cbcbd
New member
Ever since finding the skills park downtown I've been watching many platformed folk do their thing and it just got me thinking about trying it out.
I have done some pretty big air with my clipless, but its a compromise with the pedal tension - tight enough and you'll stay clipped in even if you want to shift the bike around in the air a bit - but much harder to unclip if stuff goes wrong. Loose enough for you to unclip fast and you might unclip mid air as you toss the bike sideways or your foot moves in just the right way to do so - needless to say, very scary.
It has been a long time since I stepped on some platforms (converted to clipless pedals around '03) so I was naturally a little hesitant and just so used to and spoiled with the clipless - namely for bunny hopping or just bringing up the rear after a big step up. But in a way it was making me feel a little nervous on some skinnies, jumps, and other features - even if you are an expert unclipper, it is just a lot more nerve wracking and frustrating having to unclip 10 times in a row as you're trying to clear a feature or a long skinny. A lot simpler when you can just hop off when repeatedly working a line.
So I just recently ordered and received some Crankbrothers 5050 X platform pedals
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=20732&subcategory_ID=10045
Put them on yesterday and went for a test ride at Collonnade... my impressions:
The first thing I noticed was how nice it was to have a burly, grippy, and wide surfaced pedal. This was nothing like the dinky stock pedals from my very old bike from years ago, which kinda look like this:
...and would generally crack with hard use and just felt flimsy underfoot.
The pedal has small hex screws that you can position where you want and really help with the grippiness. I did some messing around lifting the rear of the bike by scooping the pedals back and pointing the toes down and it worked well although I still have a lot to relearn, like bunny hopping. I'd probably want to use more of a flat soled shoe next time vs a treaded sole since the screws could land between the treads and not really catch sometimes.
On the jumps it was a little scary at first and was hard to get into a rhythm and figure out exactly what I needed to do with the bike... I kinda left those alone for now and hit other stuff after a few tries.
On the drops it was even scarier since I'm used to having the bike locked to my feet and kept imagining that my feet would slip off and I'd land on the seat with my junk. Did the first 3 progressive drops - 1', 2', 3' and did just fine. Different and will get some getting used to but I never felt like I was slipping off. It was actually nice landing and feeling like a lot of your foot is sitting on a flat surface.
On the technical uphills it felt almost no different. Didn't really miss the upstroke of the clipless.
On the skinnies, bridges, etc - this was where I liked it the most. Having a nice wide platform stance and the added confidence of being able to hop on/off was very nice. Add to that the fact that you could stop mid skinny/bridge and start again without those few scary seconds before reclipping your other pedal... it was pretty cool.
Falling attached to your bike hurts a lot more and is a lot more uncomfortable than falling detached from your bike.
So, I think everyone should give platforms a shot and add it to their quiver of MTB pedals. The newer platforms out there are light-years better than what most of us think of when we remember the pedals of old. Doesn't mean you have to be a freeride punk or gnarly DHer... it's just different and IMO, better for some things.
I haven't tried them out on any XC style stuff though, although I imagine if you're going to ride for speed and distance then clipless are still the way to go.
I have done some pretty big air with my clipless, but its a compromise with the pedal tension - tight enough and you'll stay clipped in even if you want to shift the bike around in the air a bit - but much harder to unclip if stuff goes wrong. Loose enough for you to unclip fast and you might unclip mid air as you toss the bike sideways or your foot moves in just the right way to do so - needless to say, very scary.
It has been a long time since I stepped on some platforms (converted to clipless pedals around '03) so I was naturally a little hesitant and just so used to and spoiled with the clipless - namely for bunny hopping or just bringing up the rear after a big step up. But in a way it was making me feel a little nervous on some skinnies, jumps, and other features - even if you are an expert unclipper, it is just a lot more nerve wracking and frustrating having to unclip 10 times in a row as you're trying to clear a feature or a long skinny. A lot simpler when you can just hop off when repeatedly working a line.
So I just recently ordered and received some Crankbrothers 5050 X platform pedals
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=20732&subcategory_ID=10045
Put them on yesterday and went for a test ride at Collonnade... my impressions:
The first thing I noticed was how nice it was to have a burly, grippy, and wide surfaced pedal. This was nothing like the dinky stock pedals from my very old bike from years ago, which kinda look like this:
...and would generally crack with hard use and just felt flimsy underfoot.
The pedal has small hex screws that you can position where you want and really help with the grippiness. I did some messing around lifting the rear of the bike by scooping the pedals back and pointing the toes down and it worked well although I still have a lot to relearn, like bunny hopping. I'd probably want to use more of a flat soled shoe next time vs a treaded sole since the screws could land between the treads and not really catch sometimes.
On the jumps it was a little scary at first and was hard to get into a rhythm and figure out exactly what I needed to do with the bike... I kinda left those alone for now and hit other stuff after a few tries.
On the drops it was even scarier since I'm used to having the bike locked to my feet and kept imagining that my feet would slip off and I'd land on the seat with my junk. Did the first 3 progressive drops - 1', 2', 3' and did just fine. Different and will get some getting used to but I never felt like I was slipping off. It was actually nice landing and feeling like a lot of your foot is sitting on a flat surface.
On the technical uphills it felt almost no different. Didn't really miss the upstroke of the clipless.
On the skinnies, bridges, etc - this was where I liked it the most. Having a nice wide platform stance and the added confidence of being able to hop on/off was very nice. Add to that the fact that you could stop mid skinny/bridge and start again without those few scary seconds before reclipping your other pedal... it was pretty cool.
Falling attached to your bike hurts a lot more and is a lot more uncomfortable than falling detached from your bike.
So, I think everyone should give platforms a shot and add it to their quiver of MTB pedals. The newer platforms out there are light-years better than what most of us think of when we remember the pedals of old. Doesn't mean you have to be a freeride punk or gnarly DHer... it's just different and IMO, better for some things.
I haven't tried them out on any XC style stuff though, although I imagine if you're going to ride for speed and distance then clipless are still the way to go.
