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Buying shoes and pedals help needed

ejayADejayAD Posts: 16
edited August 2009 in Road beginners
Sorry, there must be hundereds of people asking this, but I've never bought shoes and pedals before and really dont understand how to tell if a particular shoe will work with a particular pedal, so I was wondering if anyone could tell me.

I was considering the Wellgo RC713 pedals:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Wellg ... 360023127/

And either the Time RXI shoes
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Time_ ... 0528/#more

or dhb R1 shoes
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/dhb_R ... 360042950/

or Gaerne G.Air Carbon shoes
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=36395

or Adidas Adistar shoes
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=19719

Would any of those shoes work with those pedals?

Also, would I need to get cleats separately or would the shoes/pedals come with them?

Any help would be very appreciated...

Posts

  • bobpzerobobpzero Posts: 1,431
    edited July 2009
    best bit of advice you will ever get - always try before you buy and take your time.

    Would any of those shoes work with those pedals? yes except for time (i think)

    im a bit confused - you going to buy a pair of carbon soled road shoes and put them with a pair of spd pedals? tho if you want spd pedals go for the dhb r1 shoes .anyways the pedals would have cleats with them. i know im about get flamed but get some decent pedals (maybe a pair of look keo carbon with cromo spindle) if you are seriously going for the £80-£100 road shoes.
  • ejayADejayAD Posts: 16
    Sorry this is it, I really dont know what Im looking for...so those are SPD pedals then?
  • bobpzerobobpzero Posts: 1,431
    edited July 2009
    yep they are. well spd is a good place to start from tho you may want double sided spd pedals. just a warning about carbon soled road shoes is that they are extremely stiff, you maybe want a pair of these insoles http://www.inov-8.com/Products-Detail.asp?PG=PG5&L=26&P=5050973301 or similar.
  • ejayADejayAD Posts: 16
    Im not too bothered about cost, anything around (preferably less than) £50 would be great. Experience - clearly I have zero :roll: . I figured it would be better spending more on the shoes as opposed to spending more on the pedals though..?
  • bobpzerobobpzero Posts: 1,431
    sorry ive edited up above
  • jamestuxjamestux Posts: 47
    I have the Look Keo's (not carbon) and a pair of XT SPDs from the last millenium (or very early this one lol)

    I prefer the action of the SPDs but that is because I have been using them for more than ten years (I had LX and single sided before) - my Looks are pretty much brand new and I'm not used to the lift push step entry system yet and with the raised cleats on road shoes (as opposed to hidden on MTB/leisure ones) things can get very slidey and a little alarming!

    I'm sure that I will get used to them very soon though, it's just undoing years of experience for me!
  • John.TJohn.T Posts: 3,698
    First decide if you want to be able to walk more than a few yards in the shoes. If so then go for MTB/Touring shoes that use SPD pedals and have a tread that surrounds the cleat. If not you can use road shoes which do not have any tread on the sole. These are best used with road pedals such as SPD-SL,Look,Time orSpeedplay. These cleats all use the 3 bolt fixing. Do not try to use SPD pedals and cleats with road shoes as the cleat is like a small rock fastened to the bottom of the shoe and walking is almost impossible. They are not as stable on the pedal either.
    Do not buy shoes on the internet, There are far to many different fits. You must try them on.
    My Fleet.
  • fungus_the_muffin_manfungus_the_muffin_man Posts: 1,608
    I use
    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Shimano_PD-M520_Pedals/5360008792/
    with
    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/dhb_M1_Cycling_Shoes/5360033176/

    Statred with them on my MTB however they work fantastically with my road bike. The pedals are double sided and make it nice and easy to get in to ( and out of) especially when your starting out with them. And the shoes are nice and stiff very comfy plus you can walk in them no problem unlike road shoes.
    Bianchi. There are no alternatives only compromises!
    I RIDE A KONA CADABRA -would you like to come and have a play with my magic link?
  • desperate73desperate73 Posts: 135
    I was looking at...

    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/dhb_R ... 360042950/

    and

    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Shima ... 360011753/

    combined cost of £82

    But have since decided to learn to ride first 8)
    Account requested to be deleted
  • gkerr4gkerr4 Posts: 3,408
    desperate73 wrote:
    I was looking at...

    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/dhb_R ... 360042950/

    and

    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Shima ... 360011753/

    combined cost of £82

    But have since decided to learn to ride first 8)

    those pedals are outrageously overpriced - they are 2 years out of date too as they were replaced by the (much, much) better design ages ago. Seriously - they were going for £15 on ebay not that long ago as old stock. The new ones are a real improvement too - the metal base plate doesn't wear away and make the pedals loose.
  • mikeyboy12345mikeyboy12345 Posts: 187
    I'm new to cycling and I too didn't know anything about pedals and shoes. I bought a Giant road bike from eBay and was surprised to find it didn't even come with pedals! I ended up buying the double-sided Shimano M324 pedals for approx £28 per pair new from eBay, including the cleats.

    Great beginners pedals, cuz I could at least ride in trainers whilst I learnt to ride the damn thing. I figured I'd look pretty foolish dressed in all the lycra and shoes and not even be able to ride the bike in a straight line :lol:

    Of course, these pedals are SPD-type so I needed some mountain bike shoes which suits me fine as I use the bike for commuting and my driveway has a 35 degree slope! In other words, walking in them is a bit of a necessity. So I got a pair of Specialized Sport MTBs for fifty quid. The cycling fashion police will no doubt catch up with me for road riding in off-road shoes!!! Besides, I can always buy "proper" road pedals and shoes later and transfer the SPDs to mountain bike and touring use (just been given a Spesh Hardrock MTB by a mate).

    Had my first clipless ride last night round a local industrial estate after the place had shut for the weekend. Most important to practice somewhere where you can't be seen! Whatever pedals you choose, make sure you back the clip tension right off to the minimum BEFORE you start. I didn't, and couldn't unclip! Realised that I wouldn't fall over unless I stopped, so I rode round in circles until I found a solution - I had to balance against a wall and extricate myself from the shoes. Must've looked pretty daft wearing only socks, with my shoes still attached to the pedals! Took all my arm strength to wrestle the damn things off :oops:

    Although online is cheaper, there is no substitute for trying things on! My local LBS stock Specialized and Mavic shoes, and the shop a mile up the road stock only Shimano and Sidi, and they all feel/fit differently.
  • desperate73desperate73 Posts: 135
    gkerr4 wrote:
    desperate73 wrote:
    I was looking at...

    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/dhb_R ... 360042950/

    and

    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Shima ... 360011753/

    combined cost of £82

    But have since decided to learn to ride first 8)

    those pedals are outrageously overpriced - they are 2 years out of date too as they were replaced by the (much, much) better design ages ago. Seriously - they were going for £15 on ebay not that long ago as old stock. The new ones are a real improvement too - the metal base plate doesn't wear away and make the pedals loose.

    Good thanks for that now i know not to get them :)
    Account requested to be deleted
  • WibsWibs Posts: 8
    Is there a great deal of difference between road and mountain bike pedals/shoes?

    I'm just starting off on a road bike; my bum has been a stranger to the saddle for about 15 years and I've never had clipless pedals before, so the one-side-of-each M324 sounds like a good starting point for me.

    Unless you know differently...

    Cheers


    Ron
  • MonkeypumpMonkeypump Posts: 1,528
    My first foray into clipless pedals was with Crank Bros eggbeater SLs and Shimano M076 shoes (for MTB). Various places have good deals, Merlin, CRC etc.

    As mentioned above, cleats and all necessary parts come with the pedals, but some users have suggested the additional metal shims to avoid shoe wear from the pedals. This hasn't been an issue for me yet, but may be worth looking into.

    I wanted to be able to walk a little in the shoes, so avoided road pedal/shoes combo. So far this seems to have been a wise choice!

    There are mixed reviews of the eggbeaters (on here and elsewhere online), but so far I can't fault them. I'm a few hundred miles in and have found them really easy to get used to, simple to clip in/out (sometimes fumbling if trying to get away quickly at lights, but that's user error!) and an all-round excellent pedal. I think they're pretty light too, if that's an issue (not really for me).

    The shoes are pretty basic, but are very comfy and well up to the job. I might invest in better shoes if these wear out, but that might be based on vanity rather than performance.

    Thumbs up for both from me.
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