Pedals and Gloves??

[JT 23]

I just recently got into mountain biking and had a couple of questions. First question, are clipless pedals a must have for trail riding? I currently just have the stock platform pedals on my bike. I've never ridden clipless pedals before, but I'm considering getting some hybrid pedals that have clips on one side and platform on the other. Any thoughts on this?

Second question is what kind of gloves work best for riding in colder weather? Now that the temp is starting to drop I figured I better pick up some gloves, but I'm not sure what to go with. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I look forward to meeting and riding with you guys out on the trails!

Thanks,
JT

[jimithng23]

congrats on getting started and welcome to the addiction.

my advice would be - while you're starting out and learning how to ride trails, ride the pedals you're comfortable with. there are many different schools of thought on what the pros/cons are for flats or clip less, and a quick google search will give you more info than you will ever need...and, I'm sure you'll get some good responses from other riders in the club.

personally, I prefer flat pedals for 97% of my riding. I'll throw the clipless on for racing; everything else, I'm on flats. Everyone has their own preference so experiment a bit when you've got a good feel for your bike. At that point, you should have a pretty good idea of which pedal you like better.

one thing I will say about flats - shoes make all the difference in the world. Teva and 5.10 have some excellent options.

gloves? I've got nothin...I'm looking for some good ones myself.

see ya on the trail!

[SweetSVT99]

Pedals: I've tried the hybrid variety, and my opinion is to stay away from them. Wanting flats? The clipless side is up. Want to clip in? The platform side is up. Gets very annoying, very fast. If you want to run clipless and still have a platform, look at the Crankbros Acid or Mallet.

Gloves: My favorite cool weather "do all" gloves are my Louis Garneu WindTex. For me they seem to be the perfect weight for most MTB rides, but also have the lobster claw covers to give them a little extra warmth/wind resistance, and they wick really well. Of course there are so many variables to consider when choosing gloves, I have now found myself with 5 sets.

[Gunchie]

Pedals: I've tried the hybrid variety, and my opinion is to stay away from them. Wanting flats? The clipless side is up. Want to clip in? The platform side is up. Gets very annoying, very fast. If you want to run clipless and still have a platform, look at the Crankbros Acid or Mallet.

These are great options if you REALLY want platform/clipless pedals... but I would just keep riding flats until you are comfortable enough on the bike and then get some crank bros eggbeaters or if you must have a little bit of platform the candies.

Gloves: My favorite cool weather "do all" gloves are my Louis Garneu WindTex. For me they seem to be the perfect weight for most MTB rides, but also have the lobster claw covers to give them a little extra warmth/wind resistance, and they wick really well. Of course there are so many variables to consider when choosing gloves, I have now found myself with 5 sets.

I have a lighter set of gloves much like the Louis Garneu WindTex gloves, a thicker set of of 5 finger gloves for when it gets a little colder, and a set of lobster gloves for when it gets really cold. I also pack a pair in stretchy gloves in case I need another layer or my other gloves get wet. Plus, I keep warming packs just in case too. But, I do spend hours out in the middle of the winter nights training so I'm always a bit over prepared. I'd just find a pair of biking specific gloves you can find for cheap. If your just mountain biking, you don't need as thick of gloves as you do if you are road riding. Just make sure to take off a layer before you start sweating or your going to get really cold.

[JT 23]

I only have one bike, so I use it for riding trails, but I also need to be able to cruise around town on it which is why I why I was considering the clipless/platform option. It sounds like riding flats on the trails is more common than I thought. I figured most people rode clipless on trails. After reading some of your feedback I might just stick with the flats. I'll probably still upgrade to a nicer pair though...the cheap plastic one's on my bike are pretty slick.

Thanks for the advice!

[jimithng23]

Take a look at these pedals from Wellgo. Very good inexpensive pedal, pretty sure their magnesium body pedal is only $40-ish, which has a ton of value when you consider most "high-end/quality" flats are easily north of $100/pair.

http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/197...orm-Pedals.htm

[Bexter]

Pedals: I've tried the hybrid variety, and my opinion is to stay away from them. Wanting flats? The clipless side is up. Want to clip in? The platform side is up. Gets very annoying, very fast. If you want to run clipless and still have a platform, look at the Crankbros Acid or Mallet.

I ride Crank Brothers pedals and have different ones for different type of riding -- the Egg Beaters, the Candies and the Mallet. Egg Beaters are on my road bike. I use my Mallets for when I plan to tackle more technical terrain (so I can clip out yet will still have a platform under my feet on gnarly stuff that I'm not so confident about and the potential of bailing is higher than usual). The Candies are my all-purpose pedal. Some of the guys have broken their Crank Brohters pedals. Ray went through a few pair. Depends on how powerful / aggressive of a rider you are. Me, meh, I've never had THAT problem! Ha ha.

[Russhole]

all pedals suck. I took mine off last year and have been Flintstoning it ever since. It really saves on the drive train wear too.