Clip in/SPD pedals

leaflite

Ive decided (I think!) to make the move from flat pedals to clip in ones. I was wondering which ones you would reccomend. I am on a budget, so please dont suggest some £287 carbon ti crank brothers 11 things-ideally Id like to spend less than £40. If anyone has any for sale, that would also be good.


Thanks

Chunkers1980

Shimano m520 for about 20 quid on merlin and CRC. Cleats too - bargain.

leaflite

Everybody seems to reccomend those m520s. Are there any benefits to them apart from the price, especially as for £26 I can get crank bros smartys, and for £36 I can get Time ATAC Alliums?

VWsurfbum

I prefer the Crank Bros, they seem easier for me to clip in and out of.
Nothing wrong with the M520's i used them for ages, pretty much bomb proof but get clogged up with mud very easily. (one CB benifit)

Buckled_Rims

I've got 2 pairs of M520's and I'm thinking of changing my ...cough cough...road bike pedals for M520 as well. If it works why change?

Er, as you can see I like Shimano M520. Actually, they're cheap and I've never had a problem apart from the mentioned clogging up with snow and mud, but that's rare for me.

£20 inc cleats, just buy them!

FSR_XC

520's are easy to adjust, with little weight difference compared to other Shimano pedals, last well and engage with a satisfying click.

Eyon

Shimano's fucked my knees up. Now running Time Freerides, but even without the larger platform the time has a much more secure feel to them.

If you're feet are perfectly aligned Shimano will be fine, with duck feet like mine the Times just give me less grief

allthegearnoidea

crank brothers are good pedals but as a first time spd'er you dont have the adjustment on the tension, but, you get used to that very quickly! i jumped in first time with cb's, had a few comedy spills but wouldnt look back, have moved onto time's now, and they are brilliant! would highly recommend, the lower models dont have the adjustment of the more expensive ones, but the engagement is solid and easy, a lot of peeps will recommend cb's and time's over shimano's if yo uhave any problems with knees as they both offer a greater amount of float over shimano's,

of the options though, i'd prolly go for the m520's as they're silly cheap, and if you get used to it them move on to time's!

rhialto

I also switched from Shimano XT SPDs to Time Atacs because of knee pain. Now that my knee is ok, I still wouldn't switch back. I prefer the engagement of the Times and they don't get clogged with muck unlike my Shimanos.

jayson

As above, ive used 520's for yrs now and ive had no probs with them. For £20 i usually get about 18 months to 2 yrs use from them before they get all graunchy then i bin them and buy another set.

diy

Worth getting multi release if you go the shimano route as the ones that come with the pedals are single release. It adds another 10-15 quid to the cost, but means you will eject the bike naturally during a fall, rather than laying on your back like an upside down beetle.

bike-a-swan

Another vote for m520s. Dirt cheap, last for ages and when they do get 'grindy' they aren't that hard to service (if you can find the tool to get them open- and do it over a tray!). Have them on three bikes, soon to be four. The only reason I'd change at the moment would be if I had money to burn on expensive spds...

warpcow

diy wrote:

Worth getting multi release if you go the shimano route as the ones that come with the pedals are single release. It adds another 10-15 quid to the cost, but means you will eject the bike naturally during a fall, rather than laying on your back like an upside down beetle.

Does this really happen to people, other than the first couple of weeks of occasioanlly forgetting to unclip when you stop? It's part of the comic learning process

Get the 520s. You'll soon know if you should've bought Time pedals, by which time you'll be used to the general idea anyway. I'd avoid Crank Brothers pedals, or at least wait for reliability reports on the, apparently drastically improved, 2011 ones.

Eyon

yes, Time's dont unclip too well with fairly worn out cleats, the amount of times I've been on my side in the snow for example with my feet still attached. I'd say with new cleats it would be easier to get out.

getonyourbike

Eyon wrote:

yes, Time's dont unclip too well with fairly worn out cleats, the amount of times I've been on my side in the snow for example with my feet still attached. I'd say with new cleats it would be easier to get out.

personally, if there was snow on the ground then i'd switch back to some flats

allthegearnoidea

getonyourbike wrote:

personally, if there was snow on the ground then i'd switch back to some flats

don't half sharpen up the unclip foot dabbing skills in the snow!! when you get used to them you can unclip and dab with out thinking about it, doesnt take any longer to do than if you were on flats imo!

getonyourbike

allthegearnoidea wrote:

getonyourbike wrote:

personally, if there was snow on the ground then i'd switch back to some flats

don't half sharpen up the unclip foot dabbing skills in the snow!! when you get used to them you can unclip and dab with out thinking about it, doesnt take any longer to do than if you were on flats imo!

ermmm... there really aren't any negative to clipless once you're used to them then. I might have to make going clipless my next upgrade then.

bike-a-swan

That's not entirely fair- they are still a bit slower, just small enough you won't notice it 98% of the time. Of course, just that once....

njee20

Crank Bros Smarties are horrendously unreliable, avoid at all costs. M250s are hard to beat IMO, they'll last forever, and the vast majority of people won't struggle with knee problems. Otherwise new Egg Beaters are good, bit more love/hate in use than Shimanos.

diy

warpcow wrote:

Does this really happen to people, other than the first couple of weeks of occasioanlly forgetting to unclip when you stop? It's part of the comic learning process

Single release are ok for XC, but yes I have toppled over a few times on enduro rides (when I use single release), I think its usually when the fatigue sets in.

aaronmroach

I have always ridden crank brothers, currently on mallets on my remedy and candy's for longer riding and have egg beaters on my road bike!!

If you are interested I have a spare pair of unused 2010 candy c's in cream ( http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=26638 ) in my shed going begging for £15 plus £3 postage thats all!! They came free with my remedy, but I already had some candy ti's and mallet 3's.

PM me if you want pics or are interested.

blablablacksheep

iv allways wondered whats the differance between using the Candy C and Candy X padels? Also same goes for egg beaters,

hard to see the main differance apart from C has a bigger surface platform than the others.

DCR00

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=54823

these are only £15, so even if you hate them, so what ?

I bought a pair two weeks ago and have done 40 miles in them this week and they are ace

TBF this is my first pair of SPD's, but you cant really go wrong at that price IMO

Also, Evans are doing Bontrager Race Mountain shoes for half price

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bon ... =bontrager mountain shoes

So shoes and pedals for £50

blablablacksheep

the reviews are quite different when it coems to those candy pedals, from this website reviews they said the Candy C pedals were too weak and wasnt a great review yet the more exspencive Candy X pedal (lol even though as you listed with link they actually cheaper) are a lot better 4/5

i probally going to get some spez expert shoes as they cheaper than the comp ones, and i heard that the velcro isnt that bad either so they look like a good deal with those Candy Xs, cant really go wrong, if they do get soem £20 quid 520s