pedals

joedoyle

Hi all,

I'm looking to buy my first cliples pedals but i also want to be able to use normal shoes with them at the same time

Are these the best option (shimano A520), or am i missing something? i'd also appreciate some recommendations for shoes to go with these, or other options. I don;t have a big budget as i'm only just getting into road cycling.

i ride for leisure and fitness mostlym but i will be doing a couple of triathlons next summer.

Thanks,
Joe

topdude

Hi, A520s are not what you want, they are one sided and only for SPD cleats and shoes.
If you want to use clipless and normal shoes then you need pedals with clips on one side and flat on the other like these.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=5937

There are others available so have a look on CRC and Wiggle

hodsgod

Or E bay.

These are new, I hope you can see them, and it's what I use. Shimano M520 double sided with a platform which clips in one side to use with normal shoes. They are £19 with cleats. There are of course many other options.



http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Shimano-M520-Silv ... 439a427364

Joe86

Thanks hodsgod! Sorry for jumping in too. I actually use MTB pedals, and the bushing has gone on them, so I have been considering buying some new ones. These look what I was looking for, as I really do like double sided ones. I ended up taking off the cage on my Onza's, but man sometimes hill starts on 10% hills at traffic lights can be scary when you can't use your other foot to pedal with, after coasting for a few seconds to get the shoe in

You even get the cleats wth those Shimano M520, and for £20. WOW, nice price. One question though, it doesn't look as if they have spare cages in case you want to remove the platform? On my Onza I have a little caging on the pedal, similar to this one:



Are the M520 just exposed?

Anyway, nice to see I won't have to spend £40 like I had expected to, on the pedals alone, and then another £15 on cleats. My uncle gave me the Onza.

mikeyboy12345

Hi Joe,

I've got both the M520s and M324 types pictured, and both are good pedals, but bear in mind they take the smaller MTB/Touring-type cleat, not a road cleat. It all depends on what you'll use the road bike for. If it's for city-centre in-traffic riding, possible commuting, or nipping to the pub then SPDs are brilliant. If you won't need to constantly clip in/out, stop, or walk in the shoes then you may wish to wait and get proper road cleats later once you're used to the bike.

I started with the M324s and riding in trainers but, honestly, once you're used to the bike you'll then get cleats and probably never ride in normal shoes again (I hate it!), so don't worry too much about a pedal which suits both. I ride my bike to work, to the pub, to Ikea, Tesco, leisure/training rides, everywhere and I just walk around town/boozer in my SPDs, which wouldn't be feasible in "proper" road cleats.

Also: M324s are heavy, and will look a touch out of place on a decent racer, but they are versatile: unbolt the platform part to save weight, or you can fit old skool toeclips/straps (WTF for, I dunno, but you can! Useful for triathlon running shoes maybe), and they'll accept standard pedal reflectors (which are a legal requirement at night, and may prove in your favour in the event of any insurance accident claims). The downside is trying to clip in and realising you need to the flip the pedal over to engage the cleat, but they are weighted very well and seem to present you with the "correct" side about 90% of the time.

The M520s pedal reflectors are built-in to the plastic platform bit (SM-PD22, optional accessory), thus won't be present when you ride everywhere clipless (won't take you long!). Also, after faffing with saddle height I discovered that the perfect height for using cycling shoes causes my knee to lock straight when trying to ride in trainers. Really annoying. Do triathletes ride the bike with the same shoes they run in?

My M324s came with the silver metal cleats (SM-SH56 multi-release noob type), and the M520s with the black SM-SH51 single-release type that (supposedly) will only release with a twist (and not an upward pull). Don't let it affect your decision, but I thought you might be interested to know. Check the retailer includes the cleats with the pedals, cuz I've seen plenty who don't seem to (they're ripping you off).

Shoes: the only answer is to go to all your LBSs on a Saturday and try every make you can because the fit and feel vary a lot. I would caution against buying online unless you've already tried on that particular model of shoe. I guess a decent branded shoe will start at approx 50 quid per pair. If you plump for SPD pedals then be sure to look at MTB shoes, because the soles of road shoes have different fixing holes.

Good luck!

xtrsmith

M520s are good.

hodsgod

HI joe 86,

I keep the platform on one side of the pedals, that way no matter what you do you can start on a hill or wherever, then just sort your foot out once you are moving along.

There are a few companies selling m520 on ebay, I bought mine on there from highonbikes, it was fantastic service, but now they seem to be £1 more expensive, but I can recommend it.

The beauty of this system is you can convert to doublke sided if you want to.

Anyway the choice is yours, enjoy your shopping.