Clipless pedals - preferences

Meds1962

I've been using spd pedals on my mountain bike and road bike for about 3 years for the convenience of one pair of shoes for both bikes and the double sided aspect however I'm now looking at buying road specific shoes and pedals. I do 50 to 80 mile runs at the wekend and maybe 10 to 20 miles during the week (if I'm lucky), so I'm looking for a decent spec but not high end racing pedals. I'm inclined to go for 105 or Ultegra as my shimano SPD's have been trouble free. Any comments on these and equivalent would be appreciated.

biondino

Can I add a question to this thread - Crank Bros Eggbeaters for a road bike - any reason not to?

Thanks and sorry for borrowing your thread, Meds!

redddraggon

I use the Shimano 105s (the newer 5610s - the older ones wore out rather quickly), bargain for not much for than £30 and pretty solid. Cleats aren't the longest lasting - so don't use them for commuting like I did

Lagavulin

biondino wrote:

Can I add a question to this thread - Crank Bros Eggbeaters for a road bike - any reason not to?!

I don't see why not?

While I'm a bit tempted by Speedplays I've put a set of SPD XTR 970s on my new roadie. If I do decide to go on a club run I suspect I may be mocked a tad for having mtb pedals on a £2500+ bike.
I don't compete though so I've weighed up the option of Disney on Ice versus some power loss/inefficiency as one I'm willing to sacrifice.

shoei

Im on the look out for some road pedals too, but looking for ones with lots of float.
Currently running Shimano M520's at the moment.
Heard that Time pedals offer a good amount of float.
Any recommendations?

Mog Uk

Time RXS have shed loads of float, a bit to much for my liking....

campagsarge

Time all the way for me (see other thread). Angular and lat float really works for my knees and the cleats last ages (3 years of all year round riding). As Mog Uk says, some people find the float a bit too icy though.

magliaceleste

You can use Crank Bros pedals without fear on a road bike, because they make a road specific pedal - the Quattro.

Pretty much all the benefits of regular Crank Bros platform pedals (lots of float, no need for a tension mechanism, double sided entry) but with larger bearings and contact area.

You can walk on the cleats without damaging them too.

scak456

speedplays are great imho

John Stevenson

shoei wrote:

Im on the look out for some road pedals too, but looking for ones with lots of float.

Any recommendations?

Speedplays. As much or as little float as you like.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... zero-11507

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech/2001/re ... zero.shtml

campagsarge

What is the wear like with Speedplays? I have heard the cleats and pedal wear out pretty quickly?

John Stevenson

The outer plates of the cleats are aluminium and wear if you walk on them.

I'm still using the set from that 2001 review though I don't claim to be a massive mile-eater.

maddog 2

I run spuds and tried roadie pedals a while back (ULtegra SPD-SL) and didn't get on with them at all. I didn't like the float basically. So I've gone back to spuds.

A good carbon MTB shoe eg. Spesh BG stuff, is plenty stiff enough. You can walk about, and they float nicely, so I find them very comfy (100+ no problems).

I'd have a look at M540s, XTR, and interestingly the bikehut spuds are a hidden bargain.

I wouldn't touch eggbeaters as I've seen too many fall apart. Ditto Xpedo spuds.

Mark Alexander

Personally, you can't go wrong with Look Keo's. I did exactly the same as you. I'm very happy with mine.

thenumber8

i've just started using speedplay zero's. they are ok but getting in them is much more tricky than i would expect - impossible unless standing out of the saddle and putting all my weight on the pedal. as things stand, i'll be going back to look's when these wear out.

John Stevenson

thenumber8

Sounds like you might have tightened the screws too hard. Read my reviews, linked above, and the instructions.

JWSurrey

After years on SPDs, the knees finally started grumbling with higher mileage road use last year.
Have just fitted Time RXS pedals and another pair of Spez. BG road shoes (Comp) - Very good indeed.... Although if they'd had the Sidi 5s in my width, they would have been a serious consideration - even better footbeds, and stickier replacable heel.

Time offer really good free float - I gather Looks have a slight spring tension to their float - plus the Time cleats are surprising easy to walk in, easy to locate - though difficult to engage in that they need a significant downward pressure (still getting the knack for easy low pressure engagement).
Time cleats are metal on the actual engaged end.

Gr.uB

I started off with bog standard SPD cleats on some Luck shoes. The pedals were cheap and therefore the SPD connection was poor.
I advanced to Looks - and they were very good until I wore them out.
When I came to replace them I couldn't seem to get them back in the same position.
I suffered with loads of knee pain as a result.
I gave up on them and tried Speedplay Zeros.

Welcome to the REVOLUTION.

Yeah they are not cheap. Yeah the cleats cost £35 to replace.

But they are ace. The base plate is secured by 3 screws. The cleat then goes over the top and is secured by 4 screws. The cleats have lateral adjustment for your shoe to crank distance but best of all the cleats have micro adjustment for the toe in / heel in - toe out / heel out. This is fantastic. I find these cleats so easy to fit and adjust it is a no brainer.

Several points to note.

Remember to lube the pedal bearings. Easy to do. Last year on my Thorn Brevet in the winter I let one run dry. I managed to clean it out and get it going again but I had damaged the bearings. This pedal started to fail on the BCM ride at about the 512k mark. It lasted to the end and I even rode home with it like that the next day.
A small tube of lube from your LBS is dead cheap and lasts ages.

Buy cafe covers for your cleats. Remember to put them on. I have not yet had to replace the cleats that came with each set of pedals.

I have then on both the Thorn and my TCR. I was on the original cleats for both ( until I upgraded recently due to the above. Last year I did 9,000 and this year so far I am on 5,000 miles. These pedals and cleats last as long as you look after them.

I use White Lightening lube once a fortnight on the cleat springs to just ensure there is lube in them too.

When you tighten the cleats onto your shoe you can tell how tight to go as the screw sort of clicks when tight enough. You can keep going but don't as that will be too tight and the spring will not work effectively.

As you can see, I love my Speedplays. They made my knee pain disappear and therefore increase my enjoyment in riding my bike.

Good luck.

il_principe

Another vote for Speedplays. I have found the cleat to be very hard wearing as I use the covers. The float is excellent and my knee pain is also a thing of the past. Superb pedals.