Having ridden pedals with toe clips for over 45 years, I decided it was time to experiment with platform pedals. There were three pedals that caught my eye. MKS Lambda pedals, rather than having a rectangular shape, look rather like a big “8”. These are the pedals that Mat Ryder used on his two long US tours. They differ from the other two platform pedals of interest in that they do not have pins sticking up out of the surface. The pins keep your foot in place, except when they don’t. If your foot slips and you take a pinned pedal to the shins, there will be blood. I don’t like blood.
The other two pedals have pins. MKS makes a pinned version of the Lambda under a variety of names: Gamma, King, and Monarch. They are very similar to each other. This being the end of the biking season they were hard to find. So I settled on the Lambdas. Note that MKS is the same company that makes the pedals I have been using on my CrossCheck and my Specialize Sequoia. They’ve held up very well for well over 7,000 miles.
The other pinned pedal I considered was the Catalyst pedal by Pedaling Innovations, a small company based in Fruita, Colorado (which I rode past in 2009). These pedals have a rectangular shape that is longer than their width. Simply put, they are huge. They are intended to be used differently that other pedals. With all the other pedals that I’ve used, the pedal axle is positioned under the forefoot; with Catalysts the axle is further back, beneath the arch. The idea is to engage the big muscles of the butt and thighs while pedaling.
One big advantage to platform pedals is that I don’t have to wrestle my forefoot into the toe clip. This is especially a problem with winter shoes. As temperatures have fallen, I’ve started using some old, ankle-high hiking boots with the Lambdas. These boots have a flat sole and they work like a charm. It does seem to take me a mile or two to orient my feet on the pedals so that they don’t slip off. Usually, they only slide a bit to the outside. It’s not a big deal but I have to think about it for a while before the contact of my foot on the pedal becomes second nature.
I did move my saddle forward a bit as most on-line commenters suggest. (See below.) This created a slightly cramped cockpit so I lowered my handlebars one millimeter. After that I felt dialed in.
The Catalyst is a whole ‘nother animal. I took them for my first test ride today using my Shimano touring shoes that have a rubbery flat sole. Following the advice of the manufacturer I slid my saddle forward and down just a bit. I rode 33 miles, deliberately climbing one small, steep hill to check out their climbing performance.
What I liked most was how the pins kept my feet firmly on the pedals. And when I climbed, I stood up and rode out of saddle for a bit. The big platform felt like a stair tread. Solid. It felt like I was going faster than usual but that may just be wind or the fact that the Sequoia is inherently faster than the CrossCheck or simply adrenaline.
Today the owner of Pedaling Dynamics sent me an email and advised that it will take a while to adjust to the pedals. I can already tell two things. My butt muscles feel a bit sore, in a good way. The new foot position definitely distributes the stress of pedaling differently than my toe clip set up.
The second thing is that, like with the CrossCheck, I felt a little cramped while riding. I’m think I raised the saddle and slid it forward too much. I hope the weather allows me to do a reasonable amount of riding so I can get the set up dialed in.
In the meantime I’m going to admire the Christmas-y vibe they give my bike.
Long story short, I’m going to ride the Catalysts for a couple of weeks and see how I like them. So far, so good.
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 
love the Catalyst. Switched to them on all bikes about 6 years ago. No more knee problems. Great with a loaded touring bike on difficult climbs.
Great to hear. I need to do a hilly ride soon to give them a real shakedown.
I think the only time I’ve ever used toe covered pedals was for spin classes. They were ok, but I much prefer pedals without them.
Perhaps because I’m more used to them. I don’t however, care for clipless pedals. Call me a phony, but locking my foot into something is a recipe for disaster.
I totally agree about clipless. When I used them, all I could think about was fighting to get my foot free at the next stop. The Catalyst pedals feel every bit as connected without the angst.