Pedals & Shoes for new roadie...

bossman13

have just ordered my first ever road bike (giant scr2) which should be arriving in the next few days now

gonna be using mainly for commuting 25m a day but also contemplating the odd dunfermline cc saturday run which i have just read about on another thread1

Not sure if my bike will come with pedals or not, but irrespective i am eager to get into this whole clipless thingy as have read/heard good things. This will of course also require some new shoes too as currently pushing along with just trainers.

can anyone recommend some good pedals & shoes for a total novice pls..

The pedals need to be relatively easy to use to limit the number of standing falls i anticipate! I would also like shoes that are perhaps not out-and-out racing shoes but which look a bit more comfortable and can be walked on ok if required.

would like some change for £100 if possible having bought both. Ebay seems to have some good deals for pedals too...thoughts?

Eat My Dust

I've always used SPD SL's which I wouldn't change. It depends on how much walking in them you inted to do, SPD SL's are really sh_t for walking in, I had to walk 3 miles in a pair once and it took me ages!!! I'm sure somone can reccomend a pair of MTB type of shoe and pedal, which I know a lot of people prefer.

Where are you commuting to? I really wished I had taken up road biking when I lived in Dunfermline, lots of nice places for decent runs. When I was a kid I remember trying to cycle from Rosyth to Canmore Golf Club (I lived there when I was a kid), it used to kill me and my friends, although coming down used to be fun. I can remember flying down Pilmuir Street on my Golden Mongoose BMX with 2 friends standing on the front and back pegs, terrorising the motorists!!!!!! Happy (but stupid) days!!!!

irb10

I use Shimano M520 SPD pedals on my commute bike (Spesh Sirrus). SPD's are really MTB pedals and use 2-hole cleats, as opposed to 3-hole cleat road pedals like SPD-SL, but there's no reason why you can't use them on a road bike. I chose SPD since, like you, I wanted to use shoes which can be walked in and most road shoes/cleats don't fall into this category! The M520's are very cheap (around £20 from Chain Reaction) and the next model up (M540) isn't much more.

As for shoes, SPD pedals are compatible with pretty much all MTB and "leisure" shoes which are generally walkable. I use Nike Granfondo WR shoes (http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=21663) which are a 2-hole cleat road shoe but are walkable-ish due to a rubber grip around the edge. Since you've got a road bike, something like this is perhaps more appropriate than an MTB or leisure shoe.

This pedal/shoe combination was my first venture into clipless and I've been very pleased - infinitely better than platform or toeclip pedals. I found them easier to use than I expected, no falls yet either!

Ashley_R

After some new shoes myself, want something a little stiffer than my touring Shimano M5 somethings, was looking at the Spesh Sport Road shoes, not sure if they would work with SPD cleats and still be walkable though?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... oes%202007

OnTow

Well, for the winter I revert to loose toeclips, to avoid smashing myself to pieces if I slide off! :shock:
I use a pair of Specialized BG "comfy" shoes which have smooth soles and are SPD compatible.

For the rest of the time, I run SPD pedals and a pair of Spez. BG MTB shoes - which you can walk short distances in.... It's about 0.25 of a mile down a dirt track to the main road from my house.

The Shimanos already mentioned are good.
Time do some nice double-sided SPD compatibles too.

Any spud based shoes are easy to walk in - trick is to buy ones that are not going to cause you hot feet - I switched from a very early Shimano pair to Spez. BG shoes for this reason.

peanut

SPD are probably your best option as eatmydust says. Avoid the SPD -SL type though.
I am a roadie but I use MTB shoes because I cannot walk in road shoes. Too slippy for me
Unless you intend to do TT or Cat 2 racing etc you will be fine with something like Shimano MO80 its been around a while but its an excellent shoe. Easy to walk in and has recessed SPD . The other advantage of SPD is they are cheap, common, and double sided so no fiddling around trying to get clipped in whilst you wobble 300 yards down the road.

Ashley_R

peanut wrote:

SPD are probably your best option as eatmydust says. Avoid the SPD -SL type though.
I am a roadie but I use MTB shoes because I cannot walk in road shoes. Too slippy for me
Unless you intend to do TT or Cat 2 racing etc you will be fine with something like Shimano MO80 its been around a while but its an excellent shoe. Easy to walk in and has recessed SPD . The other advantage of SPD is they are cheap, common, and double sided so no fiddling around trying to get clipped in whilst you wobble 300 yards down the road.

And also when you first use them. don't stop on any steep hill unless you intend to walk up the rest, however steep the gradient or pictuesque the view!
Remember doing that on me first outing, push off, look down, miss the cleat, wobble, desperately try to stop falling over, repeat about 10 times till I reached the top of the hill!! :oops: Ah happy days!

Aidocp

As folk say SPD's are probably you're best option. I started with and still use Spesh Tahos Shoes and I have M520(double sided spds) pedals on one bike and IMO the sleeker A520(single sided) on my Flat bar road bike. They were on my dropped bar road bike for a while until I replaced these with SPD-SL's recently.

PS I love going out of Dunfermline on to the B914 Saline Road and looping off it.

OnTow

Yeah, my Spez. shoes are BG Sports for the road bike with SPDs, and a pair of BG Sonomas, used without cleats, for general toeclipped pedalling.

I like the Spez. shoes, because the instant I put them on, they felt superb.
The raised hump at the ball of my feet really helps reduce foot pain AKA hot-feet.
Well worth trying a pair on, however I'd say if you don't instant think Wow, then maybe try some other recommendations.
Sidis get good ratings.

As for pedals, agree with the M540 double sided pedals - If you opt for double-sided to start with, you'll spend less time fiddling around trying to get clipped-in.

For my first outing, I cranked the spring pressure right down, and rested up stationary against a wall, to practice clilpping in and out.
You just have to remember to unclip well in advance, and if you panic, to twist your feet out, rather than clamp-up and try to pull your feet out!

Clip-ins are a revelation. The increase in efficiency is significant - which is another reason why I like riding in toeclips during the winter "off season".

Some pedals have more "float" than others - Float being the ability for you to twist your foot in the pedal when clipped-in. The more float, the better they are if you suffer from knee pain.

I run a pair of A520s on the road bike, though these are single sided, so perhaps not so easy to use as a first pedal, where double-sided are better (such as the Time Atac or the M540/520s).

Stricly speaking, to be road legal after lighting-up time, you need to run British Standard pedal reflectors.
On the commuter/Audax bike, I run M324 combi-pedals, which allows me to attach reflectors to the cage.
The MTB runs toeclips on standard cages.
(Also check out the Shimano PDA530, which has a small cage on one side, and SPD on the other - a sort of PDA-520 hybrid)

Shimano do a clip-in reflector for their pedals, though I've never seen them sold anywhere.

itsaghostcar

Definitely agree SPD for you (Shimano M520 or M540s would do). I have 2 pairs of shoes: Spesh BG Pro MTB - got them for a good price on sale, but would otherwise have gone for the cheaper Sport or Comp models. They have a stiff sole and are great for longer rides, but not for walking long distances. Mesh on the upper means cold, wet feet in miserable conditions.

Other pair is a Northwave Skywalker. Great as it is fully covered, doesn't let water in, looks land feels ike a normal shoe, and is fine for walking around. Used them to go into London last weekend, did a bit of shopping, wandered around some galleries for a couple of hours.

For the sort of riding you're doing, I'd look at the Specialized BG MTB shoes or something similar (racier style with a stiffer sole) and some overshoes given the colder and wetter weather coming up.

Shimano do a clip-in reflector for their pedals, though I've never seen them sold anywhere.

Decathlon sell them for £5 if you can get to a store. http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/mtb-cages-3885152/

messier0101

second the M520...cheap and cheerful IMO.

As for shoes the Shimano M121 are a good buy, and you get them for around £40 is you shop around.

OnTow

itsaghostcar wrote:

....Mesh on the upper means cold, wet feet in miserable conditions....Northwave..

I agree the mesh means they're not waterproof, however I find their breathability to be a bonus - Plus, I've ridden them in conditions so wet that my "waterproof" trip computer ended up with condensation!
I've bought some over-shoes to circumvent this.

Northwave reminds me - They actually do some "winter shoes" ! There was a forum post regarding these recently, although one comment was that overshoes were better than using these shoes.

bossman13

guys - thanks loads for all the advice

will go for a set of m520/m540's and probably between the Nike/BG Sport/Taho/M121s for the shoes.

what size should i be looking at given i am a 10 or 10.5 trainers? Do more solid cycling shoes come up tighter?

Thanks again,

irb10

what size should i be looking at given i am a 10 or 10.5 trainers? Do more solid cycling shoes come up tighter?

Your best bet is to buy shoes from a shop (as opposed to Internet) so you can select a style/size which fit well. Sizing between brands isn't particularly consistent so its hard to say which size to get based on your normal trainer size unfortunately. Some Internet retailers (e.g. Evans) have sizing guides for different brands which might give you a rough idea what size to consider.