Pedal Poll!

lost_in_thought

Pedals not for commuting so much but for a weekend rider... I have SPDs on the Fixie, and figue that something more fancy might be better for the flash new bike I'm plotting.

Feel free to have a massive row about the reasons why.

greg66_tri_v2.0

I've voted

Littigator

Obvisouly you would put SPD SLs onm the uber bike.

In answer to the above, I also use eggbeaters and toe clips as well, but mainly SLs

Clever Pun

times XS carbons for me... light enough for commuting and weekends... plus only one pair of shoes needed

lost_in_thought

Greg66 wrote:

I've voted

There might be other people on bizarre alternative pedals...

DonDaddyD

SPD-SL

But if I could do it all again, Keo Look pedals, don't know why, they look cool!

edhornby

I use the little SPDs the same as yours on my fixed wheel - but if I was building a no holds barred racer I would consider having Look Keo's, they are the pedal of choice on the machester velodrome and they are so much better than SPDs, I was very impressed

depends on whether you need to walk about in them much - if not then look or full shimano big cleats

STEFANOS4784

Spd for commute due to the vast amounts of clipping/unclipping, spd-sl for good bike as they feel much stronger and seem to clunk in not clip 8)

simon_ramsey

2 votes for SPD's my commute bike and my MTB. I've been riding with SPD's for 15+ years and a riding a bike not clipped in feels sort of weird

biondino

If you're never going to commute on your good bike, or indeed get on and off it, go for SPD-SLs. otherwise you'd be crazy to.

e999sam

I've always used Look until a couple of weeks ago when I got some Time impact. I wanted something that stop my foot rubbing on the cranks when I'm wearing over shoes.
While riding they are both similar but I do find the Time more difficult to clip in.

ansbaradigeidfran

My bike's still flat pedalled, so I'm just going to watch for now.

Does anyone know of some good reading material on this subject that I/we could go off and browse?

greg66_tri_v2.0

lost_in_thought wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

I've voted

There might be other people on bizarre alternative pedals...

Not so far. :?

Better ping Axel & Eddy. Get them over here.

greg66_tri_v2.0

These are nice and obscure:



That's the pedal (not black) *and* the cleat (black), BTW. M2 Racer Orbs.

Al_38

I have look keo's on both my road bikes and really like them. With regards riding in town you either learn to trackstand or you get very good at getting back into single sided pedals. The cleats do wear if you walk in them for prolonged periods of time - but I didn't have any problems with them commuting (mainly out of town roads) but still had to walk into the office etc. It isn't too bad replacing them every 6 months or so and you could always get cleat covers.

One of my riding buddies has recently switched from spd to spd-sl on his road bike and said that it made a big difference to the ride - personally I would definitely go for some form of road pedal - look, speedplay, spd-sl etc. Maybe speedplay would be better as they are doublesided and most importantly look cool...

Besides a different pedal system means an extra pair of shoes for the different cleats

prj45

Flats for me, I probably would have spds IF I DIDN'T HAVE SIZE 16 FEET!

Curse my boat sized plates.

b0n3

Crankbrothers smarty pedals with shimano AM50 shoes on my commuter. The AM50's are meant for off road but I cant afford two paris of shoes.

The smarty's give you a good little platform but eventuatly fall apart like all Crankbrothers.

I do love Crankbrothers

STEFANOS4784

biondino wrote:

If you're never going to commute on your good bike, or indeed get on and off it, go for SPD-SLs. otherwise you'd be crazy to.

Hmmmm, not really, i've gotten stuck in spd's when to tight and almmost come acropper when to loose, never had this problem with the spd SL, the spd's seem much wibblyer, whereas the SL's mor kachunky 8) :? :arrow:


However walking........ That's another matter :?

attica

Keo are fantastic, although I commute on my old Look Delta.
The Deltas (old style Look) are not such a good ride but easier to get into.

Get yourself a pair of Keos.
Experiment with the cleats as well:-

Black = no float, a sprinters pedal.
Grey = 4.5 Degree float.
Red = 9 Degree float.

(float being the amount you can move your heel left to right)

I prefer the red as with grey I found I was always right up to the stop most of the time, but some people find the red too sloppy.
I think if you buy new cleats you generally get a pair of cleat covers with them.

I'd be interested to hear about other "road" pedals and peoples experience with them as Look are all I've ever tried. (do people ever get the chance to change without expendig vast amounts of cash?) Are egg beaters any good? What other obscure pedals do people use?

tardington

I saw some cool flat pedals the other day - they were blue transparent! 8)

Can't seem to find them online though.

glebrus

I use SPD in summer and flats with warm shoes in winter.

What is SPD-SL?

STEFANOS4784

glebrus wrote:

I use SPD in summer and flats with warm shoes in winter.

What is SPD-SL?

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... dals-16856

The cleats are plastic and have a much bigger contact area see here:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Shima ... 360008129/
They protrude from the shoe a lot though so not great for walking, which is why i don't use them for commuting, someone else will probably shed more light shortly, i would recommend them myself though

They're much less sloppy, spd seam to have a lot of 'float' so if they're to tight can be a bugger to get out of, in my experience and humbe opinion

gert_lush

SPD-SL on the road bike
SPD on the commuter/tourer
Flats on the Mountain bike

I like to cover all bases!

Having come from a Hoppety Hoppety Trials background on the MTB's I just cant get my head around the thought of using SPD's on mountain bikes (even though I know it would make me more efficient when out on the trails) I just like to dab
However couldn't live without the SPD's on the otherbikes they are just sooo great

linsen

I have SPDs because that's what I bought the bike with.
I don't swear by them as I only started clipping in in April, but as yet I have no funny stories to tell about coming a cropper with them , so they are ok

Jen J

I clicked the vote before I read the poll properly and my vote was in reference to my commute.

SPDs for commuting, and speedplays on my road bike. Both fairly new.

Until last night I loved the SPDs as they were ridiculously easy to clip in and out, however having a cleat bolt come out thus rendering clipping out nigh-impossible, they have lost some attraction for me.

Speedplays, once you get used to clipping in, are great, but I did struggle at first. I still sometimes have issues with clipping in - I need to have the pedal at the bottom and put my whole (considerable) weight on them, so wouldn't dare used them on a fixie. Walking in them is challenging, but I bought the covers at the same time as the pedals, and keep them in the underseat bag.

I'm not absolutely convinced by either system, but you're never going to have the ideal system, as too many ideals contradict each other - ie easy to clip in/out and at the same time not too loose so they unclip accidentally.

Next on the list to try may well be egg beaters.

blackworx

SPD for commute/cross/gym
Look for the road

TheBrogueadier

Being a bit wierd I use different pedals for the different bikes..

Atala roadie, Trek TT, Fuji Track bike: SPD-SL
GB Fixie: Egg Beaters
Merida MTB: SPD

Voted SPD-SL as three of the five bikes have those.

Find them to provide a good solid foot platform and easy enough to pop in and out of (well, apart from the non-rotating axle on the Atala's set).

I like the bare-bones look of the egg beaters on the road fixie, although I find the 20deg clip out angle a bit to much for road use. Before I got the road shoe cleatset thingy for them they were a nightmare to ride in, road cleats made a massive difference although they still feel a bit sloppy at times. SL's on the Fuji as it's only ever used on the track and it's more about power transfer than looks.

Havn't used the mtb too much, but the smaller contact area seems secure enough though I wouldn't like to use the small spd pedals on long rides - I find they cause hotspots on the balls of my feet after a few hours.

girv73

Don't know much about this, but I use toeclips on the commute and mountain bike and have done for 15 years. I likes 'em as I can get in and out of them quickly - handy for traffic and the trails. I don't have a road bike ... yet.

I do have SPD shoes though and I'll probably change to those at some point, for a laugh.

il_principe

Speedplay Zeros. No contest. Tried SPD-L's, much prefer speedplays.

lost_in_thought

Greg66 wrote:

These are nice and obscure:



That's the pedal (not black) *and* the cleat (black), BTW. M2 Racer Orbs.

Ooooooh they really are obscure...

*goes off to check the google*

And the Merckx family are your mates are they? Hmmmmmmm?

The SPD-Ls are winning the vote (apart from the SPDs) at the minute... interesting.

il_principe

This poll is flawed. I bet 80% of those that have responded have only ever tried 1 pedal system and I bet that's a Shimano one.