A pedal system for bicycles includes a shoe insert, which can be fastened to the exterior of a shoe, having a detent element. The pedal system also includes a pedal, which can be fastened to the bicycle, can rotate about an axis, and which has a seat for accommodating the detent element. The detent element can be locked counter to elastic force inside the seat and can be released therefrom by executing a rotating movement. The seat for the detent element is formed between two seat parts, which are rotationally symmetrical with regard to the pedal axis and which can be displaced away from one another counter to elastic force in the direction of the pedal axis.