I have been riding my new 29er since February, and have had a few unfourtunate UPDs that have scarred the backs of my shins when they got whacked with the pedal from behind. The pedals I have now are plastic Wellgos:
All I do is road riding and usually avoid riding in wet weather...I'm thinking of getting some new pedals without pins. Or perhaps I should get some with removable pins and take them out. Like these :
You need good grip with the pedals for road riding. Pedal grip gives you control. With less grip you have less control which could cause even more UPDs.
I've never hit the back of my legs during road riding. It's only a problem for me with muni riding and trials (and sometimes freestyle). For muni and trials I wear the wrap around 661 or KH leg armour.
Something that might help you avoid the leg bites is to learn one footed riding. Learn one footed riding with each foot. One footed riding teaches you how to move a foot (and leg) out of the way of the pedal if it slips from the pedal. You also learn how to stay in control when that happens so you avoid a UPD. One footing is a good skill to learn and perfect. It does help your riding.
You need good grip with the pedals for road riding. Pedal grip gives you control. With less grip you have less control which could cause even more UPDs. ... Something that might help you avoid the leg bites is to learn one footed riding. Learn one footed riding with each foot. One footed riding teaches you how to move a foot (and leg) out of the way of the pedal if it slips from the pedal. You also learn how to stay in control when that happens so you avoid a UPD. One footing is a good skill to learn and perfect. It does help your riding.
Also, I should either learn to dismount from the rear properly, or not do it at all.....tom
And one foot riding as a not very entertaining trick. I really like John's advice. I am just getting used to being able to reposition my feet on the pedals while riding. This very important basic skill now seems like a weaker form of one footed riding. I just ordered a couple pairs of 10 $ ish plastics, just to see them. They are so incredibly light, I can feel the difference when I use the cheap plastic pedals I have now, instead of the snafus. If maybe I could make a set of Ti axles for 75$ to go with the 10 $ pedals, I bet they might catch on. Not that twisted pc's and other great pedals are heavy. They are almost the lightest pedals you can buy at any price. They are so cheap that riders don't want to buy them.🙄 Perhaps a 75 $ pedal with a ti axle, and have the whole rest of the pedal replaceable for 10 $ might be cool enough to sell well.😉
