Great article Andrew. Familiar story for me. Ruptured Achilles (playing squash) and switched to flats for my first 6 months back riding. Ended up back in cleats on my XC bike (Scott Spark) eventually, but stayed on flats on my enduro rig (Altitude). Got rid of both bikes earlier this year and replaced them with the 2022 Element that allows me to do pretty much the same riding as before but much less costly to maintain. Added some beefier tires and 4-pot XT calipers for the shore, and simply adjust the ride 4 setting depending on the terrain of the day. Its a great setup / bike, but you want to (mostly) keep the wheels on the dirt.
Had to make a call on pedals so decided to try and get the best of both worlds with a magped sport 2 ([https://www.magped.com/shop/magped-sport2/?lang=en](https://www.magped.com/shop/magped-sport2/?lang=en)) paired with the strongest magnet and strongest plate. Its been working pretty well so far and alleviates my worry about getting stuck in the clips with a weakened ligament and atrophied calf (still skinny 3 years later unfortunately). In hindsight I should have gone for the Enduro 2 (has magnets on both sides), but still the sport 2 its great for grinding the climbs and definitely gives more "pull" than being on flats. Also keeps the foot from bouncing off the pedals when poor technique crops up on the descents. Only annoyance is having to flip the pedal to get the magnetic side. Using them with 510 Kestrels.
Any experience with these or similar pedals? They ship from the magped factory in Squamish in a matter of days if you ever want to give them a try.
Sept. 1, 2022, 8:07 p.m. - Mike Baumgartner
Great article Andrew. Familiar story for me. Ruptured Achilles (playing squash) and switched to flats for my first 6 months back riding. Ended up back in cleats on my XC bike (Scott Spark) eventually, but stayed on flats on my enduro rig (Altitude). Got rid of both bikes earlier this year and replaced them with the 2022 Element that allows me to do pretty much the same riding as before but much less costly to maintain. Added some beefier tires and 4-pot XT calipers for the shore, and simply adjust the ride 4 setting depending on the terrain of the day. Its a great setup / bike, but you want to (mostly) keep the wheels on the dirt. Had to make a call on pedals so decided to try and get the best of both worlds with a magped sport 2 ([https://www.magped.com/shop/magped-sport2/?lang=en](https://www.magped.com/shop/magped-sport2/?lang=en)) paired with the strongest magnet and strongest plate. Its been working pretty well so far and alleviates my worry about getting stuck in the clips with a weakened ligament and atrophied calf (still skinny 3 years later unfortunately). In hindsight I should have gone for the Enduro 2 (has magnets on both sides), but still the sport 2 its great for grinding the climbs and definitely gives more "pull" than being on flats. Also keeps the foot from bouncing off the pedals when poor technique crops up on the descents. Only annoyance is having to flip the pedal to get the magnetic side. Using them with 510 Kestrels. Any experience with these or similar pedals? They ship from the magped factory in Squamish in a matter of days if you ever want to give them a try.