spd pedals and shoes

moggy12

hi i have a trek 7.5fx hybrid /road bike came with standard pedals looking to get a pair of spd pedals i'm new to the sport what are cleats ? do i need to buy a special pair of spd shoes,trainers ? or can i use my normal trainers to work with spd pedals ? what spd pedals do you recommened ? thanks for any replies

tonyp71

hi there,
Basically there are two types of clip in pedals - SPD (mainly used on mountain bikes and ones like your trek) and SPD-SL (these are used on road bikes).
Both types of pedal require special shoes with 'cleats' on the bottom which attach to the pedal and stay put until you twist your foot out of the pedal (gets easier with practice!).
The shoes for SPD pedals have a slightly recessed cleat in the sole which enables you to walk easily when off the bike but the SPD-SL shoes have a cleat which stands 'proud' of the sole making walking a bit more tricky (but not impossible).
For your particular bike I would reccomend some SPD pedals and shoes which you can usually find starting at about £30 for shoes and about the same for the pedals. Have a browse online to see if any available in the sales etc.
Hope this helps

Denny69

Hi Moggy..you asked about using your trainers as well with SPD pedals....as a rule you can't but there are certain models of SPD pedal that give you the best of both worlds, they have a normal pedal on one side and the SPD pedal on the flip side....a bit of a compromise.

Also some SPD pedals come with plastic attachments that convert them into a normal pedal so you can wear trainers and the like instead of wearing SPD shoes all the time, they simply click in like a cleat would.

moggy12

thanks guys for info i think i will go to lbs to get spd shoes so i can try them on maybe get spd pedals online i thought of the shimano m520 pedals thanks again

feel

moggy12 wrote:

thanks guys for info i think i will go to lbs to get spd shoes so i can try them on maybe get spd pedals online i thought of the shimano m520 pedals thanks again

I can recommend Shimano A520 and A530 pedals. The A530 ones are double sided so you can use them with ordinary trainers before you have got your shoes. The two Ebay prices are well below SRP.

lloyd_bower

moggy12 wrote:

thanks guys for info i think i will go to lbs to get spd shoes so i can try them on maybe get spd pedals online i thought of the shimano m520 pedals thanks again

You won't go too far wrong with the M520's. IMHO Mtn Bike spd's are the way to go for normal riding (no road clipless pedals are more efficient for racing) as it's possible to walk normally in the recessed shoes.

My vote would be for the double sided spd's, I used a pair of the one sided ones for touring and they're ideal for that, but abit of faffy and often flip the wrong way.

CrookedCucumber

FWIW I agree nwith Lloyd Bowers'c omments. I don't have much experience of clipless pedals, but I've had no reason to complain about my M520s for the price. I can see the advantage of dual-purpose pedals, with a flat platform on one side and a cleat engagement on the other, but it seems a bit of a faff to me. I have Specialized shoes with slightly recessed cleats, and they are OK for walking in so long as it's not too far.

moggy12

ok i went out and bought some shimano m20 pedals and some shimano mt31 shoes done 20 miles this afternoon only fell of twice once when i first stopped and once at some traffic lights felt a right burk got to get used to getting one foot out of pedal when i come to a road junction traffic light etc i did find a noticable difference though seems better just got to get used to having spd pedals

dazzawazza

I've tried the pedals that have SPD on one side and normal on the other, but found that even after becoming an expert at flipping the pedal they're still more hassel than they're worth.
You're better off to have double sided SPDs and two sets of shoes. One with very stiff soles and the other with a good recess and slightly less flexible. The latter is perfectly fine for walking, and even if you do wear out the cleats (which I've never done after a lot of walking) replacement cleats are only £10 anyway.
There are plenty of SPD shoes available that are very casual and normal looking and perform very well on the bike. If you are out for a long ride or club run then use the stiffer shoes.
I’ve currently got Shimano MT90 boots for winter riding and some cheap Lidl SPD shoes for the summer. When funds permit (I’ve spent £400 upgrading my Allez) I will get some BG Specialized shoes, which will be much stiffer than the Lidl shoes. However, I will still use the Lidl shoes for commuting and shop / pub trips.
The MT90s have very stiff soles, but are still excellent for walking. Not cheap though at over £100 retail; I picked mine up for £80 as they were the previous year’s design. They are excellent Winter boots that look perfectly normal walking around in.

Peddle Up!

One important point, you WILL fall off in the first two weeks of using cleats.

JWSurrey

One point not mentioned is that the Shimano pedals with SPD on one side, cage on the other, allow enough room to fit British Standard orange reflectors.
These are highly visible and identify you quickly as a cyclist - something the tiny white spots on the backs of the shoes don't.
Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but I like to be seen, and can't understand this fashion of not fitting decent sized orange reflectors.

CrookedCucumber

Peddle Up! wrote:

One important point, you WILL fall off in the first two weeks of using cleats.

I think I'm tempting fate here, but... I never fell off (Sigh -- I bet that means that my next post will be about how I fell off). I fell off occasionally when using toe straps, but so far not with the clipless.

Perhaps this is because, being a bit of a worrier, I put a fair amount of time into investigating what movements would unclip, and the pedal position these movements were easiest at. For example, I discovered that my M250s will unclip with a heal-inwards rotation, as well as the heel-outwards rotation described in the manual. I don't know if this is supposed to happen, but I find this a far easier way to unclip.

You have to anticipate a stop, of course. I would guess that most falls occur in situations where the rider just did not expect to have to stop (e.g., after harsh braking to avoid something). The anticipation you need is hugely different to what you need with toe straps anyway, in my experience.

CrookedCucumber

Peddle Up! wrote:

One important point, you WILL fall off in the first two weeks of using cleats.

I think I'm tempting fate here, but... I never fell off (Sigh -- I bet that means that my next post will be about how I fell off). I fell off occasionally when using toe straps, but so far not with the clipless.

Perhaps this is because, being a bit of a worrier, I put a fair amount of time into investigating what movements would unclip, and the pedal position these movements were easiest at. For example, I discovered that my M250s will unclip with a heal-inwards rotation, as well as the heel-outwards rotation described in the manual. I don't know if this is supposed to happen, but I find this a far easier way to unclip.

You have to anticipate a stop, of course. I would guess that most falls occur in situations where the rider just did not expect to have to stop (e.g., after harsh braking to avoid something). The anticipation you need is hugely different to what you need with toe straps anyway, in my experience.

boybiker

I find that the fact that you have to anticipate the stops when riding with clipless peddles does train you to be more aware of the road situation.I use Shimano M540 peddles and you can sort of ride them in trainers if you take it easy and don't try to go belting down the road at 35 mph