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After accumulating more pairs of cycling shoes than would be warranted by someone riding 3x or 4x my current yearly mileage, I'm trying to be a little more cautious while shopping.

I'm now aiming for flat MTB pedals after finding that although double-sided clipped-in ("clipless") pedals may be perfect for many, they are not the right choice for me while learning and experimenting with new techniques.

I understand that not just any pair of tennis shoes are suitable for riding with flat MTB pedals.

  1. The rubber will not be supple (grippy) enough to establish reliable contact with the pins on flat MTB pedals. (This is, incidentally, also the reason why we cannot just cover the center areas of SPD shoes and reuse them with flat pedals.)
  2. The pins on the pedal will be felt, and will eventually irritate, one's foot.

Regarding this second point, is it the case that the pins would be absolutely not felt, or is a vague sensation of their location and their presence unavoidable, just so long they do not poke harshly?

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  • It's certainly possible to not feel the pins - my preferred shoes for MTB flats include light hiking shoes, in which I can't feel them. My skate shoes similarly (bought for unicycling - now there's excessive shoe shopping). My light trail-running shoes do sometimes give a hint of a pin, depending on the exact foot placement. All of these grip well. Some people even ride in "barefoot" shoes, but not me, and a short ride in wetsuit shoes on SPDs was bad. But I'm not sure if you're asking about whether feeling the pins is inevitable, or whether it's desirable.
    – Chris H
    Commented Jul 23 at 15:00
  • My favorite shoes for riding platform pedals with pins are skate shoes, like skateboarding shoes. They have good cushion on the sole, and the rubber seems to go well with gripping pins. They are also relatively flat bottomed so they work great, and they're comfortable! DC, Etnies,.. lots of good brands can be found on sale as well.
    – Nate W
    Commented Jul 26 at 21:57

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Although flat pedal shoes generally have more flexible soles than their clipless counterparts, they're still stiff enough that you won't feel the pins poking into your feet. Also, the pins sink into the sole rubber. It's not like you're literally standing on the tips of the pins.

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I've never felt the pins through my shoes. I typically ride with "trail running shoes" which are essentially a tennis shoe with a beefed up, modified tread made of rubber. There are various tread patterns with the commonality being areas of dramatically raised portions which help grip various earthen terrain. I find the rubber of these shoes is such that it affords good grip on the pin while having the added benefit of giving good traction when I have to hike a portion of a ride. Since often times this means continuing up a steep slope of various materials under foot, a quasi hiking shoe is nice to have. I've had trouble before wearing more of a general tennis shoe with a mostly flat, fine textured sole. Took lots of time and concentration to make it up this slope, slipping despite the effort applied to not. With a bike in tow, good traction on the feet helps immensely.

Again, regarding feeling the pins, even with rather thin soled Pumas, the model designed for race car drivers, on my platform pedals with 6mm pins, I couldn't feel the pins except in the context of the high quality grip they afford. Never once a poke or pain from them (on my feet. Shins, different story).

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They are actually platform pedals. As of the last few years people have been calling them flats, but if you're shopping, you'll find more options for platform than flat.

My specific search is "platform pedals bmx"

Long pins, short pins, no pins, replaceable pins... Whatever you desire. Everything I ride has this style of pedal, even in thin deck shoes I don't feel them.

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