The road pedal debate

jeepie

I often ponder this question. I've got Look PP206. I have a bit of my commute where I have to stop at the top of a steep hill 12% and then start off again to cross a main road. I find with my bike's gearing - no triple - and the Look's that clipping in is a bit fraught... The question is would speedplays be better (me and IP have discussed this) or should I just go for a more quality pair of looks as I do like them apart from this tricky manoeuvre.

Do you single sided clipless guys have any issues clipping in when the bike is on a steep hill?

attica

Jeepie wrote:

Do you single sided clipless guys have any issues clipping in when the bike is on a steep hill?

Short answer is yes
Then again it's not much fun on double sided pedals either (SPD or Speedplay)

flite

I have the same problem clipping in on hills, and there's a lot of them in the Pennines. I have given up on single sided pedals for that reason, and am sticking with spd double sided type as they are no problem. What I need now is a pair good stiff soled shoes that are recessed for spd cleats - any suggestions please?

rolf_f

chuckcork wrote:

I'd say riding without being clipped in is actually more dangerous, just consider the consequences of feet slipping on wet pedals in heavy traffic! Clipped in you have complete control of your ability to move forwards, you can accelerate harder, pedal with one foot, reverse pedal to get the crank angle set for take off at lights and so on.

If you can mountain bike safely without being clipped in, you can probably manage something soft like a commute safely without being clipped in as well! And I never realised I couldn't reverse pedal without being clipped in either!

Personally, I prefer not being clipped in on the commute but really, I shouldn't worry - I have a relatively non stop starty commute compared to the Londoners but then I don't really want to go clipless on my mtb. And I do have the steep hills issue as well.

Stuey01

I prefer mtb style spds for the commute for the foolproof engagement they offer. I have been using Look keo's recently as I couldn't be bothered to change the pedals over, they aren't that bad but are definately more difficult to engage quickly.

SPD's are going back on tonight as I have got myself some spangly new shoes for the spds(shimano RT80 - look like a road shoe, but have a recessed cleat area).

If these shoes work out I may never go back to the looks. :shock:

DonDaddyD

The cleat is fine.

navt wrote:

Speaking of which, how relevant are cleats to commuting in central London? Not wanting to hijack your thread DDD, someone did pose this question to me in light of recent central London fatalities.

Cleats/clipless pedals aren't necessary for stop-start inner-city commuting.

I use them because it was the only opportunity to get a decent amount of practice using them for weekend rides*. I use most of my commuting time to practice technique.

Also I wanted to look like Valverde…

Rich wrote:

I've had exactly the same problem DDD. I don't think it's worn cleats, 90% of the time with me it's a failure to engage the front portion of the cleat first. I'm convinced it's to do with a slightly stiff pedal bearing no allowing the pedal to hang properly thus makign engaging the cleat a problem.

I stand on my left leg when unclipped but the cleat was fine I it works on the commuter and I tried it on the Kharma on Friday, commuting, to make sure things were fine, they were. However the problem has occurred with that pedal before.

The problem:
Basically, I hook the front of the cleat into the pedal and then attempt to stamp/clip in This simply didn’t happen. I’ve adjusted the tension both loose and tight and it makes no difference. Sometimes it clips in and sometimes it doesn’t. Other than that they’re good pedals.

bigmat

DonDaddyD wrote:

Other than that they’re good pedals.

:shock: Other than that they only occasionally work?!

greg66_tri_v2.0

Il Principe wrote:

Anyway for non-commuting road purposes there is no debate; the answer is simply Eddy Merkcx Podios.

Fixed dat fer yer!

lost_in_thought

Greg66 wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

Anyway for non-commuting road purposes there is no debate; the answer is simply Eddy Merkcx Podios.

Fixed dat fer yer!

You again with your podio nonsense. Shut up. Get out.

Speedplays are the future, thanks for selling me those. Er... you can come back in I suppose.

:oops:

greg66_tri_v2.0

lost_in_thought wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

Anyway for non-commuting road purposes there is no debate; the answer is simply Eddy Merkcx Podios.

Fixed dat fer yer!

You again with your podio nonsense. Shut up. Get out.

Speedplays are the future, thanks for selling me those. Er... you can come back in I suppose.

:oops:

There's a glut of them around at the moment. I found no less than two whole pairs on ebay (well, Dutch ebay).

The shoes are becoming a bit tricky <cough, cough, cough> to source...

That's what happens to a mighty classic and iconic product though.

lost_in_thought

Greg66 wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

Anyway for non-commuting road purposes there is no debate; the answer is simply Eddy Merkcx Podios.

Fixed dat fer yer!

You again with your podio nonsense. Shut up. Get out.

Speedplays are the future, thanks for selling me those. Er... you can come back in I suppose.

:oops:

There's a glut of them around at the moment. I found no less than two whole pairs on ebay (well, Dutch ebay).

The shoes are becoming a bit tricky <cough, cough, cough> to source...

That's what happens to a mighty classic and iconic product though.

Klapper, ongelofelijk!

Yeah... all the classics become harder to obtain, I mean, have you tried getting hold of a chippendale sideboard lately? It's nuts.

Clearly Podios are of the same stature...

Oddjob62

JonGinge wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

Am I the only time user???

ShimaNO.. see?

Nope. They're ace. Got various versions of the RXS on my bikes. I do have spuds on the main commuter but the times are fine in traffic on the pearson etc.

Time Atac Aliums here

chuckcork

Rolf F wrote:

If you can mountain bike safely without being clipped in, you can probably manage something soft like a commute safely without being clipped in as well! And I never realised I couldn't reverse pedal without being clipped in either!

Personally, I prefer not being clipped in on the commute but really, I shouldn't worry - I have a relatively non stop starty commute compared to the Londoners but then I don't really want to go clipless on my mtb. And I do have the steep hills issue as well.

I push off hard at lights, I found having my feet slip on the pedals in the rain not to be a terribly safe feeling, particularly with cars hard accelerating behind me in the race to get through the junction. Last thing I want is to be wobbling around trying to get feet back on.

I personally don't find steep hills a problem: why would they be? SPD user myself (on all my bikes), never have a problem on hills, they just pop in and out when i want them to without a problem.

Whatever works for you though, just my 1.5p worth (2p less tax).

One technique you can't do though while unclipped, is to lift the rear wheel up with your clipped in foot and swing the bike around to change direction the bike is pointing, hop up sideways onto a kerb etc. I don't try this at speed though...

Wrath Rob

I've got Time road pedals too, though not sure which ones. I can leave a pair of trainers where I park my bike so I change out of the road shoes and into the trainers for the short walk to the office. Rather that than doing the graceful "dance of cleats" at every oportunity!

roger_merriman

SPD's for me, though I use flats for 99% of the commutes bar the odd training day.

I wind them right back and have no issues with fast get aways, steep hills etc.

rolf_f

chuckcork wrote:

I personally don't find steep hills a problem: why would they be? SPD user myself (on all my bikes), never have a problem on hills, they just pop in and out when i want them to without a problem.

I find that on the flat, the cleats clip in happily - on a steep climb when I have to press much harder (by steep I mean up to about 1 in 4), the extra pressure means that if the cleat doesn't engage straight away, my foot slips off the pedal abruptly leading to a fairly immediate halt. Probably user incompetence and I suspect that while some pedal types might be easier than others, ultimately it is just about practice. My new bike will have Look pedals - who knows if I'll find them easier or harder than the Shimanos.

O'Day

Another Time user. SPDs.

Alium on my commuter, Roc Atac on the road bike.

Easy entry, a bit of a platform on the Alium for when I miss the clip in first time with a bus behind me, and durable.

il_principe

Attica wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

For commuting I use SPDs and at the weekends I use Look Keos.

+1

I used Speedplay for a while last year but found absolutely no advantage over the Looks (and let's face it Shimano SPD-SLs are a Look copy)

Once you're used to a one sided pedal - which I assume you are - there's no advantage in Speedplay.

Bzzzzzzt! Wrong - sorry Rob...

2 Things - Speedplay has 'customisable & free' float, the Keo doesn't - With the Keo's float is a factor of the selected cleat with 0, 4.5 and 9 degree versions on the market. For me this is the big win as my feet like to splay outwards slightly on the pedal (I have weird duck feet), the Speedplay Zero system lets them find their 'happy point' without any spring/friction acting upon them, no other pedal system I've tried offers this.

Secondly, the Speedplay cleats may be expensive, but I've found them to be very very durable outlasting say SPDL's by miles and miles, in fact in the long run I think they are cheaper, provided you look after them - i use cleat covers for cafe stops etc.

attica

Il Principe wrote:

Bzzzzzzt! Wrong - sorry Rob...

It's a fair point about the float and I had thought that after I'd posted it.
That said I am fairly duck footed myself and can't live with the 4.5 degree float cleats.
The 9 are absolutely fine for me though so I think degree of duckiness is a factor

Also with your cafe covers, I seem to remember you putting them on almost as soon as you step off the bike every time. With mine I rarely bother to use the covers and I don't find myself worrying about my cleats at all apart from the occasional inspection.

il_principe

Attica wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

Bzzzzzzt! Wrong - sorry Rob...

It's a fair point about the float and I had thought that after I'd posted it.
That said I am fairly duck footed myself and can't live with the 4.5 degree float cleats.
The 9 are absolutely fine for me though so I think degree of duckiness is a factor

Also with your cafe covers, I seem to remember you putting them on almost as soon as you step off the bike every time. With mine I rarely bother to use the covers and I don't find myself worrying about my cleats at all apart from the occasional inspection.

I just think that cleats that expensive are worth looking after. I've no idea how many miles my cleats have done but I've not replaced them for donkeys.

scrumpydave

I'm on the look out for some decent stiff road shoes with a recessed SPD cleat. I use SPD pedals on all my bikes so I don't want to get a road specific set up. Has anyone got any experience of these?

Shimano RT80
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=44391

Also the new Shimano RT81 looks good (there was a first look on Bikeradar a few weeks ago but can't find the link) but none of the major retailers seem to have it. Has anyone tried these out?

Agent57

Shimano 105 SPD-SL on my road bike, SPD M520s on my mountain bike. Flat cage pedals, toe clips and straps on my commuting bike.

secretsam

On the less busy end of the commute I use a bike with double sided SPDs so I can use regular shoes

In sunny London I use clips and straps, which I grew up with, 'cos I frankly haven't got the cojones to go clipless, the thought of a clipless moment in central London traffic is too horrible to contemplate

lost_in_thought

Attica wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

Bzzzzzzt! Wrong - sorry Rob...

It's a fair point about the float and I had thought that after I'd posted it.
That said I am fairly duck footed myself and can't live with the 4.5 degree float cleats.
The 9 are absolutely fine for me though so I think degree of duckiness is a factor

Also with your cafe covers, I seem to remember you putting them on almost as soon as you step off the bike every time. With mine I rarely bother to use the covers and I don't find myself worrying about my cleats at all apart from the occasional inspection.

To weigh in on the speedplay cleats... I rarely remember my covers, and when I do remember them I rarely remember to put them on!

Despite this my cleats are fine. I can't, however, comment on the durability of other cleats by comparison...

Big Wib

Attica wrote:

so I think degree of duckiness is a factor

:shock:

attica

I wondered if I'd get away with calling IP "ducky"

Roastie

Eggbeaters on all but the road race bike (that has Keos). SPDs are OK, but after the float and sheer ease of teh Eggbeaters, I'd never go back.

Commuting inevitably involves walking. Road shoes are very bad for this, at best you hobble around, at worst you slip around. Either way, the cleats aren't designed for this and wear or crack easily. Horses for courses I reckon.

I still have my early 90s 105 SL pedals - they work fine, but are just a bit weighty. I never had any reliability issues with them ever.

il_principe

Attica wrote:

I wondered if I'd get away with calling IP "ducky"

Water off, mate, water off.

UndercoverElephant

Il Principe wrote:

Attica wrote:

I wondered if I'd get away with calling IP "ducky"

Water off, mate, water off.

Water off a ducky's back?

holybinch

Double sided SPDs for the commuter, cause I need to walk a bit.
Look keo on the roadie.