THE BACKSTORY
I’ve been riding consistently for over 10 years now and the
first time I used clipless, they were too tight and would fall anytime someone stopped.
At one point, I crossed a river and fell. I submerged completely, floating
sideways down the river connected to my bike!
However, after several years, riding clipless became second nature and I
never really thought about it.
A few years back, I was having a bit of knee pain and had
heard riding flats helped. Again, the
first few rides were a bit sketchy, but noticed not only my legs felt better,
but flats were FUN! I switched back and
forth while I was racing some Super D and Enduro and really started to
appreciate the benefits of both pedals.
In November, I was looking at getting a new pair of flats
and saw the catalyst pedal from www.pedalinginnovations.com. My first thought was how massive they were
and wondered why on earth anyone would want something like that. However, I like trying new bike bits and with
a 30 day money back guarantee, I figured I had nothing to lose and ordered a
pair.
I received the pedals and they were noticeably larger than
any other pedal I’d seen, but looked like quality pedals that will last. For the first ride, we went to St. George
Utah..
FIRST RIDE REVIEW
My first thought was, “well, it’s a pedal”.
When I finally got to ride them, almost immediately, I noticed was the support under
the foot. While it felt a bit odd
initially and will take a few rides to get used to, my pedal stroke felt
noticeably stronger going up really steep inclines. This isn’t just “new bike gear” phenomena that occurs or some hopeful thought in my
head since I dropped some cash on a new part.
This was my first ride in Utah with any really steep pitches in several
months. (I temporarily moved from Utah
to Illinois.. Yes, it was a bad decision if you like bikes and if there are any
job openings in Utah to help get me back earlier, let me knowJ) Along with that, I
just had knee surgery the month before.
With these pedals, I had more power available where I could actually use
a more deliberate pedal stroke while regulating the power to the pedals. These were in spots, where normally I would
either get a “running start” and go up as fast as I could or put it in granny
and spin, or end up spinning out and walking.
This time, even after the surgery and living in the flat lands, I never
got out of my middle ring on a 3X9 drivetrain (which is pretty good for me and about
20 miles of riding) or slipped a tire!
It really was pretty incredible.
The second thing I noticed is the amount of traction these
things provided. I have the first
version of the FiveTen Freerider XVI Elements and while I’ve never had an issue
slipping a pedal in those shoes, I’ve also never had a pedal with too much
traction… until I put these on. If you
slip a pedal on these, you really need to check the organ between your ears and
your bike handling skills, cuz it ain’t the pedal... In fact, there was so much traction, I am
actually going to remove probably 5 pins on each side and keep them as spares.
As you can tell, they climb and pedal well, but I was a bit
skeptical on how they would feel while descending. I will need to put in more
time with the trail sloped down to come to a final conclusion, but after the
first ride, things are looking good. I
kept imagining just smashing into things and not being able to drop my heels
like I normally do, but those concerns were un-founded. I dropped my heels just fine and felt
surprisingly agile. It was similar to a
normal flat pedal, but with loads of traction and support. I’ve only had my feet tire out a couple of
times with other pedals, but if someone has that issue, these pedals will
pretty much solve it.
What really sold me was the lack of knee pain and
discomfort. Initially, I started riding
with the foot placed a bit forward from where I normally would, but not as far
forward as shown on the little sheet that came with the pedals. My recovering knee was feeling a bit off and
by the end of the first ride (about 9 miles) stared to hurt a bit. On the second ride, I put them where they
were designed to be and during the first climb, no more knee pain or discomfort
at all!! It was there I decided to keep
the pedals on for a long long time.
With all of the positives, it will take a bit to get used to
riding with a new foot placement. After
the 20 miles, it was already feeling pretty good, but I can't say I'm already used to it. I've heard people that are instantly comfortable. I'm not one of those people, but almost there.
Lastly, Pedaling Innovations has outstanding customer
service. The pedals shipped during the
Holidays while I was in Utah. On my
order, I put a note to ship to Utah if they shipped in December. I got an e-mail saying the shipped to my
address in Illinois and contacted James.
He immediately sent me another pair to my Utah address and mentioned if
the other pedals were still in IL when I arrived, he would issue a return
authorization.
I look forward to putting in more time on them and will write an update after several months.
