Pedal recommendations (too chicken for clipless).

hopeful

Hi, Just noticed on the way home that a plastic bit of my left (flat) pedal had disappeared (the bit that keeps the strap in place on the outside). I guess it must have hit something and worn through instantly. Anyhow, I need to buy new pedals and would be grateful for recommendations for decent light flat pedals that'll take straps and toeclips (sorry, too scared just yet for clipless).

I'm assuming that whatever I get will take my existing straps and toeclips, and that any pedals will fit any bike.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

gkerr4

Any ideas?

go clipless!!

why you afraid of going clipless?

hopeful

gkerr4 wrote:

Any ideas?

go clipless!!

why you afraid of going clipless?

Ach, just the vision of not being able to get out of them! I suspect I'll get there sometime. This is just a sticking plaster job for the moment.

richa

Don't put it off.

Go clipless now. You'll wonder why you waited so long.

hopeful

RichA wrote:

Don't put it off.

Go clipless now. You'll wonder why you waited so long.

Okay guys, I'm weakening. Is there an existing useful thread on clipless recommendations, or can anyone shout some ideas?

gkerr4

OK - now we're talking!

do you want to be able to walk in the shoes or not - that is the first question to ask yourself

if yes - then you need to look at an MTB type pedal and shoe combo with recessed cleats. A std shimano SPD pedal would do you nicely like this:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... 5360008792

These can be had for under £20 if you shop around. The spd cleat is adjustable in it;s "strength" and is easy to get used to - there is a massive choice of shoes to pic which accept the cleat (the cleat comes with the pedals, not the shoes) - I have these as MTB / leisure / touring shoes:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... 5360028357

ok - if you are not fussed about walking anywhere - there is even more choice. I have the SPD-SL on my road bike - these is fact:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... 5360031449
which can be had for £21 if you shop around (ribble to be straight with you..)
and I have these shoes to go woth them:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... 5360019516

but there is no end of road combos - time, look, speedplay and loads of others make pedals - plenty of fans of them all on here. and loads of choice of shoes from around£25 upwards.

to be honest - if you are afraid of clipless - I don't know how you live with toestraps - they are an accident waiting to happen if you ask me. Clipless only takes a couple of rides to get used to and since you already ride with straps, you will allready be disciplined enought to remove your foot in advance of junctions so you are halfway there. The difference in pedal efficiency will make you wonder why you didn;t try them ages ago!

hopeful

Fantastic advice -- thanks so much, gkerr. I like to be able to walk in the shoes and I wear a pair of Specializeds that look a bit like yours (women's version). I'm guessing that it's a good idea to call to the LBS for advice and maybe a demo. You know, I think I might just DO THIS!!

saif

lots of useful information here , thanks ..what road shoes are best suitable for summer-winter or which can sustain the winter months without letting the feet freeze ?

gkerr4

hopeful - give them a go - if you have specialized shoes already and they have the removable rubber bit for the cleat, then you are quids in - just need to chose pedals. there is another set worth looking for - the A540's - which only have a clip-in bit on one side - the other is just like a platform pedal - here they are:
http://www.bonthronebikes.co.uk/154-2443-11

might give you a bit more confidence to start out with? - your lbs will advise as you say.



saif - I'm afraid (In my experience) all road shoes appear to be for the summer!!

they all tend to be highly vented or have large mesh panels - which leads to cold, wet feet in winter.

You really need to rely on overshoes for warmth - I use these in autumn / early spring for warmth:
http://www.argear.com/gear/grpearlizumicalientoes.html

I actually got them from wiggle last year for about £9 - adidas do a set too for around £8-9ish - they juct cover the toe area and stop the wind getting through.

for real cold I use overshoes - I have the cheap DHB ones from wiggle:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... 5360022100

but again there is a massive choice of oveshoes..

alfablue

Wiggle are selling unboxed PD-M520's for £20.99 at the moment.

Whilst I agree with gkerr that single-sided spd pedals might give more confidence, you will probably find double sided is actually easier as you don't have to check or flip the pedal to get the right side.

You can pedal fairly well even if you're not clipped in - I often pop down the shops in ordinary trainers on my spd's, no problem, so going a few revolutions before you clip in (which may happen when you first start out with them) isn't much of an issue.

Just make sure the tension screw is fully unwound (easiest unclipping) till you get used to them.

Dorian Gray

Definitely get clipless pedals if you're willing to spend a few quid on pedals and shoes. They're fantastic, and far safer than toeclips and straps! Now those are scary...

baudman

Have your first ride in clipless on a field. You can then practice clipping in/out starting off and stopping to your heart's content. Also crank them nice and loose until you get used to them.

overmars

Yes, go clipless, and go double sided too! Believe it or not but I recently (few months ago) changed to double sided and it was a revelation! I don't know why I put it off for so long.

ratty2k

I had a bit of a crash the other day (MTB sorry!) With my SPD's. Bit of a loss of confidence after and changed back to flats- uhhh no...... horrible things. Feet sliding off, rolling forward, constant adjustment of feet.........
Changed straight back to SPD's and wont go back now. Have them on all my bikes inc. my roady. If you really feel unsure about them, Shimano do a multi-release cleat. Pedal on it's loosest setting with these and you will have no issues whatsoever.

beckenham

Okay so the advice is to go clipless but why? I have clips and straps and have no problem with them. I can get my feet out easily when I need to. I've seen so many postings on this forum about people being unable to get their feet out when using cleats and then crashing. Answer this, how many of you out there using cleats have NOT had a crash?

alfablue

beckenham wrote:

Okay so the advice is to go clipless but why? I have clips and straps and have no problem with them. I can get my feet out easily when I need to. I've seen so many postings on this forum about people being unable to get their feet out when using cleats and then crashing. Answer this, how many of you out there using cleats have NOT had a crash?

I have not had a crash due to cleats.

I have with toe clips, fumbling to flip them over when cycling away from the lights.

If you are perfectly happy with toe clips there is no need to change, but if you tried clipless you might find them better.

Advantages are better power especially up hills, total security as feet don't slip off, pedalling straight away regardless which way up the pedal is.

Those that have clipless moments are rarely deterred, they usually have thm in the early days only, and I would suspect because they have the tension set too tight.

Smeggers

I would never use SPD on my mountain bike.

Conversley I would never use Toe Clips on my road bike.

I find adapting to each, no problem whatsoever. Can literally jump off one to the other, without any noticeable effect at all.

Never had a crash on either due to the pedals.

herbie12

beckenham wrote:

Answer this, how many of you out there using cleats have NOT had a crash?

No one... (except, it seems, an earlier poster who really is tempting fate!)

(Almost) everyone who uses clipless has, at some stage, forgotten to unclip and had that really ungainly, slow motion sideways collapse... I usually like to wait until there's a group of attractive women or a bus full of school kids watching before I do it... just to maximise the embarrassment.

Seriously though, I've been using clipless pedals for 6 or 7 years now and it's happened 3 or 4 times - almost all off road... On road it became second nature after a few rides... pull up at lights, unclip, foot down. I tried going back to flats for off road, but couldn't get on with them and kept shredding my shins so settled for Mallets which have a really big platform round them for pedalling when unclipped and clips for the rest of the time..

It did take me a while to find a make of pedal that I liked though, as they're all different... the amount of available float, the action to clip in, the general feel etc - I really did not get on with Shimano as they didn't have enough float, so eventually settled for Crank Bros and now have them on both bikes...

Garybee

I've never crashed as a result of using clipless pedals. I'm due one though as i like to track stand at traffic lights. I have known people do themselves damage though due to crashing with clips and straps. They just don't allow your foot to come out when you fall.

Mark Alexander

If you're ok withj straps then much respect, I daren't use them.
SPD is a good starter system. if you do come off then your feet seem to automatically come out :oops:
if you go for those , there are hundreds of shoes that you can walk in too.

hopeful

Yikes, I've ordered a pair of clipless -- the 520s. I'll give them a go anyway. I was reminded by one of the posts above that the dodgiest thing about the straps & flats I've used up to now is getting my left foot in when I move off. Most of the time, it was okay, but I did have occasional difficulties getting in (epecially with wet shoes, when the sole wouldn't grip the flip bit of the pedal). That led to a fair bit of instability. Apart from that, they did a good job for me, but I think I'm quite looking forward to the clipless challenge now. Thanks for the encouragement. Oh, and I've ordered a pedal spanner as well (can't be that difficult, can it?)

beckenham

Hopeful, let us know how you get on. I've had the same problem with straps. You accelarate away from the traffic lights only to stall after a couple of feet because you can't flip the peddle and get your foot in. It doesn't look too cool :oops:

Everyone keeps saying how easy cleats are to live with and then you hear these horror stories. I even read one, on another forum, where the guy fell in the canel bike and all :shock:

It would help if there was a way of trying them out. Cleats, shoes and pedals ain't going to come that cheap!

Good luck and keep us informed

herbie12

I know they read like horror stories, but for a road bike, clipless pedals are probably the single most effective improvement you can make to your riding... they're so much more predictable than using toestraps and you can spin in nice circles unlike flats..

It will feel a bit odd and rather scary to begin with, that first set of lights where you go to take your foot off the pedal, realise it's attached and then panic slightly isn't much fun - plus it usually happens when you're trying to look cool too - but it really doesn't take long to wonder what all the fuss was about.

Give it a few days and we'll start looking for the 'how do I find the right place to mount the cleats' thread...

Dorian Gray

beckenham wrote:

Okay so the advice is to go clipless but why? I have clips and straps and have no problem with them. I can get my feet out easily when I need to. I've seen so many postings on this forum about people being unable to get their feet out when using cleats and then crashing. Answer this, how many of you out there using cleats have NOT had a crash?

The thing is, if you can easily get your feet out of clips and straps, then they're not tight enough to be worth using. You may as well use platform pedals with no straps at all then. If you tighten the straps enough that you can pedal in strong circles, as you can with clipless pedals, then it's impossible to get your feet out in a hurry. And your feet also get squeezed enough to limit the blood supply and cause numbness. With clipless pedals you get the best of all worlds: comfort, immediate escape when you need it (once you've learned how to unclip!), and 100% security when you want to pedal strongly (especially uphill).

There's nothing you can buy that will improve your speed so much as clipless pedals and shoes. Impossible to beat.

Stark.

I hear what the majority of people are saying about clipless. I've used them on holiday and for longer rides in the country. But when I'm commuting to work through central London, I often feel more confident without them.

Of course you can clip out when you know you're coming up to lights and junctions, but on almost every journey, either a pedestrian or motorist does something totally unpredictable leaving you about half a millisecond to respond and get your foot out.

I suppose, in the end, it's all about what you feel most comfortable with. Going clipless is obviously a more efficient way to pedal. But in certain environments, other options may be safer.

formerlyknownasbonj

hopeful wrote:

Ach, just the vision of not being able to get out of them! I suspect I'll get there sometime. This is just a sticking plaster job for the moment.

the problem is not that you won't be able to take your foot out of them, but that you'll forget to.

If you go for a couple of rides just with the sole purpose of getting used to the motion of twisting your foot just before you stop, it will become instinctive. It's like pressing the clutch in before you stop in your car, you just don't think about it you just do it. If necessary when you're going on your 'getting used to them' rides, have a personal stereo on repeat with a recording of yourself saying 'clipless pedals - twist foot out when stopping. clipless pedlas - twist foot out when stopping' on repeat the whole time, and go on quiet roads or ideally through a park/on grass.
But first of all try it with the bike still and where you can lean against a wall and preferably also hold on to something, so that you can be confident of exactly what the required motion is, that you can do it, and that you've got the release tension loose enough (as it can normally be adjusted).
I personally also find it easier to leave my left foot clipped in all the time, and always just unclip my right foot to put down when stopping.

formerlyknownasbonj

Smeggers wrote:

I would never use SPD on my mountain bike.

Conversley I would never use Toe Clips on my road bike.

I find adapting to each, no problem whatsoever. Can literally jump off one to the other, without any noticeable effect at all.

Never had a crash on either due to the pedals.

My thoughts exactly, on all points.

beckenham wrote:

Answer this, how many of you out there using cleats have NOT had a crash?

Like I say I'm another one who hasn't.

beckenham

Can I refer my learned friends to the following posting:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12541208

The poor blokes out for 8 weeks

formerlyknownasbonj

beckenham wrote:

Can I refer my learned friends to the following posting:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12541208

The poor blokes out for 8 weeks

I almost suspected that was a made-up story by a major shareholder or director in a company that makes platform pedals, but don't want to belittle what is probably a genuine injury...

heavymental

Herbie12 wrote:

I know they read like horror stories, but for a road bike, clipless pedals are probably the single most effective improvement you can make to your riding... they're so much more predictable than using toestraps and you can spin in nice circles unlike flats..

It will feel a bit odd and rather scary to begin with, that first set of lights where you go to take your foot off the pedal, realise it's attached and then panic slightly isn't much fun - plus it usually happens when you're trying to look cool too - but it really doesn't take long to wonder what all the fuss was about.

I fully agree with this. Go ask in your local bke shop and have a go on them. Borrow a set from someone and see how you get on but don't write them off because of 'horror stories'. You can sit on your bike in the garden, prop yourself up against a wall and spend as long as you like practicing getting in and out of them. After a while you'll realise its really very very easy. It really is nothing to be scared of and it'll soon be second nature. I certainly find them far better than toe clips. Leaning down to tighten the straps is far more dangerous than simply clipping your foot in, and easily and predictably clicking out of them again. Go give them a try.

unCivilServant

Ah, the eternal 'clips vs. clipless' thread (I'm often away from what was the C+ forum for months at a time, but every time I come back the same old discussions are going on )

One usually-overlooked argument for clips is that that's one less pair of shoes you have to carry around. Immediately before or after being on the bike, I am or have been: in a formal meeting; running cross-country or walking about on a beach; crossing rivers; doing countryside management; mooching around with hot feet; in a wedding reception. (Obviously, not all on the same trip ) Given that you can cycle in shoes designed for these activities but not generally vice-versa (and certainly no one cycling shoe will be good for, say, wading AND looking OK in a posh setting), the downside in cycling performance is the price I choose to pay for such versatility.

I'd also disagree that clips only out-perform platforms if the straps are really tight. There are 'clips' around that don't take a strap at all: they still provide some uplift.

As someone once posted in the 'T&E' section, one instance where it's better not to take pure clipless is trips to remote areas: if your pedals get damaged or something happens to your shoes, you're a bit scuppered.
OtOH, I'd imagine it'd be difficult for the casual bike thief to get very far on 'eggbeater' type pedals!

Ultimately, it all comes down to personal preference & lifestyle.