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At the risk of sounding like a bumpkin, why do I see some bikes sold without pedals or at least pictured without pedals? Is there some kind of benefit to buying pedals separately? Do some people take their pedals off the bike when not in use, like they might take off their wheels or seat post?

MrBoJangles
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    Other very personal choices on a bike are handlebar wrap and saddle. – Jay Bazuzi Aug 02 '13 at 18:17
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    I understand that various pedal types but if i am spending over $1,000 dollars on a bike, i would think they would give you stock pedals. –  Jul 10 '15 at 19:57
  • Chris, seems reasonable. Maybe they don't want to sully their erstwhile quality bike with a cheap-o component. Just a thought. – MrBoJangles Aug 17 '15 at 17:46

2 Answers2

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Higher-end bikes are expected to be used with clipless pedals. However, there are several different standards for these pedals, and all of which have a different type of cleat that fits in them.

Most cyclists tend to stick with one of these standards across all of their bikes, so they don't have to have multiple sets of shoes. Thus higher-end bicycles typically are sold without pedals so that the customer can select the style of pedal that matches their existing shoes.

Community
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Stephen Touset
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    Just like higher end tennis rackets are sold with no strings. What startles me is that the same bikes are often sold with low-end tyres whereas tyres choice is pretty much just as personnal as pedal standards. Maybe is it because a bike without pedals still looks good in a show room but not a bike with no tyres (and the low-end tyres at least protect the rims...). But seeing Schwalbe Luganos on a bike with a carbon fork and a full 105 groupset is heartbreaking imho... – ptpdlc Jul 31 '13 at 20:27
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    It's not just a matter of the tire choice being personal. It's that the customer probably doesn't already have a spare set of tires (and usually the shop will swap them out if the customer requests it). But they very frequently do already have a set of shoes that might be incompatible with whatever pedals the shop were to put on the bike. – Stephen Touset Jul 31 '13 at 21:05
  • Agreed, the customer most often has shoes with cleats on them but unless he is replacing an old bike, he does not have spare pedals so how I see it is that the guy goes to the bike shop, buys a bike along with the right set of pedals among the zillion standards the shop has in stock and that matches the guy's cleats on the shoes he has already. When I bought a new bike just 2 months ago, I bought it along with a set of tyres and pedals (to match the cleats on the shoes I already had) and the shop kindly installed all these components... – ptpdlc Jul 31 '13 at 21:17
  • Clip-less pedals are not cheap, most retail around $50 or more. It won't be an easy choice for bike companies to put a particular style of clip-less pedals. – Akshay Jul 31 '13 at 21:52
  • Not only are tires a personal choice, but so is the seat. I find it odd that they bother including a seat, when people are very particular about their seat. No only that, but seats have difference sizes, that more often then not have nothing to do with the height of the rider which usually determines the size of the frame. – Kibbee Jul 31 '13 at 23:56
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    @Kibbee: not only pedals, tires, and seats, but the frame also, and the chain, and the handle are personal. I find it odd that they bother putting on a frame on the bike. Good grief, just let me start biking will ya! – Lie Ryan Aug 01 '13 at 03:09
  • Note that high end MTB bikes are used either with clipless or flats. Not only the first ones. – cherouvim Aug 01 '13 at 03:33
  • Higher end bicycles, do you mean a particular kind of bicycle, like racer or mountain-bike? My touring bicycle (Koga Miyata) has quite ordinary pedals that don't require special shoes, and it's certainly "higher-end" in quality for frame/gearhub/generator/etc. – gerrit Aug 01 '13 at 10:22
  • @LieRyan Ideally, you could build a bike from choosing individual parts for the same price as buying a whole bike, but this is not the case. However, I wonder about people who buy $5000+ bikes "off-the-rack" when for that price the price difference wouldn't be much if you just picked out each piece individually, and you'd end up with something much better suited to your needs. You could skimp on parts where you wanted to, and splurge on the parts where you really think it matters. – Kibbee Aug 01 '13 at 10:38
  • @Kibbee That would almost definitely end up being more expensive than buying a bike that had the groupset/components you wanted. Specialized/Trek/Etc get dealer pricing on the parts, which as a end user (unless you work for a bike shop) wouldn't be able to match. Possibly once you get to the superbikes it would be cheaper, but if you're spending $8,000+ on a bike you probably don't care as much and can drop additional money on customizing the other parts. – sevargdcg Aug 01 '13 at 16:07
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Why do I see some bikes sold without pedals?

Because most of the high end bikes are sold without pedals.

Is there some kind of benefit to buying pedals separately?

Pedals are a totally personal matter. A rider is expected to buy pedals for the new bike or use pedals from an older bike. Especially in the MTB world this is more prevalent where the rider will either be riding clipless or flat pedals and there are tons of variations for each of the two types.

Do some people take their pedals off the bike when not in use, like they might take off their wheels or seat post?

No. Never.

cherouvim
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  • If you have ever been in a bike shop when a shipment on utility bikes came in you would have seen non of them had the pedals on. So it is not just the expensive bikes you can see that way. Pedals are taken off for transport in boxes and bike bags. – Willeke Jul 11 '15 at 09:50
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    Willeke, yes I agree, but this happens just for the transport. High end bikes are usually sold without pedals. – cherouvim Jul 11 '15 at 16:07