My 25-year-old giraffe has 25-year-old rubber pedals. They’re pretty slippery and I’d like something grippier without being dangerous. I think pinned pedals like on my muni might not let me dismount the giraffe before it hits the ground but the ones on it now, are to slippery for me to idle. Anything other than downward pressure results in foot slippage.
Thoughts and opinions?
Suck it up. Generations of giraffe riders and performers did just fine, in slippery, leather-bottom street shoes! 
I run standard, plain old Schwinn block pedals on my Giraffe, but mostly so I can hand-crank it (while standing on the pegs). My older, toothy pedals were far less pleasant for that. So if you don’t want to go the full pin route, get something in between. They used to be called rat-traps or bear traps. Any pedal with some more texture on it, but without those leg-slicing metal pins. Even plastic pedals with pins will probably be fine.
Bash your shins much on your giraffe pedals? Are you doing interesting tricks?
BTW, if it’s a Schwinn, remember you need 1/2" pedals, not the usual 9/16".
I was simply wondering what other people use.
No, I don’t typically bash my shins on the giraffe and it’s not something I’d like to start now! The only interesting ‘tricks’ I do are one-offs that are not to be repeated!
It’s Norco - but thanks, I hadn’t thought to check the thread size. I assumed they’d all be 9/16".
It’s most likely 9/16" on your Norco. If in doubt, hold one of those pedals up next to another pedal and compare the size of the threaded area; it’s very easy to see the difference without measuring.
I use the QU-AX freestyle pedals on my freestyle, I expect your demands would be similar.
They have rubber pads that yield good grip without spikes which endanger shins or prevent emergency exits.
The downside is they wear out pretty fast. The upside, they’re very affordable. Just give it a try.
I’ve only had my 5ft nimbus for ~2months. No expert, and still finding what works for me.
I found the pedals that came with (plastic with some slight pins) pretty good, i did notice a little slipping if it was a little wet doing anything one footed, very quick pedal movements or the likes.
I changed them to much more “spikey” harder plastic ones but found emergency dismounting and re positioning my foot while idling became quite troublesome so i went back to regular slightly spiky ones I think they’re best option for myself for now
I have found the Odyssey Twisted PC pedals to be sufficiently grippy on the giraffe. Cheap too. I only use them on my 12’, the 8’ and 5.5’ giraffes still have the original Union brand pedals from the 1980’s. The Unions are slippery when dry and lethal when wet.
I went to a local bike shop looking for some pedals but all they had was some used plastic BMX pedals. They were in good shape and looked pretty grippy. He gave them to me for free as they were laying around and he didn’t have them listed in the computer. They work pretty good, I still wouldn’t want then jammed into my shins, but they stay under my feet where they’re supposed to.
