Your buyer's guide to pedals

There's nothing complicated about a flat pedal – it provides a simple platform for your foot to push against.

Everyone learns to ride on flat pedals, and if the ones on your child's bike wear out or get damaged, our B'Twin Kids' Bike Pedals are a favourite, available in various colours and designs.

Flat pedals can be used with ordinary shoes, a handy flex if you'll be spending time both on and off the bike and don't want to change your footwear. They're practical for commuting a short distance to work or your local shops. We recommend the B'Twin' City 500 Leisure Pedals offer excellent durability and come with rubber strips to stop your feet from slipping.

Many mountain bikers also use flat pedals as these allow them to dab a foot down quickly when tackling technical terrain without needing release from a clipless system (see below).

Mountain bikers still need plenty of grip between shoes and pedals to stop their feet from slipping over bumps and in muddy conditions. Rockrider's 900 Alloy Flat Mountain Bike Pedals, for example, come with metal pins sticking up from the pedal body to provide the necessary grip on the specially designed rubber soles of cycling shoes.
Look out for: a grippy pedal platform and durable metal construction that is compatible with toe clips.

Clipless pedals keep you attached securely to the bike, so you don't slip. You can pull upwards, and you gain more control this way. You might find that they allow you to pedal more smoothly too. Clipless pedals work with a specially designed shoe, so if you're buying them, you will need compatible shoes to go along with them.

Clipless systems feature a cleat fixed to the sole of a cycling shoe that locks into a mechanism on the pedal to hold your foot in place. You push down with your foot to engage and twist your heel to the side to release. It's easy enough, although you might take a couple of rides to feel comfortable.

Several different clipless pedal systems fall into two camps: road clipless and mountain bike clipless.

Road clipless pedals usually have a mechanism for engaging with the cleat on just one side – so each pedal has a definite top and bottom. Large, plastic cleats attach to your shoes via three bolts and stand proud of the sole, making walking somewhat awkward but not impossible.

There are several different road pedal systems to choose from, but the most popular types are Look at Kéo Easy road pedals and Shimano PD-RS500 pedals.

Although these systems function in similar ways and offer comparable levels of performance, they’re not compatible with one another: you can’t use Look cleats with Shimano pedals or Shimano cleats with Look pedals.

Look out for: A wide, supportive body, durable materials and lightweight construction.

Mountain bike clipless pedals are usually smaller than road ones and have a cleat retention mechanism on both sides. This means you don’t need to take your eyes off a bumpy trail to check that your pedal is the right way up before fixing your foot.

The metal cleats attach to compatible shoes via two closely spaced bolts. The cleats are recessed into the sole, so walking isn’t a problem.

The most popular system is Shimano SPD, with their PD-M520 SPD clipless pedals are an excellent and economical choice. Some mountain bikes clipless pedals, like the Shimano SPD-M324 have a cleat retention mechanism on one side and a flat platform on the other, offering you the best of both worlds.

You can fit a Shimano Clipless Pedals Adaptor SMPD22 to double-sided SPD-compatible pedals to provide a flat platform for use with everyday shoes.

Look out for: A double-sided cleat retention mechanism and lightweight construction and durability.

It's also worth considering cleats—most offer 'float', which is movement before releasing from the pedal. Float allows your knees to move naturally to avoid injury while keeping you attached to the bike.

Look's Kéo Grip road cleats provide 4.5° of float, for example, while the B'Twin Shimano SPD-SL-compatible cleats offer 6°.

If you're getting sore knees while cycling, you could try switching to cleats with more float or adjust the position of your cleats on your shoes. Start with your cleats in a central position and make any necessary movements from there. If you're in any doubt, ask for advice from our in-house experts.

Although some people are nervous about switching to clipless pedals, getting used to them takes a ride or two. The biggest challenge is simply remembering to release the cleats before you put a foot down at junctions and traffic lights. You can adjust the release tension on most pedals to a level that works for you. It's a simple job with a small Allen key.

Cleats need replacing from time to time, especially road cleats, which are more exposed when you walk than recessed mountain bike cleats (usually from plastic rather than metal).

Many cleats have wear markers that tell you when it's time to replace them. For example, Look, Kéo Grip cleats feature polyurethane anti-slip pads to stop you from sliding around when you walk. Two indicators at the front and two more at the rear will appear to tell you it's time for a new pair.

You can mark the position of your worn-out cleats with a felt tip pen before removing them to make setting up your new cleats easier. Ensure you remove debris from the old bolt heads to avoid rounding them out.

Before clipless pedals became popular, people who cycled for sport used toe clips and straps, which are still an option today. A toe clip attaches to the platform of a compatible flat pedal and forms a cage around your shoe. The strap tightens it in place.

Toe clips and straps hold your feet securely on the pedals and offer many advantages of a clipless system. They also have the advantage of being useable without special cycling shoes. On the flip side, getting your feet in and out of the toe clips can be a little more awkward than using a clipless system.

You can buy B'Twin 100 Resin Road Biking Pedals with the toe clips already attached, or buy them separately and add them to existing compatible pedals.

Your drive-side pedal has a standard thread. When facing the crank arm, you install it by turning the axle clockwise and remove it by turning it anticlockwise. Remember that the non-drive-side pedal has a reverse thread, so the opposite is also true.