# Looking for opinions of Ergon PC2 Pedals.



## Ronnie (Jan 17, 2004)

I tried to search. Honest! Used "Ergon PC2 Pedals" as a search term and I got every thread on the forum with any mention of "pedal" or "Ergon grip" so sorry if this has been done before.:madmax:

I'll be moving to Silicon Valley this summer and will be using an older hardtail mountain bike as a commuter. I've always only used SPD pedals on my mountain bikes but want to get flats for the commuter so that I can ride with whatever shoes I have on. I've been using Ergon grips for several years and found that they work well so I've been wondering if the same applies to their pedals. Do they work as advertised? Has anyone had some experience on them?


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## mtbxplorer (Dec 25, 2009)

I don't have any experience with them, but they don't look that appealing to me. That sandpapery looking stuff looks like it could get slick or worn down. I'd recommend pinned mtb or bmx pedals. The part about them being at an ergonomic angle is total BS, because you can put your foot down at any comfortable angle on any flat pedal.


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## gumby. (Mar 11, 2013)

I've been using similar profile aluminium Wellgos for about a year, 1/3 the price and the cast in studs provide good grip in skate shoes and gumboots wet or dry.
I can shave 5 mins off my 15 min commuter commute on my SPD trail bike so I'm considering platform SPDs.


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## evandy (Oct 3, 2012)

I have a pair of those. For the kind of riding I do (road and path, commuting, and weekend pleasure riding), they work just fine. I haven't had any grip problems, through rain snow and slush. My LBS told me that they don't handle mud too well, though.


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## newfangled (Sep 13, 2010)

I haven't used the ergons, but I agree with everything mtbxplorer said. I like pinned flat pedals. I'm not a fan of cast-in pins because they can be too rounded, and can get slippery when wet. But flat pedals with screw in pins will have plenty of bite, and will work with any shoes. I'm sure the ergons would be fine, but in this case I think they're overthinking things, considering how well flat pedals already work.


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## ERGON (Nov 9, 2006)

I'll give you the facts, you can make your own purchasing decision.

The PC2 is NOT a mtb/off-road pedal. This pedal is 100% dedicated to urban riding and commuting in your non-cycling shoes. The pedal is optimized to function with sneakers, flip-flops, dress shoes, boots, etc, and other non-hard soled shoes. The concept and design of the pedal is to optimize pedaling efficiency and comfort.









The shaping on the pedal (which a traditional flat pedal lacks) forces the ball of the foot to self-center placing the foot where it should be while riding. Riding this pedal by toe pedaling or heal pedaling feels unnatural.

If you are looking for a dedicated commuter or urban riding pedal in your every-day shoes, the PC2 is an option to consider. If you are looking for a pedal to pull dual duty and work for the weekend mtb trips, I would suggest looking elsewhere.

Jeff K
Ergon USA


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## Ronnie (Jan 17, 2004)

ERGON said:


> I'll give you the facts, you can make your own purchasing decision.
> 
> The PC2 is NOT a mtb/off-road pedal. This pedal is 100% dedicated to urban riding and commuting in your non-cycling shoes. The pedal is optimized to function with sneakers, flip-flops, dress shoes, boots, etc, and other non-hard soled shoes. The concept and design of the pedal is to optimize pedaling efficiency and comfort.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the input. I certainly would like to give them a try but I'm a bit nervous as they are quite costly. As I said in my original post, for mountain biking I use only SPD pedals. I'm looking for a purely commuting pedal. As I've enjoyed the Ergon grips for a few years now, these tweaked my interest.


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## dead10 (Jul 27, 2008)

I read 3 reviews before I purchased mine, I've only had them a week so I can't give you more then a first impression of that I like them.

I didn't find them to be to expensive, if you compare them to cheap 20 dollar flats sure but an engineered pedal the pedal isn't that bad.

I also purchased them from REI because they have an great return policy if they don't work for me.

In my opinion Guitar Ted review & follow up is all I needed to read to pull the trigger but the extra research is always good

Cheers
Aron

Ergon PC2 Pedals Review - BikeRadar
Ergon PC2 Pedal Review | Bike Carson

Guitar Ted Productions: Ergon PC2-L Pedals: First Impressions
Guitar Ted Productions: Ergon PC2-L Pedals Follow-Up Review


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## newfangled (Sep 13, 2010)

dead10 said:


> In my opinion Guitar Ted review & follow up is all I needed to read to pull the trigger but the extra research is always good


That is a good review from Guitar Ted. Although the reason he seems to like the ergon is convenience, and that's as much about clipless vs. flat as it is about the Ergon pedals specifically.

I do agree about his suggestion for a modular grip patch - for rain or snow a couple of pins would make a huge difference.


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## joeinchi (Jun 19, 2010)

dead10 said:


> I also purchased them from REI because they have an great return policy if they don't work for me.


That was my first thought when reading the OP's reservations. Buying from REI essentially eliminates the financial risk.

Give 'em try! If they're engineered as well as their grips, which I've been using for three years, then I'm sure you'll be pleased.


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## dead10 (Jul 27, 2008)

mtbxplorer said:


> The part about them being at an ergonomic angle is total BS, because you can put your foot down at any comfortable angle on any flat pedal.


Having a 1.5 weeks on the pedals I feel your statement to broad, the last two day I've been really focused on how the pedal feels vs flats.

The pedal platform on the PC2 is wider and longer then my wellgo flats, I ride to work in sandals/vans I can feel a difference. But that could be because its a larger flat pedal. On the PC2's your foot feels like its sucked in closer to the crank arm, I think this shortens your Q factor. (something I dont fully understand)

I think they are some factors that make peoples experiences different, shoe size, shoe, bike setup.

As for the spray on grip, so far its been great in dry and light wet conditions, I may find out how they work in "Severe Wet" on my ride home tonight


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## psy (May 12, 2013)

I had a pair on my last commuter bike that was stolen. Best "flats" I've used.


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## Medic Zero (Jun 8, 2011)

I've been riding on these since December, I'm not real pleased with them, I'll detail why below partially cribbed from response to a similar post over on Bike Forums.

For the TL: DR version - the Q factor is too short for me, the surface is slippery and wore off with my MTB shoes. Also, there have been some complaints about bearing failures with these. Buy at REI if you can, and remember that REI changed their return policy to 1 year now.


I was going to post a review of these, but I was partially holding off given that I was only able to find two reviews online 6 months ago when I ended up purchasing these, and one of the reviews said that the bushing (in place of bearings on this design) failed after less than 3000 miles, so I wanted to put some miles on them and see how they did. I picked up a pair in December of last year and so I now have a little over 1800 miles on my set.

First off, I was looking for a very wide pair of pedals, as even with pedal extenders I still find my feet on the outer half of big pedals. No solution for me here, the Ergon's actively tried to move their pedals inward, but I'm an odd duck, so that really isn't a strike against them for most folks. Also, they advertised that they tried to offset the fact that the pedals were so wide by moving them inboard, so I'm not complaining on that front, just pointing out that as big as they appear to be, they might not be what you are looking for if you've got a "wide stance" as it were! Unfortunately, pedal extenders still didn't solve my problem in this case, so my quest for a durable, wide, platform pedal continues. Unfortunately, I basically blew my budget for pedals with these and so am soldiering on with them for now, as they aren't any worse than anything else I've been riding. Well, in some ways anyway, more on that below.

I like that they have a reflector, because I'm like that.

FYI: I commute 3 to 7 days a week (work+school), about 15 miles round trip (varies depending on the route I choose), it is literally hilly both directions, and being Seattle, it is wet much of the time, but we have had an unusually dry winter and spring.

To me $70 seems high for these. Especially since they make a big deal about all the German engineering that went into them and one of the things they make a big deal about is their supposedly specially engineered grip surface. Well, that is a TOTAL failure. They could have saved their money and used skateboard grip tape, and I'm positive that it would've had better traction. In fact, there are a number of off-the-shelf applications that would've worked quite well. Instead, I'm paying a premium for something THAT DOESN'T WORK AS ADVERTISED. As a student of history, it did bring a wry smile to my face to see that much touted German engineering is still spending too much effort to over engineer something only to have it not work right when a perfectly acceptable solution is already available. Most days I wear my 510 (Minaar) shoes and these are "ok" on them in the rain, but on days when I wear my Chrome (Kursk) shoes and get caught out in the rain the surface of the pedals might as well be slick moss over granite. I'm exaggerating here, but you get the picture. I lost my footing multiple times the last day when I was commuting in the wet. I was lucky not to rack my nards. I don't often not wear cycling specific shoes, despite running platforms, because I like a stiff sole when I'm cycling and I don't want the wear and tear on my other shoes, but IIRC the few times I've been caught out in the rain in other shoes they were slippery then too, and all my non-cycling shoes have a rather rubbery (grippy) bottom. On top of everything else about the grippy surface, 50 cent piece sized patches of it have worn off of the pedals as well, which I'm sure exacerbated the problem most recently in the rain, but the problem existed when they were brand new, it's just worse now that their high tech fancy grip tape has already worn off.

I haven't noticed any problems with the bushing (instead of bearing) system yet, so as far as I can tell they are holding up so far in that regard, but somehow I think it may be harder to tell when this starts to go compared to a bearing unit. *shrugs*

Although some of my stuff is Fredly in some ways, I still like things to look good. The Ergon pedals pretty much fail in this department. When you first pull them out of the box they look HUGE, but they look a little less bad actually on the bike (at least on my 22" MTB), but they still look like pedals some mad scientist made specifically for Frankensteins' monsters' giant feet. They're a drab color to begin with that seems to have already faded in my case, which makes them look cheap and beat up, which is only exacerbated by the grip surface having partially worn off. Perhaps that is partially my fault as I still have yet to find a solution that puts my feet where they are comfortable so my feet are riding somewhat outboard on these pedals (even with pedal extenders), but for $70 of high tech German engineering I would expect them to hold up.

I won't be buying another pair of these disappointing pedals, as soon as I can afford a quality pair of large platforms these will get removed. I need to remember to stop by a skateboard shop and pick up some grip tape to try and rectify their shortcomings in that regard.

One other thing that I'll mention. I've been wearing those 510 Minaar shoes for two years now and haven't had any issues with them. Now the soles on these are orange colored material (rubbery plastic?). I live in Seattle, so I ride in wet conditions for much of the year. Like I said, no problems. Until I bought the Ergon pedals. I assume the materials of the fancy grip tape stuff they so carefully designed at great expense to me interacted with the material of my shoes soles, but I left my shoes under the kitchen table after taking them off after a wet ride right after mounting these pedals and was rewarded with nice orange stains to the carpet. Although I haven't given the shoes an opportunity to do this to the carpet since, I have noticed that a distinct orange stain growing on the pedals. I'd be tempted to blame the shoes, but like I said, I didn't have any problems the first year and a half+ I used the shoes and rode in the wet quite regularly, it's got to be that fancy grip tape they went to all that trouble to design. 

When I first posted the above over at Bike Forums someone took me to task for not noticing that on page 24(!) of the very long instruction manual that comes with the pedals that they point out that these pedals are not meant to be used with cycling shoes!

In my defense, I skimmed the manual, but at some point my eyes glossed over and I didn't catch that bit or failed to take it seriously, because, come on! Who designs bicycle pedals that you can't use bike shoes with?!


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## newfangled (Sep 13, 2010)

Thanks for the review. That's great information, and confirmed my fears that I wouldn't want these without some type of pins for additional grip.


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## ERGON (Nov 9, 2006)

Thanks for your feedback. Not for the sake of argument, but to make clear to you and to other potential users reading this, here are a few things that were clearly pointed out in the multi-language PC2 manual, page 24....

*Ergon PC2 Pedals are designed to provide a significant functional improvement over traditional pedals using everyday shoes.*
Yes, these pedals are 100% designed NOT to be used with cycling shoes. If you commute in cycling shoes, do not buy the Ergon PC2 pedal. The PC2 pedal is not optimized or designed around these types of shoes.

*To best preserve the longevity of the 3M SafetyWalk® surface* (not designed by Ergon, but rather by 3M in Minnesota) *on your new PC2 pedals, please avoid prolonged riding with aggressive, open treaded hiking boots or mountain bike / cycling shoes. The lugged sole design of this type of footwear creates highly focused pressure points which can cause premature surface wear.*

As for any bearing or bushing issue, if less than 2 years old, warranty them. We have had a handful of warranty claims for loose axle bearings over the years. If this is the case, simple return for new pair. All Ergon products are premium. We stand behind our all our products 100% if used within it's intended use.

Q-Factor has nothing to do with the PC2 pedal width. Width of the pedal is designed around shoe size. Q-Factor effects alignment of the rider legs and knees. Wider the Q-Factor....the more bow-leged a person will pedal. In short, not efficient or good for the leg/knee joints. The lower you can get the Q-Factor of pedals, crank arms, and bottom bracket spindles the more comfortable, powerful, and efficient the rider will be. XC and road racers have been doing this for years.

Jeff K
Ergon USA


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## Medic Zero (Jun 8, 2011)

ERGON said:


> Thanks for your feedback. Not for the sake of argument, but to make clear to you and to other potential users reading this, here are a few things that were clearly pointed out in the multi-language PC2 manual, page 24....
> 
> Ergon PC2 Pedals are designed to provide a significant functional improvement over traditional pedals using everyday shoes.
> Yes, these pedals are 100% designed NOT to be used with cycling shoes. If you commute in cycling shoes, do not buy the Ergon PC2 pedal. The PC2 pedal is not optimized or designed around these types of shoes.
> ...


*

I appreciate your pointing out the relevant part of the manual, I think it should be more prominent than page 24 of a manual you don't receive until after you've bought the pedals though. If I had known that wearing cycling shoes were going to remove the surface of the pedal, making it even more slippery, I wouldn't have spent over $70 dollars on the pedals, as I prefer to ride in a stiff soled shoe.

As far as the bolded bit above goes, not all humans are built exactly the same. I've tried many times to bring my feet closer together, but it just isn't comfortable for me. Given that there are multiple suppliers of pedal extenders and these are often recommended in bike fittings, obviously I'm not the only one. So, I take issue with your blanket statement that people will be more comfortable moving their feet closer together, that simply isn't true for all people and a disappointing stance coming from a company marketing a large platform pedal.*


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