Interchangable pedal / cleat/shoe for MTB/Tourer/Road bike

jjojjas

Hi
Its my first post here in Road, so go easy.
I'm waiting for a Bianchi C2C road bike to be delivered, my first true road bike, and I want to try "clipping in"...something I have never bothered with in the past.

I have a sub 5 XC bike for off road and a tourer I use every day to commute with luggage....and heres my problem.
I'd like to have the same "clip in" pedal on all bikes so any shoes I bought would be interchangable. BUT...I'd like the tourer at least to have the option of using normal shoes also.
I can see that I will change shoes to ride the bike at the week end, but I often just jump on the tourer to nip to the shop etc.. so I need that versitility....but I still "tour" and I think clipping in would be beneficial.

Does that make sense? If so, what pedals would you recommend for the bikes.
I'm hoping to buy them in the next couple of weeks.
Thanks in advance
Jas

richa

How about...

Tourer - single sided SPD with large platform for a flat shoe) (Shimano M324?)
MTB - double sided SPD (Shimano M520?)
Road - single sided SPD's (Shimano A520?)

A MTB style shoe would work well as they are easier to walk in.

julietp

I agree with the tourer recommendation but would go for double sided on both the road and mountain bikes. M520's or M540's (worth the extra £10 in my opinion). You will have SPDs on all three bikes so can go for any number of shoes. My boyfriend really likes the specialized shoes - his pair were around the £100 mark. I have shimano shoes - you can get a good pair of mens for around £50 . Get the 'mountain bike' shoes which are fine for your road pedals too and easier to walk in. Good luck.

myqul

You could go for crank bros pedals

Eggbeater/quatro - Road
Candy/smarty/acid - Mtb
Mallet - tour. They have a large platfrom so you can pedal not clipped.

Or maybe Time, these all use the Atac cleat/clip in system

Axion - Road
Alium - Mtb
Z contol - Tour .Again another pedal with a large platform but you can clip in if you want

jjojjas

Wow, quick replies!
Do all of the above mentioned pedals take this "Atac" cleat system?

myqul

All the time pedals i mentioned take the Atac cleat. However ALL time pedals dont take the Atac cleat as the Atac system is primarily a mtb sytem. All Time's mtb pedals take the Atac cleat but only the Axion road/tour pedal take this type of cleat.

I should mention that the Axion is a single sided pedal. Most of the mtb are double sided if thats what your looking for. You can of course put a mtb pedal on a roadie, plenty of people do

myqul

If you wanted to try out the Atac system look on ebay for a cheapo peair of Aliums. There reagulary on there and you should be able to pick up a pair for a few quid

When i was doing research into new pedals for my bike the general consensus was that the Aliums are bomb proof. So my advice would be to pick some knackered looking ones to see if you like the Atac system (just make sure there mechanically sound. No play in the bearings, springs that hold the retaining bars are ok, etc. It shouldnt matter about the aethetics of these pedals as reviews say they can take heaps of abuse ans still keep going)

jjojjas

how many different cleat systems should i be aware of?
Am I right in thinking if i buy pedals they come with the cleat and I just screw them to the fitting on the shoe?

julietp

You should have a look at this thread here: http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12578685

I really would go for SPDs for your needs. Most shoes are SPD compatible (and will come with the cleats), I think you may limit your choice a bit going for time but that is only my opinion.

myqul

jjojjas wrote:

how many different cleat systems should i be aware of?
Am I right in thinking if i buy pedals they come with the cleat and I just screw them to the fitting on the shoe?

Yes if you buy brand new pedals the cleats will come with them .

Each manufacturer of pedals have there own cleat ("system") most are incompatable with another manufacturer. You couldn't put a Time cleat in a Crank Bros pedal for example. Some pedals manufactuers have more than one cleats system such as Time. There road cleats are different from there mtb cleats.

"I really would go for SPDs for your needs. Most shoes are SPD compatible (and will come with the cleats), I think you may limit your choice a bit going for time but that is only my opinion"

The Shimano SPD system is kinda like microsoft. A lot of people use em because a lot of places (LBS and online) stock them and most shoes that are clipless are SPD compatable but like microsoft there are alternatives that might suit your needs better if you look around.

I was running LOOK 247 pedalsand i REALLY liked em but i was getting annoyed at how difficult it was to walk with the large cleats. So I i looked at everything i liked with the LOOKS but was more "walkable" and began searching around for a pedal that fitted the bill. I think this approach is better than just going with SPD cuz its the most ubiquitous. If SPD fit all your needs/wants go with it but there are alternatives.

myqul

myqul wrote:

jjojjas wrote:

how many different cleat systems should i be aware of?
Am I right in thinking if i buy pedals they come with the cleat and I just screw them to the fitting on the shoe?

Yes if you buy brand new pedals the cleats will come with them .

Each manufacturer of pedals have there own cleat ("system") most are incompatable with another manufacturer. You couldn't put a Time cleat in a Crank Bros pedal for example. Some pedals manufactuers have more than one cleats system such as Time. There road cleats are different from there mtb cleats.

"I really would go for SPDs for your needs. Most shoes are SPD compatible (and will come with the cleats), I think you may limit your choice a bit going for time but that is only my opinion"

The Shimano SPD system is kinda like microsoft. A lot of people use em because a lot of places (LBS and online) stock them and most shoes that are clipless are SPD compatable but like microsoft there are alternatives that might suit your needs better if you look around.

I was running LOOK 247 pedalsand i REALLY liked em but i was getting annoyed at how difficult it was to walk with the large cleats. So I i looked at everything i liked with the LOOKS but was more "walkable" and began searching around for a pedal that fitted the bill. I think this approach is better than just going with SPD cuz its the most ubiquitous. If SPD fit all your needs/wants go with it but there are alternatives.

Btw if your thinking of the Time Atac system the 2 bolt patern ofthe cleats is exactly the same at the 2 bolt pattern on SPD so any shoes that fit SPD with fit the Atac cleat

ride_whenever

I'd echo the above, 540s for the road and mtb, then a large caged spd for the tourer, they're not great (the caged ones) but do work okay, and being able to clip in instantly will be less of an issue.

As for shoes, i'd recommend some reasonably stiff soled MTB ones as they'll be more comfortable for riding, if a little harder to walk in.

acorn_user

The single sided pedals with mtb cleats are a bit pointless (e.g. Shimano A520). You might as well buy the double sided ones. An advantage of going with SPD is that there are a number of spd compatible pedals with a flat on one side a clip for spd on the other. I don't think that there is an attack equivalent.

jjojjas

well, Thanks for all the replies so far people. I can see there are a few alternatives and I'll need to look into them a little further....I like to research before I buy
I'm guessing the "knee problems" that I hear caused by shimano clip in pedals is not 100% true then? Particuarly as they seem to be the "industry standard" so to speak? I guess if they caused that many knee issues they would either A. fix it or B. people wouldn't keep buying them?
I'll need to spend some time on chainreactioncycles tonight I think.
thanks again
Jas

myqul

If your concerned about knee problems one of you pedal "need/wants is going to be "float".

jjojjas

no, not especially concerned. Just when I mentioned "clipping in" a few guys I ride with started humming on about knee pain etc... I don't have any knee problems, just they were talking about shimano in the same sentence.
Having said that, I'm sure they were all riding flat normal pedals, so they may be bias

cheers all.
Jas

ride_whenever

and it might be worth getting them set up properly for you by your bike shop, as setup is crucial to eliminating knee problems.

biondino

Well yeah, but until you've ridden for a bit you're not going to know exactly how your cleats should be positioned. I guess the bike shop can get the front-back positioning roughly correct, but side-side is trickier and is what causes most of the knee pain.

jjojjas

Right, I'm gonna get the M520 for the road bike and xc bike and the M324 for the tourer/commuter where the pace will be more relaxed and shoe type won't be the same each outing. Pair them up with a MTB shoe that I can walk to the bar in and we'll be sorted

PS. M520 are only £14 on fleabay! You can afford to throw them away if you don't like them at that price.

Jas

myqul

Yea, was gonna mention one of the pro's of SPD cuz of their so popular you'll gonna be able to pick up A new set for each of your bikes real cheap on ebay

onurbike

I have made it easy for myself, I fitted shmano M424 on all my road, touring and MTBs...this allows me to ride in any shoe and they are double sided. They are not heavier than the SPD-SLs.

jjojjas

myqul wrote:

Yea, was gonna mention one of the pro's of SPD cuz of their so popular you'll gonna be able to pick up A new set for each of your bikes real cheap on ebay

Yeah. Thing is I have no experience of clip ins. I liked the "look" of the egg beaters....but thats it...just the look I'll put money on it that if I stick with them I'll have "road shoes" with specific pedals and "MTB shoes" with specific pedals etc...

cheers for your help mate. Appreciate it
Jas

Juju_uk_68

Just fwiw, I use shimano spd's simply becasue I bought my MTB, an Orange p7 years ago, with some Pearl Izumi shoes. I was uncertain at first, and so bought some single sided, with a platform on the other. When I was using the bike for short distances to and from station, it was ok as a compromise.

I have just bought a Bianchi c2c like you, and have fitted it with some ugly double sided spd pedals, as I dont want to run two pedal systems as my Pearl Isumi mtb shoes are more than adequate for my needs, and besides, the MTB system means I can actually use them to walk about on as well.

But would I go back to toe clips or flat/platform pedals? Never!

mark_oakden

jjojjas wrote:

Right, I'm gonna get the M520 for the road bike and xc bike and the M324 for the tourer/commuter where the pace will be more relaxed and shoe type won't be the same each outing. Pair them up with a MTB shoe that I can walk to the bar in and we'll be sorted

PS. M520 are only £14 on fleabay! You can afford to throw them away if you don't like them at that price.

Jas

I was going to go M324's for my commute/leisure bike as first clipless + platform option (because I used it for fitness rides but also have to commute in normal shoes on the same bike) but a friend who had tried the M324's (and had had bearing issues with them) steered me towards A530's instead, which have been great ... I've since bought a road bike and put M540's on it to maintain shoe/cleat compatibility.

I didn't spot the A530 at first since the sites I was looking on listed them under road/touring pedals rather than MTB pedals. I worried at first if I'd have issues with my foot slipping on the alloy platform when wet (the edge-on sides of the M324 looked more "grippy" to me in the pictures), but have never actually had that issue since buying the A530s.

For shoes, I have a low-ish end Shimano (MT41 I think - wiggle had an offer on at the time) MTB shoe for both bikes. these are perfectly comfortable for walking to the bar and beyond ;-)

The combination works very well. One tip - slacken off the cleat retention tension as much as possible at first to make clipping out easier. (mine are still set on minimum tension - i've never yet clipped out acidentally so I'm not going to tighten them since there's no apparent reason to).

Cheers,
Mark