The sping loaded pedal idea would work… but would not. It would not do what you actually need for riding. What actually happens as you get faster on a unicycle your pedal pressure reduces before it increases again for very top speeds. This design would mean that as you get up to speed your grip dissappears just as you need it. Not really what you want.
Roger
Has this actually been proven? Still seems like a worthwhile project for a one-off prototype to see what actually happens. Besides depending the amount of spring tension I’d envision even with a little bit of foot pressure on the pedal that the some amount of metal pin would be exposed for traction; plenty good but when you suddenly came off the unicycle the spring tension is enough to move the plate up to hide the pins. I can see how pedal pressure decreases as your moving along at faster speed but I’d imagine the spring tension in the pedal could be adjusted so that even if this is the case you can still get ample plate displacement and enough grip. That is, you’d really have to focus on lightening your foot weight on the pedal to get that plate to move up enough where you could reposition your feet. At least that’s how I imagine it working. Why not give it a shot?
I’ve been saved by my pedal pins on many occasions. If my foot comes partially off the pedal or if I briefly lose contact with the pedals wouldn’t the pins retract? Heck, if anything I might want the pins to extend in that scenario in a last ditch effort to regain traction. 
I don’t think I’d want the pins retracting in the exact moment where I feel that I’d need them. 
I guess the pressure could be tweaked like you say.
It was tested by DM years ago with a load cell on the pedals at a BUC convention. It showed that the better the rider the better their pedal control was and the best riders rode with virtually no pedal pressure.
I also know from my riding that when I am most relaxed and going fast that there is very little pedal pressure and I need to have the spikiest pedals posible to keep my feet from floating.
Roger
Exactly. Your feet are the lightest on the pedals when you’re going fastest (unless you’re sprinting). That’s when your feet must stay on the pedals. That’s why I (road) race with clipless pedals, and why I’ve hit the unofficial top speed in the world with them. Because I’m clipped in, I can have zero pressure on the pedals without worrying about my feeting coming off.
Also, it would be an issue for muni. My worst crashes while riding off road are when a foot flys off the pedals due to an unexpected bump. When that happens, the reason my feet might stay on are because of the pedal pins. If, as my feet unweighted due to a bump, the pedal pins disappeared, I know I would totally bust my shit.
It’s almost like we need to reverse the pinned pedal - shoe interface entirely. What if you could have a pedal that was rubberized but extremely tough and durable and you could then wear a shoe that had a metal pins in the outsole. This would be the most expensive route since you’d have to get a lot of BMX shoe manufactures and pedal manufactures to buy into it and produce all the varieties of shoes/pedal. Still, might be an interesting experiment.
Interesting idea. However, if you were riding muni on a rocky trail, if you fell and stepped on a rock slab, your feet would totally slip out. Not to mentioned any hiking would probably suck.
Not necessarily. I’ve used a pair of Inov-8 Oroc-280s for some extreme off-trail / off-road XC ultrarunning events. The terrain varied from rock slabs, to dirt to outright mud. These shoes have these tungsten carbide dobs in the lugs there worked quite well. I’ve been trail running for over 21 years and I’ve never used a shoe with better overall traction in all conditions. I’ll grant that they could slip some on rock slabs but that’s why all the lugs don’t have the metal dobs, just some of them. That’s what got me to thinking that using a similarly designed shoe with a rubber platform pedal might just work!
You’re right, this pin issue could be difficult to solve on a “once-and-for-all” solution.
However, what kind of makes me laugh is how much discussion this has created amongst riders, whereas the person who posted the original question has apparently checked out. One post and that’s it. What’s up with that?
I’m affraid that’s not possible, as that mysterious power behind him must be his beautiful girlfriend. If I’m right she’s half Indian. Maybe he’s not that gifted in unicycling at al, but of some spirtual level that can influence gravity.
But after 21-12-12 we may be able to do the same, as it’s not the end of the world, but called “the end of timeS” (plural). So, if you can see time different, you can stop the world spinning (take it from an astranaut), who know what happens with gravity.
I rather go for my own solution against pins in bones.
And while I patent essential parts, still someone else came with something simular (but not suitable for unicycles).
That looks like a good solution for most dry conditions. The problem with grip tape is that when it gets wet it doesn’t hold nearly as well. For MUni there is a high potential to get wet/muddy pedals (I’ve had my share) so grip taped pedals wouldn’t work so well.
Something I would expect to be worse when the layer is porous, and sticked on PET. Reason I made mine was because I want to have grip when I ride on ice (and have wet feet in no-time). So they had to stay on. And they certainly do that well.
Definitely looks like a great idea for your intended application, riding on ice or purely wet conditions. Problem is with riding in mud the grip tape would be ineffective very quickly once it’s saturated with mud which is the main reason I continue to use pinned pedals (at least the composite, non-metal ones).
I wonder how effective different “pin” designs would be with respect to grip? Would a different, less sharp, shape give enough grip while at the same time be safer in the event of a impacting with your exposed skin? I still think having a rubber/composite pedal with some sort of semi-spiked or cleated shoe would be the most effective in terms of pedal grip and pedal strike safety. I have some good shoes to experiment with (as mentioned in previous post); just need to acquire some all rubber pedals to try the experiment out!
I’ve actually ridden a uni in a pair of those (well the very similar 330s), to go out collecting controls on my muni after competing in an orienteering competition - where such metal dobs on shoes are very useful to provide grip on wet wood. Can’t say they’re my preffered choice of footwear for riding a uni, though given I ride plastic pedals I shall have to see whether there’s any noticeable improvement in grip from the shoe studs next time I do that.
Exactly. The times when you often need your grip the most is when your feet aren’t firmly on the pedals. Like riding over bumps or drops. You don’t want your pedals to let go of you just when you need them!
So you could try to dampen the spring effect, so there’s a slight delay between taking pressure off and the pins retracting. But timing it would be tricky. Too slow and you could still end up with calf tracks. Too quick and you’re back to the “letting go” problem.
Several riders here use lipless pedals, I think they all use some version of SPDs.
I know at least one rider does tough Muni w/ his.
One company has magnetic pedals/cleats (slide out to release). I think these coud be electrically activated and set to disengage automatically when you eg. let go of the handle. thegearcaster.com
Koxx’s Railhunter frame has quick release bearing caps.
You could do that with electromagnets and an accelaromitor (however its spelt) attached to the frame that releases the magnets when the frame angle goes out of limits?
