What are the current STW platform pedals of choice?

Plastic ones. Pedals do take a battering.

Seems to me 'alloy' gets more damaged than nylon. Every time I grind a pedal, I lose a fair bit of metal(unbelievably crap rider, totally skilless) but nylon ones I've found just kind of go furry. Yeah they lose a bit but not as much as alloy it seems*

.

*Disclaimer - "It seems"

Plus PLUS, you get a lovely set of anodized pedals, and they look so cute and lovely in their little box home, but clip, snag or scrape and that colour matching ano comes right off with it. Coloured nylon is coloured all the way through

9 out of 10 WC DH riders are, I believe, on Mallets.  I wouldn't touch a CB product personally but if function is prioritised over longevity then I don't think they can be ignored. I'd definitely buy new though. 

– Hope are daft money and reviews aren’t great

Whoever is reviewing them should not be trusted 😉 Yes they are expensive, yes they're also the best Ive ever had, by some margin. Everyone I know whos tried them (and we've all had all your list more or less) is now on Hope.

Good old Hope pedals. Use them a month and they double up as a toddlers rattle.

Got two sets of Mallets and they have never let me down.

The float on them is great and it's a decent enough platform. Easy to get in/out of

Currently just on flats though

I wouldn’t touch a CB product personally but if function is prioritised over longevity

The boys pedals haven't been touched in a year, DH, wet, dry, REALLY wet, jumps, drops, crashes.... the Mallet DH pedals are surviving really well.. Massively impressed.

Saints are heavy but for sheer reliabilty you can't go wrong, especially if you live anywhere rocky.

Saint  on big bike

Xt on gravel bike

Xt for going over 20 miles, saint for going somewhere I might get scared and want to ride unclipped.

I had time pedals for ages. The cleats are brass and wore out regularly. I have several pairs of shoes and got fed up of replacing loads of cleats each year. The time speciale pedals were pretty awesome.

Massively impressed.

"Improved" you mean?

I used nothing but Vault's for over 10 years and had no complaints other than regular bushing changes.

Now I'm a composite convert. I've got the Burgtec's and DMR V11's on the big bikes. I've got the DMR V6 on the DJ bike.

I like how they don't go silver when you scratch them up. Also, this sounds mad, but they're definitely warmer on your feet in freezing weather. Something I thought I was imagining until I switched back.

EDIT: I misread the OP. Ignore me.

It would seem there are two types of people in this world, those who read the OP and those who read ‘platform’ and took it to mean flats.

Having been a Time fan boy back in the day - the MX pedals look good - https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/time-atac-mx-4-enduro-pedals

However - when it comes to reliability & longevity you cannot beat Shimano.

Personally tho - I cannot stand clips + flat pedals. I think the only reason the pros use em is cos the flat is there in an emergency, not if there is a scary section - I wouldn't trust them to stay put when not clipped in. Especially as clipless shoes have no feel in them to know where the pedal might be.

Placcy Nukeproof ones. Absolutely brilliant. LOADS of grip and stand up to the test of time really well - my old ones are still in service on my eldests Alpine now after about 5 years and apart from one pin thats munched into the pedal body after a hit, they're spot on. Had a set of placcy Burgtecs and in comparison they were like riding on ice. Took them off sharpish and put another set of NPs on. For what they cost and how well they work, I don't see myself ever putting metal pedals back on...

I have a set of crank brothers Mallet-E LS pedals which are coming up for 3 years old, no issues with them at all.  best spd pedals I've ever had.

Yeah, apologies, I'm really regretting forgetting to put the letters 'S', P', and 'D' in the thread title.
FWIW I've been running plastic flats for yonks, Deftraps FTW, but about that, this thread is not

Saints are good as you'd expect. XT level, but bigger. I use mine with hellcats (pros? I think).  No complaints.

Most of my friends using Shimano platforms just buy the cheapest, because Saint/XT reliability has not been good

mallets. mine were £30 off ebay about 7 years ago. I think i`ve greased them once. maybe twice.

i bought a new set in teh summer for £40 off ebay before i went to teh alps - bargain.

used for my singlespeed rigid bike and BPW visits - opposite ends of the MTB usage spectrum!

My two pairs of saints are about 4 years old. I've greased both pair once. Done around 2000 miles on one pair and 1600 on another.

No problems.

With Shimano gravity shoes I'm happy to ride with one foot unclipped if I'm doing something outside my comfort zone. Not "correct", but I'm happy

I finally gave up on Mallets recently as I’d had enough of buying new cleats and refresh kits.
I decided to get a set of the Hope GC pedals after reading the review on Loamwolf’s website. I got them for £140 which is expensive but hopefully cheaper than Mallets in the long run. So for I would agree with Loamwolf’s review that after a bit of trial and error when setting them up they feel simultaneously secure but also easy to get into and out.

Same as hairyscary- I’ve had a few sets of mallet dh’s over the years, still believe they are the best but I was sick of replacing the soft brass cleats. Killed axles, springs, bodies. When I found a set of horizon dh on sale for decent money I took a punt, fairly shimano esque in the engagement and release. They’re not quite up there with the mallets but good enough that I’ve got them on a couple of bikes now. If I had an endless supply of free spares I would look no further than mallets. But as I’m mediocre on a bike and poor, I’ll stick with my horizons. 

Having been a Time fan boy back in the day – the MX pedals look good –

I'm using MX4 on one of my bikes (and have borrowed some speciale 8 to try, which are also very good, but a bit too spendy!)

Everything else are either time XC of various eras or a pair of 10+ year old time DH pedals on my winter bike.

Also, this sounds mad, but they’re definitely warmer on your feet in freezing weather.

Plastic bodied pedals are warmer. Less mass to heat up and slower heat transfer.

Resurrection/hijack , what shoes are you guys using? Can't afford £150.00 plus but I've seen some Hellcat on Evans for sensible money .

Sorry but it has to be the hopes, I attached the pads and no pins.
It’s like riding flat pedals

Using hellcats

I’ve got a couple of pairs of these, bargain if they have your size   https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Ride-Concepts-Transition-MTB-Shoes_215458.htm?sku=742635&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Clothing%20%3E%20Shoes%20%3E%20MTB%20shoes&utm_content=Ride+Concepts&gclid=CjwKCAjw1t2pBhAFEiwA_-A-NHqHJKtCHBA9uVO_n_tm4AjQCVY84RJWH6GV-ui93yxjzRjiltALkxoCjqIQAvD_BwE

My Nukeproof Horizons click in and click out fine - just make sure you use genuine Nukeproof cleats with them. Yes you can use Shimano ones but they are much harder to click in with. I wonder if the reports you’ve heard about the horizons being a bit vague are people using Shimano cleats.
I find them super easy to get in and out of and nothing has worn out on them yet. Not given them a single bit of maintenance. But then I do swing back and forward between flats and spds so they probably don’t get as much hammer as some other people give their pedals.

On the shoe front make sure you get something with a skate shoe type sole round the cleat - anything with an aggressive outsole will interfere with the pins on platform style spds. I like my Shimano am7’s but ideally I’d have something without laces or with a lace cover I think.

I got sick of my Shimanos, they were never really ideal and the lack of any lateral float resulted in a few sketchy accidental unclipping moments....they just wouldn't die though!

Now using HT T1s, which are not a big platform, but they do make a bigger platform DH version. Really like them, using the 8 degree cleats they have quite a lot of give while still having a very positive click in and out. My only gripe is that the axle preload does seem to undo itself, which may be more down to my lack of locktite than a design flaw.

The other ones which caught my eye, and I saw on sale recently, were Time Speciale 8s, though don't have any experience.

– NP Horizons seem the best balance, Ti axles for under 100, but have read engagement is a bit vague?

I have two sets of these. Easy and cheap to rebuild. I use shimano clips on them and have no issues.

I like that they have pins, when it's wet and muddy they're much easier to get back in to compared to Shimano spds that i've used.

And if you buy them in silver when they wear they stay silver!

Just picked up a pair of Nukeproof Horizon Pro(in silver) flatties for £34.99 on CRC. Normally seem to retail at £80+ so a good deal.

Good buying. That's about what they cost when they launched them, then the price has steadily risen. I picked up some Sam Hills for a similar price a while back.

Plus PLUS, you get a lovely set of anodized pedals, and they look so cute and lovely in their little box home, but clip, snag or scrape and that colour matching ano comes right off with it. Coloured nylon is coloured all the way through

Agreed with this. silver metal also works.

I've got Shimano platform spds. They've gone sloppy and I beleive are not user servicable.

I've also had Hope, DMR and HT flats. All have eventually got sloppy, after different lengths of time but I have serviced or attempted to service them all.

Based on the above I'd recommend the Hope, but with the note that I haven't used that particular model.

I know there is a bit of disparity over my earlier statement about nylon and the alloy ones I've just bought. But my decision was based on I do love a bargain, and it is a high end bike im building so the better quality pedal choice(plus the saving) ruled the day.

Shimano DX with the nylon platform. They last forever and the nylon body shrugs off damage.

if you’re going to buy some metal pedals then go for silver

It's down to either the Union CG ,Horizon CS, or Horizon Cl. Latter are half the price of the Union which is tempting!

Or there's option D... 😀
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There's 2 pairs of Horizons on fleabay.