Vanessa Marie Robinson is a Brooklyn-based industrial designer who’s blog For The Love Of Bikes covers her multifaceted interests in all things cycling. She is typically found either riding in the city on a single-speed or training upstate on her road bike — year-round!
I’ve actually been eying Fyxation’s wide and nubby Gates Pedals for a while now so I was excited to test them out along with their Gates Pedal Straps for Commute by Bike. Back in November, I swapped out my old Shimano 105 pedals with integrated cages on my commuter and gave them a go.
Pros
Fyxation’s pedals are molded from a ‘high impact nylon body’ and come in seven different colors. Each side of the pedal is identical and has lots of little nubs which create a grippy texture. I rode in a few different pairs of boots and shoes and found them to be great — the softer the shoe’s soles the better since, after all, they also had BMX riders in mind when designing them.
I wasn’t used to such wide platforms but quickly enjoyed the convenience of them in the unpredictable conditions city riding/commuting offers making them very versatile.
I also rode Fyxation’s pedals with their Gates Pedal Straps (in white). The straps provide an enormous amount of control akin to clipless pedals by helping to keep your foot in place and increase power on your upstroke.
The straps are made of two-inch seat belt webbing and uses incredibly strong Velcroâ„¢ which has been reliable in my weeks of testing. The wide straps helped create a snug connection with the pedals and it was nice to notice that they never left any scratches or marks on even some of my nicer shoes. I also found that the thickness of both the Velcroâ„¢ and webbing made them keep their form over time – so your shoe fits in like a glove.
Cons
Fyxation’s Gates Pedal Straps are similar to others on the market, yet were designed with longer straps to accommodate a wider variety of (large) shoes widths. While this is totally a great thing, being a woman (who wears a size 7) I found myself wishing that the straps could be tightened even more, but the thickness of the Velcroâ„¢ wouldn’t allow for it. Note that this was not the case with all my shoes but with ones that are thin soled.
One feature I wish the Gates Pedal incorporated when using them with the straps was some kind of detail (like a thin lip or larger nubs) on the opposite edge of the pedals to help your launching foot flip over the pedal to slip into the strap. I did occasionally found myself having an issue with flipping over such large pedals in certain shoes — though I don’t think you’d have this issue in any soft-soled sneaker.
All in all Fyxation’s Gates Pedals and Straps have been super practical and great for city riding.