, I feel a lot more confident riding through the jank etc knowing my feet are always in the right place, so I don’t wanna give that up.
Anyone been through a similar process?
Cheers,
Harry (near Canberra)