Braking, how to?

If you are leaning forward i would advise not to go for the front brake for help in getting the bak wheel off the ground as you will probably end up eating tarmac!

If you are leaning forward i would advise not to go for the front brake for help in getting the bak wheel off the ground as you will probably end up eating tarmac!

or if you are going down a hill as I did when I was 14.

I've also gone over the top when braking suddenly at speed and my back wheel hit a pot hole. Luckily my fall was softened by the pedestrian I was braking to avoid.

Yeah in my case there was no pedestrian :P well we learn from our mistakes!

You can but riding a fixed bike without clips and straps, or clipless is crazy.

It you really can't get on with either, get a set of flat BMX pedals and these.

Oh, and a brake.

Those plastic pedals look cheap. Personally I'd not touch any platforms that aren't metal and don't have replaceable pins and sealed bearings.

Agreed, they are cheap, it's kind of the point. The reason I suggested this solution is cost - if someone isn't sure about something, they're unlikely to choose it unless it's inexpensive.

I don't think that replaceable pins would be much of an issue on a bike that's going to spend it's life riding around the streets. Sealed bearing would be nice, though.

I had a set of flat/spd pedals. Since I'm almost exclusively riding in SPDs the flat side was a waste of space and made it more annoying to clip into. They were ok, but I prefer the double-sided SPD pedals.

I've had single sided SPD's too. If you want SPD's that you can use with normal shoes then get the double sided ones that have a platform outer surface (I also have some of these) you'll find they're not as nice to use with flat shoes as normal platforms but having to turn the pedal over all the time to get the right side is really annoying and thats one of the best things about riding platforms or spds.

You can also get platforms that clip into SPD's. They're kinda useful as you can remove them. I've used them for a bit but they're not the easiest thing to clip in and out.

great comments. thanks guys. will be moving onto straps next week.

post up how you get on. It'll be useful for other people in your situation.