What are the pros and cons of medal pedals?
Hi Tyler, welcome to the RSU forums.
I grew up riding plastic pedals. They were very slick, especially when you got your shoes wet. Then I upgraded to some plastic BMX style pedals, they had little nubs that helped to hold my feet on the pedals. This was a great improvement.
Later, I was introduced to medal pedals, some of which have very sharp medal pens installed all over their surfaces. In my opinion, these are the best pedals for unicycling. There however is a tradeoff with these pedals. Shoe to pedal contact becomes great, even when your shoes are wet. I only ride with medal pen pedals now. I love having them on my unicycles. The down side, these sharp pens CAN make your shins look like hamburger meat and freak out your parents. Please post pictures of you injuries if this happens to you. 
Medal pedals also seem to hold up better than plastic, but I’m sure this is not a hard and fast rule. You’ll get more responses, that was my .2 cents worth.
Again, welcome to the Unicycling Forum. --chirokid–
Re: Pros and Cons of Medal Pedals
Metal pedals with the threaded in traction pins are very grippy. There are also metal pedals with rounded molded in traction bumps. The molded in bumps are much less grippy than the threaded in traction pins. But the molded in bumps won’t rip your skin up if your foot slips off the pedal.
Pros:
- Very grippy for things like muni and Coker riding
- Grippy even in the rain or mud
Cons:
- Can’t use metal pedals indoors because they’ll damage the floor
- Cheese grater effect on your calf or shin if you foot slips off the pedal
- They hurt if they smack your shin and you aren’t wearing shin guards or full leg armor
- It is more difficult to reposition your feet on the pedals as you are riding
You don’t want metal pedals for freestyle. They are too grippy and you won’t be able to scoot your feet around on the pedals which is necessary for some skills. Metal pedals will also hurt your legs.
Re: Re: Pros and Cons of Medal Pedals
For riding outside, I think you’re more likely to hurt your legs with plastic pedals than metal, because even though one slip off the pedals hurts less, you’ll have more of them.
Joe
If you get any, shoot for the gold ones! Silver and bronze are okay, but don’t have the same prestige.
plastic pedals look poo… nuff said
think my signature explains all
nasty pedal bites? ha! iv got a 2" by 1/2" scar, indented a fair way into my shin, cos i spent the first two years of my unicycle career saying “pads are for pussies” metal pedals rule, i dont need a pad on my right shin any more cos a pedal pin cut the nerves or something and ive got no feeling…
dont let them stitch you either… the scars are cooler…
in the words of the great seth enslow:
“if theres no blood in the picture, its not good, right?”
Keep this in mind if you like to add lots of scars to yourself. Nothing wrong this this; some people like to keep adding tattoos. Scars at least make it look like you were doing something more than getting needle-poked…
If he’s talking about a wedding picture, I’d have to disagree. 
And that’s coming from a person who had a MUni performance at his wedding!
http://www.unicycling.com/wedding/show.htm
Meanwhile, I almost forgot to put in my “useful” two cents about pedals. Here’s a good general rule: plastic for freestyle, metal for offroad. It’s not quite that simple. If you have pads on, metal pedals are fine. But I used some lightly-toothed plastic ones when I was learning tricks and practicing routines. However I use metal pedals on my Coker to ride to work, and I would probably only use metal for Trials (with pads). Plastic pedals are required most of the time for indoor riding and track racing. Look for some grippy ones.
As mentioned, freestyle needs plastic crap, and muni needs metal. I used crappy molded cast aluminum ones with press-fit pins, and did fine for about 2 years. Then I shattered the left pedal during a failed hop onto concrete, and since then I used crappy aluminum pedals with fused pins that wore off. Recently I was given an old set of wellgo b-37s (thanks again, Harper:D ), and I’m much happier. The pins grip better, even if they do abuse my shoe. They have sealed bearings, which is nice for trips to the beach, and I can now go back to fearing my unicycle. Metal is generally better, but don’t be a macho fool. If they have pins, wear at the very least shin pads, preferably leg armour. I saw a set of wellgos with >4mm pins, and to biff with those would mean a chipped bone! Scars are cool, but stiches are expensive and kill riding time, so wear armour. Also, if the pedals have big enough pins, make sure the sole of your shoe can handle it. Mine have holes from the pins on my last pedal in the sole.