Pedals

vs4b

another numptie newbie quesion...

What's the difference between SPD, SPD-SL and Look pedals? are there any advantages/disadvantages of each or is it all just cost / looks / fit?

Nickodemus

As far as i know, SPD's are shimano MTB pedals (they're double sided), SPD-SL's are the shimano road pedals (single sided with a much larger surface in contact with the shoe) and Look pedals are just pedals made by a company called Look (known to be a very popular and good quality make).

As said, SPD's are double sided so you don't have to make sure it's the right way up before trying to engage the cleat. THey do have a much smaller surface area in contact with the shoe tho, I've been told isn't as good as the larger surface area of a road pedal. Some people like to start with these when moving to clipless pedals due to the double side, but i think if this is your argument you'd be better off with speedplay pedals (some road shoes won't be compatable with the SPD cleat).

THe choice between road pedals however is a bit more on looks, weight, fit, etc. I've no experience of Look pedals, but SPD-SL's are nice to use; i've since changed to Time pedals which have quite a lot more float than the SPD-SL's, which hold the foot fairly solidly.

Down to personal preference i think. Hope this helps a bit.

DavidBelcher

Nickodemus wrote:

THe choice between road pedals however is a bit more on looks, weight, fit, etc. I've no experience of Look pedals, but SPD-SL's are nice to use.

The older types of Look pedal (never used the newer Keo models so can't really comment on 'em) are easy to us and spare cleats are cheapish & easy to come by. As with a lot of road-specific clipless pedals, the only drawback is trying to walk when wearing your cycling shoes.....

David

Hugh A

Some more info: the shoes they will work with may also be different
SPD have smaller metal cleats and tend to be more suitable for mtb or touring shoes which have thicker soles - the cleats sit in a recess so as not to touch the ground when you walk.
i.e. a lot easier to walk in than spd sl's or Look cleats which although larger and plastic can be very slippery and awkward to walk in - not much good if you need to be off the bike for any length of time.
Shoes for spd sl and Look tend to be more race orientated - stiffer lighter etc. in general but not much good for walking further than into the cafe.

If your riding is all leisure or training/racing on the road then the road cleats would probably suit better.

My opinion is that if these are your first clipless pedals and especially if you ever need to walk further than a few yards when you get off your bike I would go for spd's - the double sided pedals (or single sided with plain footplates the other side) are easier to use.

andy_wrx

No, single-sided road pedals are easy enough to use.

They are weighted/balanced so that they hang 'the right way round'.

DavidBelcher

Hugh A wrote:

My opinion is that if these are your first clipless pedals and especially if you ever need to walk further than a few yards when you get off your bike I would go for spd's - the double sided pedals (or single sided with plain footplates the other side) are easier to use.

For double sided pedals I'd recommend Time ATACs. Nice simple mechanism and the cleats seem to last forever.

David

AntLockyer

I have just been through this myself. I went for the Look KEO they come with a cleat that gives 4 degrees of float, they are really easy to engage (they require a bit of force which makes you pedal) and critically for a newbie they release easily.

I bought a pair of Shimano shoes for 40ish quid which aren't too garish and the job is a goodun.

So easy to use, the only thing I struggled with was a hill start on a steep climb with 39/25 as my low gear. Took me 3 tries to actually get going as I couldn't spin fast enough with just one leg.

dennisn

As I understand it Speedplay Frog pedals(mtb) work well on a road-touring setup
because they are easy to walk in if you use a mtb shoe. See a lot of them on tours
where people are on and off the bike more than a few times. Thinking about it
myself for the multi day tours(or sportives as I believe you call them).

Dennis Noward

stueyc

spd imho opinion all lot more difficult than look to come to terms with..feel so small and niggly...like the hard clunk of a look clicking into place

walkings a bitch mind!

duckiciao

I use Look Keo Classics, and they do the job perfectly. Just start off with the tension really loose, and as you get more used to the pedals, increase the tension, and you start to get a really satisfying 'click' when clipping in.

Monty Dog

I use SPDs for my cross and commuter bikes and Time on my road bikes - road pedals give a far more positive engagement, often have a closer foot to pedal distance and feel like you can really get the power down - the big disadvantage is that both the shoes and cleats are not designed for walking in. SPD is now pretty well a generic name for MTB clipless pedals - as said, the small metal cleat is typically recessed into the shoe and allows you to walk around - but the smaller cleat means your foot 'rocks' a lot more and so don't feel as positive. SPD-SL is Shimano's current take on the road pedal and is pretty well a variation of the Look 3-hole design (but they're not compatible), which is now the defacto standard for road pedals. Look pretty well created the clipless pedal market (ignoring things like the Cinelli from the 1970s) creating the classic 3-hole road cleat pattern, with the 2-hole SPD design adopted for MTBs. There are exceptions like the now obsolete SPD-R road pedal.

Nine Stone Cowboy

For me there are three options...

1 - Speedplay
2 - Speedplay
3 - Speedplay

Once you try them you won't go back.