shimano a520's or propper road pedals

sl2371

hi guys i have a specialized allez with mountain bike m520 pedals on
would it be better to have use shimano a520's and save money
or go the hole hogg and buy propper road pedals and shoes

cheers

sundog

go the whole hog if you have the money and are confident with using spd's

MattC59

I'd go for some proper road SPD SL pedals. You can get a pair of Shimano R540 road pedals for about £35. You'll need some road shoes to suit, but you can get them from about £50+. That said, Chainreaction have them as low as £28 if the size suits.

It all depends on what you want to use the bike for. The mountain bike pedals will give you double sided entry, and allow you to wear a shoe that you can walk in.

The A520 that you mention used the same cleats, so you can still use shoes that you can walk easily in, but it's single sided. The non cleat side has a platform for those moments where it's quicker and easier just to pedal and go.

Buckled_Rims

This is just my own personal experience for road bike pedals and don't forget you choice of shoes might also make a huge difference...

M520 - great to clip in and out. Duel side means it's great for stop start traffic. Tends to have a "hot spot" issue after 40 miles. Shoes can be used to actually walk some distance.

Road 105 pedals - Super long distance comfort. Good control. Good power transfer. However, a nightmare to clip in and out especially in traffic and uphill starts. Cannot walk even a short distance in the shoes and cleats.

I will not buy road SL pedals again. I'll probably have a try at Speedplay as I live in a town centre, I therefore need dual sided pedals more then anything else.

unixnerd

If you use them in the dark keep the M520s. It's actually illegal to have pedals without reflectors on them and the M520s tend to come with a plastic insert for reflectors.

I have A520s on my road bike as I only use it in the daytime, they're slightly lighter. Downside is that you need to flip them over with your foot before you can clip in so they're a pain in traffic. The M520s stay the right way up as the reflector assembly pulls them to the right position.

sl2371

i was also going to go down the road of having a bike fit done
would it be better to use road pedals

Bar Shaker

Good shoes and M520 pedals will work much better than cheap shoes and SL/Keo pedals.

All the talk of hot spots, comfort, power delivery etc is about the quality of the sole of the shoe, not how that sole is connected to the pedal. The stiffer the sole, the more power you will comfortably deliver. Put a flexy shoe on an SPD SL pedal and you will have aching feet after an hour of riding.

slowondefy2

You can walk about in SPD-SL, but you wear down the cleats, it's awkward and you'd feel pretty silly around town.

I recently got the cheap PD-R540 SPD SL pedals and love them. Never had them undo accidentally (on the factory setting - loose as possible) and they unclip easily. Clipping in is becoming easier every ride, I find the less I think about them the better - being at the front at the traffic lights on an uphill no longer worries me!

chris_king

slowondefy2 wrote:

You can walk about in SPD-SL, but you wear down the cleats, it's awkward and you'd feel pretty silly around town.

I recently got the cheap PD-R540 SPD SL pedals and love them. Never had them undo accidentally (on the factory setting - loose as possible) and they unclip easily. Clipping in is becoming easier every ride, I find the less I think about them the better - being at the front at the traffic lights on an uphill no longer worries me!

2nd these, paid £75 for these pedals and some spd shoes. Once my confidence was up and the pedals had loosened up, they are easy to use. So much so that I no longer need to look at my feet in traffic.

The Mechanic

unixnerd wrote:

If you use them in the dark keep the M520s. It's actually illegal to have pedals without reflectors on them and the M520s tend to come with a plastic insert for reflectors.

I have A520s on my road bike as I only use it in the daytime, they're slightly lighter. Downside is that you need to flip them over with your foot before you can clip in so they're a pain in traffic. The M520s stay the right way up as the reflector assembly pulls them to the right position.

reflectors?... run that past me again.

simon_e

unixnerd wrote:

I have A520s on my road bike as I only use it in the daytime, they're slightly lighter. Downside is that you need to flip them over with your foot before you can clip in so they're a pain in traffic.

I have the A520 too and, while it ostensibly has a better platform for your foot, as has already been said the stiffness of the sole is more relevant. For stop-start riding the M520s are better - there's no faffing, just bang your feet on the pedals and away you go. The A520s do have a propensity to hang at an awkward angle so require a flip. Not critical but not always what I want to think about when negotiating a junction.

If you really want road shoes consider how much walking you do in your cycling shoes. For me the SPD is better - I commute to the office, can pop into town or negotiate steps and slopes knowing I won't slip in my SPD shoes. I do time trials in them too (which may be heresy to some people). I have yet to hear of a convincing reason why road shoes are necessarily better.

However, some riders prefer SL/Look style cleats, and that's fine. TBH unless you have a strong preference I'd stick with your current pedals and shoes and spend the money on something else. Do you know anyone with road shoes & pedals you could try?

sl2371

not really most of my mates go mountain biking
i was looking at the a520's just because there is a wider platform for my shoes to sit on

simon_e

I use both. The supposed benefit of the wider platform is overrated.

unixnerd

reflectors?... run that past me again.

It was mentioned in a thread a few weeks ago. The law states that you must have amber front and rear reflectors on each pedal. That's why M520s are sold with a plastic tray that clips into one side and has reflectors.

It's a good idea. I've come up behind cyclists at night and the up/down motion of the amber reflectors clearly identifies what's ahead as a bicycle rather than a scooter or motorbike.

Bikes fitted with pedals must be sold with reflectors. That's why a lot of bikes are sold with no pedals, it's up to the owner to comply with the law and shop isn't liable because they've sold it with the latest clip-in pedals and no reflectors. I've heard it mentioned in a court case where a guy ran over a pedestrian (so totally irrelevant) but he was riding an illegal bike technically.

If you were in a collision at night your insurance might have grounds for not paying out if you didn't have reflectors. Of course you're also meant to fit front and rear stand-alone reflectors in addition to lights. I doubt many of the UK's bikes are legal in this respect. My tourer has no front reflector but has everything else. The "nice day" road bike and my mountain bike have even less but I don't ride them on the road after dark. I'm sure the height of the lights is also specified, so that a head torch on it's own is not technically an adequate front light.

If someone knocked down a kid at night and his bike had no reflectors (or lights) it could affect the result of the case as the bike shouldn't have been on the road.

The Mechanic

I agree with the legal requirements but how many on your club run comply fully with the law.

AndyF16

Maybe they're not considered 'proper' road pedals by the cognoscenti, but Shimano A530s are perfect IMO - dual sided including real clipless (albeit SPD not SL) even with adjustable tension on the clips :idea:

Butterd2

Buckled_Rims wrote:

This is just my own personal experience for road bike pedals and don't forget you choice of shoes might also make a huge difference...

M520 - great to clip in and out. Duel side means it's great for stop start traffic. Tends to have a "hot spot" issue after 40 miles. Shoes can be used to actually walk some distance.

Road 105 pedals - Super long distance comfort. Good control. Good power transfer. However, a nightmare to clip in and out especially in traffic and uphill starts. Cannot walk even a short distance in the shoes and cleats.

I will not buy road SL pedals again. I'll probably have a try at Speedplay as I live in a town centre, I therefore need dual sided pedals more then anything else.

Some good advice there. I use SPD pedals on both my road bike and commuter. Whilst I agree there can be hot spot issues on a long ride I do not find this when I use a decent shoe.
Whilst my commuting shoe would not be ideal for a full days riding my Sidi's are as comfy as can be with all the advantages of walking, double sided etc...

sl2371

i have specialized bg comp mountain bike shoes
but i do get hot spots across my feet on longer rides

MattC59

unixnerd wrote:

If you use them in the dark keep the M520s. It's actually illegal to have pedals without reflectors on them and the M520s tend to come with a plastic insert for reflectors.

Almost right, it's illegal for the shop to sell a bike with out reflectors on the front, rear, the wheels and the pedals............. unless, you state that the bike is going to be used for racing use only. Which is a little odd if your racing on the road. As far as thee legality of having reflectors on the bike is concerned, you have to have a rear reflector, so if you don't have them on the pedals, but do have them on the rear of the frome, you'r fine.

In reality, you're not going to get pulled over for not having them on the bike, but if you are involved in an accident, it may count against you.

alfablue

MattC59 wrote:

unixnerd wrote:

If you use them in the dark keep the M520s. It's actually illegal to have pedals without reflectors on them and the M520s tend to come with a plastic insert for reflectors.

Almost right, it's illegal for the shop to sell a bike with out reflectors.

No, completely right (in respect of pedal reflectors), unless your bike was made before 1985, Four Pedal Reflectors are required, coloured amber and marked BS6102/2 (or equivalent), positioned so that one is plainly visible to the front and another to the rear of each pedal.

What you are thinking of is a bell and front reflector, they must be fitted at point of sale (unless the bike is sold for racing or track use) but are not required to be used.

arthur_scrimshaw

unixnerd wrote:

reflectors?... run that past me again.

It was mentioned in a thread a few weeks ago. The law states that you must have amber front and rear reflectors on each pedal. That's why M520s are sold with a plastic tray that clips into one side and has reflectors.

It's a good idea. I've come up behind cyclists at night and the up/down motion of the amber reflectors clearly identifies what's ahead as a bicycle rather than a scooter or motorbike.

Bikes fitted with pedals must be sold with reflectors. That's why a lot of bikes are sold with no pedals, it's up to the owner to comply with the law and shop isn't liable because they've sold it with the latest clip-in pedals and no reflectors. I've heard it mentioned in a court case where a guy ran over a pedestrian (so totally irrelevant) but he was riding an illegal bike technically.

If you were in a collision at night your insurance might have grounds for not paying out if you didn't have reflectors. Of course you're also meant to fit front and rear stand-alone reflectors in addition to lights. I doubt many of the UK's bikes are legal in this respect. My tourer has no front reflector but has everything else. The "nice day" road bike and my mountain bike have even less but I don't ride them on the road after dark. I'm sure the height of the lights is also specified, so that a head torch on it's own is not technically an adequate front light.

If someone knocked down a kid at night and his bike had no reflectors (or lights) it could affect the result of the case as the bike shouldn't have been on the road.

Well I've bought 4 pairs of M520s (3x CRC, 1x Wiggle) and never received the reflectors. The packaging doesn't appear to have the space for them. I know they exist because I managed to track down some from my LBS but you don't get them from the major online retailers.

vorsprung

I use M540 ( the next one up from M520) on all my bikes

I do long distance events and I do not get hotspot. Plenty of other long distance riders use these pedals and don't get hotspot either

I'm sure there are real advantages to using dedicated road pedals over MTB pedals but hot spot isn't one of them

The main reason I use MTB pedals is so I can walk.

Let me tell you a little story. It concerns the "Gospel Pass" event a few years ago. This event goes from Chepstow to Hay-on-Wye and crosses the Gospel pass on the way back. The pass is either the highest road in Wales or it is a few metres lower than Bwlch-Y-Groes, either way it is a long way up. It had been snowing the week before but the roads were clear. Except on the bit at the top of the pass.
I was following a couple on his n hers racing bikes.
I cycled as far as I could and then pushed the bike. Then the road disappeared under snow and I dragged the bike through a few drifts. The couple were just ahead of me.
This went on for about 3 or 4 miles.
When eventually we crossed the top and went down the other side enough for the road to be clear enough to ride, I caught up with the couple. The woman was having some kind of problem. "I can't clip in", she said, "but these cleats were new last week"
Walking across the snow and the gravel strewn road had worn the plastic cleat down so much it was unusable. I made some sympathetic noises and trundled slowly down the narrow track that was clear of snow

rdt

vorsprung wrote:

I do long distance events and I do not get hotspot. Plenty of other long distance riders use these pedals and don't get hotspot either

I'm sure there are real advantages to using dedicated road pedals over MTB pedals but hot spot isn't one of them

The main reason I use MTB pedals is so I can walk.

Indeed. I switched from Ultegra SPD-SL to Crank Brothers pedals, currently using Crank Brothers Candy SL. Recessed-cleat shoes with double-sided pedal entry is ultimately practical, and with ultra-stiff (carbon-soled) shoes, there are no 'hot spot' or 'power transfer' compromises whatsoever IME.

The pedals are very light, although my shoes (Mavic Chasm) are heavier than their Road equivalent, due to the sole tread. The pedals' Q-factor (i.e. axle length) is a bit higher than for road pedals, which shouldn't much matter unless you're racing criteriums etc.

These modest disadvantages are far outweighed by the practicality of being able to walk, and walk safely.

rich164h

I must admit that I've never experienced a "hot spot" with SPDs. Even on trips of nearly 100miles. As long as the sole of the shoe is stiff enough I'm not sure how it could ever occur to be honest.

Being able to walk the two miles home in SPDs last week after two punctures was a god send. Doing the same in SPD-SLs doesn't bear thinking about.

d87heaven

Arthur Scrimshaw wrote:

unixnerd wrote:

reflectors?... run that past me again.

Available as a seprate fitting that clips on. Looks good eh? :shock: