The best flat pedals for cycling in 2022

Although sometimes overlooked, the best flat pedals can be a great choice in a range of circumstances.

Flat pedals or platform pedals make shorter rides in ordinary shoes far easier and more comfortable than trying to get by using sneakers on clipless pedals. For a causal town bike, commuter, or even a touring bike, the versatility of flat pedals presents a compelling draw. 

The best flat pedals are also a good option for anyone with a knee or ankle injury, which can make it difficult to perform the sideways twisting motion necessary to disengage from a set of clipless pedals. The wide platform of flat pedals can also offer more lateral support than a set of clipless pedals.

However, for the ultimate in efficiency, clipless pedals do rule the roost. So if performance is paramount, then flat pedals may not be the best choice for you.  

The best gravel pedals, which use a two-bolt clipless system are also a good option; the shoes can be walked in more easily than shoes for three bolt cleats, as the cleat is smaller and recessed and some SPD-style pedals have large platforms which can be used without clipping in and in normal shoes. 

Best flat pedals

Here's our run-down of our favourite flat pedals available.

Designed for downhill mountain biking, this is a pedal with a wide platform for stable pedalling. The 12 gripper pins can be toned down by swapping them around from their long to their short side, to give a less aggressive hold on casual shoes that's less likely to chew up your sole.

The Saint pedals are made of aluminium alloy and designed to take a beating in their natural habitat, so you can expect years of trouble-free riding in a less demanding on-road environment. As with Shimano's other pedals, they're also fully serviceable.  

Using a nylon body, rather than alloy, both the price and the weight can be kept low. This doesn't come at the cost of longevity for the HT PA03A pedals — they are designed to stand up to the rigours of mountain biking after all. Over time, though, knocks and scrapes can leave the plastic body looking a little scruffier than an aluminium alternative would.

There are 10 replaceable pins on each side of the 105mm x 107mm platform and the weight comes in at 349g.

If you're looking to treat yourself, OneUp's Aluminium Pedals are about as fancy as flat pedals come. At 8mm thick, the pedals have a 115 x 150mm platform which is contoured to better support your foot, and each pedal has 10 height adjustable pins on either side.

OneUp opted to build the pedals with four double sealed cartridge bearings, which should spin smoothly for quite some time. When it does come time for a service, however, the Canadian outfit sells rebuild kits, and all you'll need is a cassette lockring tool and a few Allen keys as the bearing extractor is built into the axle.

Having produced the V12s for over 20 years now, DMR’s reputation is well established. The one-piece forged alloy platform is 95mm wide and can survive rock strikes, big crashes and probably a nuclear blast, so road use isn't going to be a problem.

There are 10 replaceable pins on each side and their height is fully adjustable. If the levels of grip offered are beyond your needs, they can be wound in to lessen the damage of the dreaded shinning, where the pedal hits your leg as you get going.

The axle runs on two well-sealed cartridge bearings which are fully rebuildable, adding to the durability of this pedal. They weigh 422g a pair, which is respectable for a metal body.

The V6 pedals are a more budget-oriented offering from DMR, sharing the same body shape as the V12, but made from nylon rather than aluminium - and there's a great range of colour options available. The pins are also made of nylon and are not replaceable, and the bearings cannot be serviced either — they also cost half as much as the V12 and tip the scales at an impressive 327g.

If you know that you are not one for stripping down a pedal, preferring to replace when worn, these represent better value for money.

Engineered to the high standards we expect to see from the British brand Hope, these pedals use three cartridge bearings (albeit small ones) to spread the load across the axle. When the bearings are past their use-by date, Hope also sells a full rebuild kit.

The pins are installed and removed by an Allen key at the back of the pin, which makes them easier to replace as they wear out. With a thick 15mm body, the F-20 aluminium pedals weigh 360g.

Another option with a plastic composite body, the Crankbrothers Stamp 1 flat pedals are particularly light at 299g for the 100mm x 100mm size small platform; Crankbros make a Large 111mm x 114mm version too. There are 9 height adjustable metal pins per side that mount from the back.

Crankbrothers pedals can be quite hard to tell the left from the right. The difference is marked only by a small groove around the left pedal axle, so be extra careful not to cross-thread during install. For those concerned about serviceability, the bearings are replaceable.

Perhaps a controversial choice, as only one side of these pedals is flat; but as a dependable pair of pedals for riders who want to switch easily between cleats and flats, there are none much better than the Shimano PD-M324 flat pedal. As you would expect from Shimano, the pedal axle is cup and cone, making it easily serviceable and long-lasting.

Curiously, there are no pins, meaning that the pedals have a little less grip. Also, there are no replacements once the notched edge of the pedal cage is worn down - but this will take a serious amount of riding. With quite a bit of hardware packed into a single pedal, the PD-M312 are a hefty 533g a pair on the scale.

If you're looking for a set of kick around pedals to slap on your commuter that work as advertised and don't cost an arm and a leg, the NS Bikes Nylon Apartment Pedals might just be the perfect fit.

With a large 110 x 105mm platform made from injection-moulded nylon, the pedal body sees 10 pins on each side — though they aren't adjustable or replaceable. Measuring 19mm thick, the platform spins on loose ball bearings around an oversized CrMo steel axel. Even better is the news that they come in four colours.

The Look Geo City pedal is a pinless design, which relies on a Vibram rubber grip to keep your feet attached to the pedal, so it won't wreck the soles of city shoes or trainers. The wide, flat contact surface means more even pressure distribution as well.

The Geo City Vision pedal incorporates USB-rechargeable LEDs into the pedal body to up visibility, or there's a LED-less version available including multiple colour options.  We've reviewed the related Geo Trekking hybrid pedal, which has an SPD mechanism built in.

Key features of the best flat pedals to look out for

Platform size

Wider platforms will offer greater support, as well as being more grippy. However, too large and it can make a pedal cumbersome and awkward. Finding the right balance for you will ultimately be a personal choice depending on your needs.

Pins

The best flat pedals with pins give a number of performance enhancements over models that have a crenulated or notched cage.

Pins make pedals more grippy, meaning you won’t slide off in the wet, but pose a risk to your shins if you slip a pedal.

Keep in mind that the pins on platform mountain bike pedals are designed to interface with the tread on mountain bike shoes designed for flat pedals — usually with a waffled pattern. If you're planning on riding in shoes that have a totally flat bottom, like the dress shoes you may wear to work, aggressive pins may damage the soles and not add all that much grip. Many models are offered with adjustable pin height, giving you the flexibility to choose the balance that best suits you.

Another benefit is that it is a lot cheaper to replace pins when they become worn down than having to buy a whole new flat or platform pedal. It can be worth going for a model where the pins see the Allen head on the back because these will be easier to extract when worn.

Platform material

Plastic composite pedals will be cheaper and are often lighter. For those young at heart, composite pedals also tend to have a greater range of colours. However, plastic-bodied pedals tend to look scruffy sooner and are not as hard-wearing as metal-bodied pedals.

But with most models being very cheap, they're not going to break the bank to replace, although you may baulk at producing yet more plastic waste when a serviceable metal pedal will last much longer.

Bearings

The simple serviceability of Shimano pedals requires just a couple of spanners (and sometimes also the TL-PD40, an inexpensive plastic tool) which makes them easy to keep running for a long time. Many other brands opt instead for replaceable sealed cartridge bearings and bushings. With a bit of periodic maintenance, a set of the best flat pedals can be kept going for a surprising number of years.

However, if you know that you are not one to be delving into the guts of your pedals, then you might find more value in a set that does not have serviceable bearings, as these tend to be cheaper.

Hybrid pedals

There are pedals that you can clip in to but can also be ridden as flat pedals without a problem. These pedals have a large cage around the clipless mechanism, which provides grip and support. Also, in being symmetrical, there is no need to flip the pedal over before you set off. Most pedal brands, including Shimano, Look and Crankbrothers, have options.

If you're looking for more flat pedal options, check out the guide to the best mountain bike flat pedals on our sister site MBR.