If you are considering which style of mountain bike pedals are best for your needs then you aren't alone. Mountain Bike pedals come in three main styles, Clipless, cage and platform pedals. Each of these has its place in the world, but most riders typically favor one style or the other and rarely change once they find what they like. You might be surprised how much of a difference a lowly set of mountain bike pedals can make in the way you ride and how your bicycle performs.

This may not be much of a surprise to the more experienced but for the rookies, you need to remember that the pedal is one of your main points of connection to the bike.

Clipless Pedals

In my experience, for the average XC and weekend trail rider, clipless bike pedals are typically the best choice. Clipless bike pedals require that you snap your foot into place on the pedal using a special mechanism on the pedal that joins to your shoe. To release, it takes a quick sideways rotation of your foot allowing you to put a foot down. This might seem difficult but it really isn't.

This type of bike pedal provides a very solid and stable connection to the bike that enables you to pedal much more efficiently because you can use your leg muscles to power the cranks both on the downstroke and the upstroke and this is much more efficient once you get used to it.

Some riders also prefer these bike pedals because they hold your foot to the pedal even in the roughest terrain and they make it easier to hop over obstacles.

Clipless pedals can be intimidating for a new rider as without practice, you will often "forget" to release until it's too late and you fall over. Embarassing, especially in front of your buddies. The pros far outweigh the cons so I would encourage you to try them for yourself.

Cage Style Pedals

The next most common utilized bike pedal is the toeclip aka "cage" style bike pedal. These pedals often come on bicycles when they are new because they are cheap and easy to use. Cage style bike pedals require that you insert your foot into a cage that holds your foot in place on the pedal and has a strap that can adjust the tightness of the fit.

In my opinion, this style of pedal is actually more difficult to use than clipless even though most people are intimidated by the clipless style. Cage style pedals can be a bit difficult to get into when you are first trying to get under power. Cage style pedals are also not nearly as efficient as clipless pedals, you can still pull on the upstroke but not as cleanly as clipless pedals allow.

The last example of a bicycle pedal are the ones you had when you were a kid. The simple platform style pedal that has no attachment to your foot other than the pressure you put on it. These pedals are not very efficient and allow absolutely no power to be placed on the upstroke. Another annoyance is that it is very easy for your foot to become separated from the pedal, especially when the going gets rocky.

The upside is that platform style pedals allow instant removal of your foot with no obstructions and this sometimes can be the best choice for a beginning rider who is learning the fine art of "everything else" involved in becoming a good mountain bike rider.

Best Choice

In my opinion, if you do a lot of traditional style mountain biking over varied terrain, and you aren't intimidated by a small learning curve, then clipless style bike pedals are head and shoulders the best choice for most riders.

Cage style pedals, in my opinion, are practically worthless. I would rather ride plain old platforms than screw around with a cage style pedal ever again. They offer very little performance and can actually get in the way so why bother. If you absolutely must use cages, then at least ensure that you adjust them properly.

As you can tell, we favor clipless style bike pedals heavily over the other choices and we definitely recommend that you select a quality pedal that will match your terrain. Dry and rocky areas you can use just about any style, but if you are like most then mud is inevitably a factor. If that is the case with your riding then make sure you select a quality pedal that offers a decent mud clearing design and low maintenance requirements. We also recommend that you utilize a clipless style pedal that offers at least a moderate amount of "platform" with which to rest your foot on. One of our favorites is shown below, Crank Brothers. Supremely comfortable and cleans very well, not to mention they're hot.

Good luck and feel free to hit us up on our contact page if you have any questions. We're definitely gear junkies so we've used just about everything out there at one point or another.