Pedals are your power connection with your
bicycle. They are of utmost importance
in
designing a bike to your specification,
ability,
and comfort. There are three
different kinds
of pedals:
An open pedals are the least expensive but the most ineffective.
Your foot stays in contact with the pedal
only through friction and it is easy to lose
the pedal/foot connection. You can only send
power to the bicycle on the downward stroke
of the foot, not the upward stroke. Open
pedals come in rubber, plastic or metal.
Rubber gives a good friction unless wet,
plastic is the least expensive and not very
durable. The all-metal pedals are lightweight
and durable.
Toe clip pedals have a clip device on the front of the pedal,
which fastens a shoe firmly into place by
enclosing the toe. Toe clips have the advantage
of being easy to slip the toe in and out
of the clip, and no special shoes are required.
The rider can use the down and the upstroke
of each revolution to power the bicycle.
One drawback of the clip is that they can
irritate the foot inside the shoe where the
clip contacts the shoe, generally across
the toes.
Clipless pedals, although generally considered the most
efficient, take time to adjust to and require
a special cleated bicycling shoe. The bicyclist
locks each shoe onto the pedal with a twist
of the foot, which attaches the foot firmly
to the pedal. The bicyclist can now send
power to the bicycle on both the downward
push and upward pull of each revolution of
the pedal. However, with clipless pedals,
it can be difficult to disengage the foot
from the pedal with the correct twisting
motion if the rider momentarily forgets how
to disengage properly when stopping or is
crashing. |
