Pedals around a key set of islands (8)
I believe the answer is:
cyclades
'set of islands' is the definition.
'cyclades' can be an answer for 'islands' (I've seen this before). I'm not certain of the 'set of' bit.
'pedals around a key' is the wordplay.
'pedals' becomes 'cycles' ('cycle' can be a synonym of 'pedal').
'around' is an insertion indicator.
'key' becomes 'd' (musical key).
'a'+'d'='ad'
'cycles' placed around 'ad' is 'CYCLADES'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cyclades that I've seen before include "Aegean island group" , "Greek islands in the southern Aegean" , "many islands" , "Island group inc. Naxos" .)