>
> Sorry guess I should have clarified a bit more - what I'm really
wondering about is the platform size.
>

Pedal platform area is often misunderstood. Everyone sees these pedals
with larger bodies and go....Ooooh, large platform! But if you actually
look into it, there usually is a lot less actual contact between the
shoe sole and any part of the pedal than you'd think. It's pretty easy
to look at the sole of the (used) shoe and/or pedal and see where the
contact points are, and it's a combination of the actual contact area
and how spread apart the point are. The cleat is not part of the contact
area. It's usually the retention mech, and a few points on either side
of that for the shoe tread to sit on. The contact area actually has to
be pretty small, or the friction between the shoe and the pedal would
interfere with the action of the float feature.

Pedals get away with pretty low contact area because most
racing/performance shows have very stiff soles. Try riding a lot of
modern mtb/cross pedal with flexy-soled touring shows and you get more
of a feel of how much the stiff soles are contributing to foot comfort
and lack of pressure points. Up until the advent of carbon soles, a
pedal like the EB would have been near impossible.

I think in many cases the "platform" ends up being more an assist for
orientation and having something to stab at. This DOES help in cross.
Even if it isn't a support surface when clipped-in, it makes it easier
to keep a foot on until you get there.

JMS