As former Pinkbike tech editor Richard Cunningham liked to say, “flat pedals are just flat metal,” and he’s not wrong. Unless they’re made of plastic, of course, but I’ll get to that in a bit. The basic design of a flat pedal is quite simple – take an aluminum body with traction pins threaded in, a chromoly spindle, some combination of bearings and bushings to allow them to spin, and bingo, you’ve got a flat pedal…
Except that it’s not actually that easy. The dimensions of that platform, the orientation of the pins, and the size and number of bearings all have a noticeable impact on the way a pedal feels underfoot. Personal preference also comes into play when trying to decide if one pedal is better than another; some riders want the maximum amount of grip, while others want the ability to re-position their foot without lifting it all the way off of the pedal.
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From Pink Bike
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