What Shoes and Pedals to get?

harrywrigley

Hi, I've just put my deposit down for my first road bike (2010 giant defy advanced 3, very exited!) and my parents have offered to get me something to do with the bike for christmas.

I want to get a proper pair of cycling shoes and pedals as I feel this will be an easy and not too costly upgrade.

So far i have looked at:

Pedals
- LOOK KeO Sprint Road

Shoes
- Shimano R076 + R086 Road Shoes
- Northwave Vertigo Road Shoes

I am more unsure of which shoes to get and I don't really know what others to look at.
I want to use them for long rides not racing, so comfort is my main ask. Also are there any not very bulky touring shoes that I could look at?

cheers.

JohnnyAllez

The Vertigo shoes are quite a narrow fitting, obviously you don`t want the shoes slopping about on your feet, but equally they don`t want to be cutting the circulation off in your toes ! Also, the 3 velcro closing straps arn`t as good at holding your foot tightly compared to shoes with the ratchet clip strap. They are a good shoe though, but may be worth trying a pair on first.

Also, Northwave shoes are a touch on the small size, watch out for their sizing as they list `em with both UK, US and Euro sizing. I usually take a size 9 in everyday shoes (never bigger, sometimes 8 1/2 if available) and my UK size 9 (Euro 43) Vertigos are borderline tight, which is good with thin socks for Summer but no chance with something a bit warmer for Winter rides.

I`ve just gone for a pair of NW Typhoon SBS in a UK 10 (Euro 44) whick allow me to get some thicker warm socks in without the blood being cut off from my feet ! The Typhoon SBS have the ratchet clip strap for a secure fit (sound like an advert don`t I )

Pedals - I use Shimano 105 type SPD-SL type, just because I use Shimano stuff, they are a good price and easily available, no better or worse than others I don`t think ?

VinceEager

pedals far more important than shoes imo -

doesnt really matter what shoes so long as they are comfy, secure and have hard soles.

pedals on the other hand can be a lot more complicated - search for threads with people complaining about knee pain and how much money they spent on perfect cleat alignment sessions to try and get rid of this...you will see what i mean.

do yourself a favour and buy some speedplay pedals. dont know why more people dont ride with them (if it will reassure you pro teams use them) your knees will thank you, and like mtb pedals you can clip in either side so there is no 'hang on while i flip my pedal over moments trying to cross roundabouts)

Pokerface

VinceEager wrote:

pedals far more important than shoes imo -

doesnt really matter what shoes so long as they are comfy, secure and have hard soles.

pedals on the other hand can be a lot more complicated - search for threads with people complaining about knee pain and how much money they spent on perfect cleat alignment sessions to try and get rid of this...you will see what i mean.

do yourself a favour and buy some speedplay pedals. dont know why more people dont ride with them (if it will reassure you pro teams use them) your knees will thank you, and like mtb pedals you can clip in either side so there is no 'hang on while i flip my pedal over moments trying to cross roundabouts)

There's no doubt that Speedplay make great pedals. But you are just as likely to get knee pain with them as you are with more conventional pedals - if the cleats aren't set right.

Low-end Speedplays don't have float so you can get knee pain if not set right.

If you have a set of Look Sprint pedals, you can use 3 different cleats allowing for up to 9 degrees of float. This should pretty much eliminate ANY knee pain if they aren't aligned perfectly.

I'm of the opinion that SHOES are more important than pedals. You can adjust your pedals, but uncomfortable shoes will probably always be uncomfortable!

If you buy Speedplays - just make sure you get the ones that allow for float. (And more people don't buy them because they are expensive and the cleats wear out faster than regular cleats and cost a lot more to replace. Even if they ARE great pedals!)

VinceEager

Pokerface wrote:

VinceEager wrote:

pedals far more important than shoes imo -

doesnt really matter what shoes so long as they are comfy, secure and have hard soles.

pedals on the other hand can be a lot more complicated - search for threads with people complaining about knee pain and how much money they spent on perfect cleat alignment sessions to try and get rid of this...you will see what i mean.

do yourself a favour and buy some speedplay pedals. dont know why more people dont ride with them (if it will reassure you pro teams use them) your knees will thank you, and like mtb pedals you can clip in either side so there is no 'hang on while i flip my pedal over moments trying to cross roundabouts)

There's no doubt that Speedplay make great pedals. But you are just as likely to get knee pain with them as you are with more conventional pedals - if the cleats aren't set right.

Low-end Speedplays don't have float so you can get knee pain if not set right.

If you have a set of Look Sprint pedals, you can use 3 different cleats allowing for up to 9 degrees of float. This should pretty much eliminate ANY knee pain if they aren't aligned perfectly.

I'm of the opinion that SHOES are more important than pedals. You can adjust your pedals, but uncomfortable shoes will probably always be uncomfortable!

If you buy Speedplays - just make sure you get the ones that allow for float. (And more people don't buy them because they are expensive and the cleats wear out faster than regular cleats and cost a lot more to replace. Even if they ARE great pedals!)

the reason i love my speedplays is that you only have to worry about forward / backward positioning of the cleat and not left / right angle - the max 15 degree float letting your knees / feet naturally find a comfortable pedaling position. granted i ride with maximum float (this is probably not the most efficient way to pedal but for my level of riding / racing thats almost irrelevant tbh) - i also accept that with so much float, a toe out pedaling position can mean that heels can rub against the chainstays (i luckily dont have that problem).

that said, i rode look pedals for years and got fed up pissing around getting the perfect angle of the cleats - every time i replaced the cleats it just felt wrong (i think as they wore down the float would increase and i didnt like on renewal the feeling of being in so fixed a position again).

of course you can achieve equally comfortable and perhaps more efficient pedaling on other pedals, but imo its a lot harder to do, and for the novice rider i think speedplays are money well spent - the amount of people complaining of knee pain and trying to figure out perfect cleat alignment - the number of businesses offering expensive analysis sessions etc demonstrate this.

edit: also, sore feet from ill fitting shoes is not nice, but knee pain caused by ligaments twisting / rubbing on every pedal stroke is imo worse (and potentially far more serious in the long term).

edit: also, it should be pointed out that people dont all have the same body geometry, ie some stand / walk / run naturally with the heels in, some out etc. so forcing your foot into one position by clamping it to a pedal carries the distinct possibility of your knees being forced to move in an unatural and straining way. riding at a relatively high cadence means 90-100 instances of strain or torsion every minute - that rapidly adds up to noticable pain.

perfect cleat alignment with pedals that dont allow the foot to find its natural position (ie small amounts of float) requires a knowledge of the individual riders natural feet position, which most people (especially novices) are going to have no idea about and will have to play around until it just feels right - or worse, follow a standard guide that aims for maximum efficiency buit takes for granted that everyone has the same legs / knees feet etc.


on cost, fair enough - they are more expensive.

Pokerface

Like I said...

Look cleats now allow for up to 9 degrees of float. Not as much as Speedplay, but more than enough to accommodate most riders and remove any pains from bad alignment.

I'm not sure the Look pedals and cleats of the past (when you were riding them) allowed for as much float.

If you buy the black cleats that have NO FLOAT - then you have to get the alignment just perfect. Grey cleats - 4.5 degrees of float and the red cleat - 9 degrees.

All for a fraction of the cost of Speedplays.

giant_man

My choice would be, as they have been for ages, Look pedals with max float cleats. Sidi shoes are my choice of shoe.

eh

For me Time are the best simply because they have decent float and the cleats last. (NB: The float on Time is slightly different from that of others in that there is free lateral movement as well as the standard pivoting float).

But I could happily ride Look and SPD-SL. In fact the only system I would stay away from is Speedplay because they are overpriced and offer no benefits I can see over the others.

fishyweb

On shoes - I just bought a pair of Shimano R086 and find them very comfortable so far - and UKBikeStore have them for a great price (which I was able to get Evans to price match). Note that I take a 41 in everyday shoes, and a 42 in Shimano MTB shoes, but needed to 43 in the R086!

FWIW, I use them with R540 pedals and floating cleats.

Porta105

I'm looking at getting some shoes and pedals in the new year, does anyone have any experience of the DHB road shoes from wiggle and the Shimano 105 SPD-SL?

Matt the Tester

i bought the northwave shoes a few days ago and i have to say they are fantastic! comfortable and my pedals are good since i have the red plates on them which allows alot more movement