Why single sided road pedals?

SimonAH

Just asking if there is a monster performance gulf from dual sided spds or equivalent? Surely the weight difference is not much more than emptying the receipts out of your wallet and the single sided aspect is just more faff?

spasypaddy

speedplays.

rjsterry

Bigger foot-pedal contact area is the argument, although if your sole is stiff enough, it shouldn't make too much difference, as far as I can see.

bigmat

SimonAH wrote:

Just asking if there is a monster performance gulf from dual sided spds or equivalent? Surely the weight difference is not much more than emptying the receipts out of your wallet and the single sided aspect is just more faff?

I don't think there is a big difference provided you have stiff shoes and the tension is quite high. Main reason for single sided pedals on road bikes is that SPDs just don't look right - its vanity mainly!

TommyEss

Some people do find they develop hot spots over longer rides with SPDs over more traditional road pedals (look, SPD-SL etc) - for commuting though, I'd got SPD all the way - your journey's are shorter, you're right, single sided is a bit more of a faff to get into, which isn't a problem on your 4 hour Sunday ride in the countryside, but is a right pain in the behind in stop-start traffic. And then there's the walk from the bike rack to the office to contend with.

If you're thinking of switching to single-sided for commuting, I'd say don't bother.

rolf_f

spasypaddy wrote:

speedplays.

Shimano M520s and a big wodge of cash!

spasypaddy

Rolf F wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

speedplays.

Shimano M520s and a big wodge of cash!

knees that dont hurt >>>> knees that do hurt

prawny

I get my mate who isn't as poor as me to buy things I like the look of and report back on their performance. He started with touring SPDs (A320?) and changed to Looks when he bought a new bike. He reckons there's not a huge amount of difference so I'm not rushing to change. Although i did take the old touring pedals off his hands which are a bit more supportive than the M520 but not much.

I'm going to change to road pedals when I need to change my shoes, which won't be for a little while.

meanredspider

I sense that the outside of your foot is better supported with road pedals - the contact width is quite narrow on SPDs. SPDs are great for commuting though. I do plan to ride on road pedals when I do Malin to Mizen.

rolf_f

spasypaddy wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

speedplays.

Shimano M520s and a big wodge of cash!

knees that dont hurt >>>> knees that do hurt

That might be a spasypaddy thing rather than a general thing. TBH, I use both Look pedals and SPDs and I can't say I detect much difference - I suspect the rigidity of the shoe is as important as the size of the platform - and Speedplays have a similar sized platform to SPDs as far as I can see.

notsoblue

SimonAH wrote:

Just asking if there is a monster performance gulf from dual sided spds or equivalent? Surely the weight difference is not much more than emptying the receipts out of your wallet and the single sided aspect is just more faff?

Its a more stable connection to the bike. As RJS said, a larger platform, so when you're out of the saddle it feels more responsive, and you're less likely to get hotspots (In my case I still get them, though not as bad as with my SPDs. I'm open to the suggestion that this is just the placebo affect!). Also, you can get cleats with zero float which makes for a more fixed position for your feet. Personally I find makes for a comfortable spin.

The tradeoff for using road pedals for the commute though is that you wear your cleats out pretty quickly unless you're an ace trackstander. I need to replace my right cleat every 2-3 months as its the foot I set down with when stopped. I use Mavic road pedals/cleats.

UndercoverElephant

Much better connection to the pedals, several times when sprinting on SPDs I pulled up and the pedal released my foot making for a less-than-enjoyable top-tube-meets-crotch moment, never happens on road pedals unless they're really worn, which is about once every three months for me. They do cradle the foot better too, but like others have said, if your shoes are stiff enough you may not notice the difference.

EKE_38BPM

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Much better connection to the pedals, several times when sprinting on SPDs I pulled up and the pedal released my foot making for a less-than-enjoyable top-tube-meets-crotch moment, never happens on road pedals unless they're really worn, which is about once every three months for me. They do cradle the foot better too, but like others have said, if your shoes are stiff enough you may not notice the difference.

Have you got your SPDs tightened up enough? I had this problem and a few turns with an Allen key sorted it out.
I'm comfortable with both but one day I may try my SPD-SLs on my fixie to compare. Now that my trackstanding skillz are there I wouldn't wear my cleats out on anything other than the walk to and from the bike.

spasypaddy

Rolf F wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

speedplays.

Shimano M520s and a big wodge of cash!

knees that dont hurt >>>> knees that do hurt

That might be a spasypaddy thing rather than a general thing. TBH, I use both Look pedals and SPDs and I can't say I detect much difference - I suspect the rigidity of the shoe is as important as the size of the platform - and Speedplays have a similar sized platform to SPDs as far as I can see.

a list of the pedals ive used:
spd
spd-sl
egg beaters
look deltas
look keos
speedplay zeros

I use speedplays on my two road bikes and SPDs on my CX (My fixie is currently in pieces so has no pedals and i havent decided which way to go on that one yet).

My knees suffer on the SPDs, i dont feel as connected to the bike, i can pull my feet out of the pedals even with brand new cleats. I have the same winter boots for my CX as i do my road bike so they have the same base plate just different cleat holes. If i thought i could get away with it i'd have speedplays on my CX...

Koncordski

Because I'm not putting evil MTB pedals on my lovely road bike, might as well buy a hybr*d if you're going to ruin her looks like that.

iPete

Shimano XT M780 SPDs = winner, bigger surface area and all the benefits of SPD but use whatever your comfiest with.

I think buying the stiffest shoes you can afford is far more important. No point in SPD-sls if your shoes are like flip flops.

UndercoverElephant

EKE_38BPM wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Much better connection to the pedals, several times when sprinting on SPDs I pulled up and the pedal released my foot making for a less-than-enjoyable top-tube-meets-crotch moment, never happens on road pedals unless they're really worn, which is about once every three months for me. They do cradle the foot better too, but like others have said, if your shoes are stiff enough you may not notice the difference.

Have you got your SPDs tightened up enough? I had this problem and a few turns with an Allen key sorted it out.
I'm comfortable with both but one day I may try my SPD-SLs on my fixie to compare. Now that my trackstanding skillz are there I wouldn't wear my cleats out on anything other than the walk to and from the bike.

I did tighten them to the point where they were hard to get out of, but it still happened on occasions. It's happened once on my mountain bike, with Time pedals, rather than Shimano, and they aren't adjustable at all. Never happens with road pedals.

SimonAH

UE, almost certainly a stupid question, but you do know that there are two subtly different SPD cleats? Ones that only.release on twist and ones designed to 'panic yank' release? I just wonder if you have the latter?

rjsterry

UndercoverElephant wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Much better connection to the pedals, several times when sprinting on SPDs I pulled up and the pedal released my foot making for a less-than-enjoyable top-tube-meets-crotch moment, never happens on road pedals unless they're really worn, which is about once every three months for me. They do cradle the foot better too, but like others have said, if your shoes are stiff enough you may not notice the difference.

Have you got your SPDs tightened up enough? I had this problem and a few turns with an Allen key sorted it out.
I'm comfortable with both but one day I may try my SPD-SLs on my fixie to compare. Now that my trackstanding skillz are there I wouldn't wear my cleats out on anything other than the walk to and from the bike.

I did tighten them to the point where they were hard to get out of, but it still happened on occasions. It's happened once on my mountain bike, with Time pedals, rather than Shimano, and they aren't adjustable at all. Never happens with road pedals.

I've unintentionally pulled my foot out of SPDs on a few occasions, and it has always been when the cleats have been worn, and when pulling hard on the upstroke, with my heel being slightly too far out. When this has happened, the worst I've done is bang my thigh on the bars and wobble a bit - how have you managed to collide with the top tube?With non-worn cleats and feet kept in line it's never happened. As road cleats wear so quickly under commuting use, I'd suggest that unscheduled unclips are just as likely overall with SPD-SL.

UndercoverElephant

SimonAH wrote:

UE, almost certainly a stupid question, but you do know that there are two subtly different SPD cleats? Ones that only.release on twist and ones designed to 'panic yank' release? I just wonder if you have the latter?

Believe me, there's nothing I like more than a "panic yank" on occasions, but I think I have the standard SPD cleats.

rjsterry wrote:

I've unintentionally pulled my foot out of SPDs on a few occasions, and it has always been when the cleats have been worn, and when pulling hard on the upstroke, with my heel being slightly too far out. When this has happened, the worst I've done is bang my thigh on the bars and wobble a bit - how have you managed to collide with the top tube?With non-worn cleats and feet kept in line it's never happened. As road cleats wear so quickly under commuting use, I'd suggest that unscheduled unclips are just as likely overall with SPD-SL.

Out of the saddle, sprinting, not so well positioned CoG, believe me it's remarkably possible - and I've done it even with new cleats. I would agree that worn road cleats are just as bad, but well, they're worn, aren't they?

gtvlusso

On normal dual sided SPD pedals I have been able to pull out of the pedal whilst sprinting.

In SPD-SL single sided and Look Delta single sided - I have never been able to pull out of the pedal sprinting.

So, in my experience, SPD-Sl and Look single sided have a better contact and grip on the shoe uner pressure.

tgotb

I've pulled out of Look Delta pedals twice in the same weekend on two different tracks bike hired at Newport. Conversely, I've road raced on SPDs with no major issue (though I prefer the more solid feel of a road cleat).

For this season I'm experimenting with Speedplay. So far very impressed; much more solid connection than Look, adjustable float, and because the cleat bases are metal it looks like the cleats will probably last much longer too. Easy to clip in too (as easy as SPD) which is a nice bonus.

jonny_trousers

Probably more to do with my road shoes than the pedals, but I really do feel like I can get a better power transfer when in the SPD SLs than the M520s. The M520s are the best option for commuting in my mind, however.

I have one bike, two pairs of pedals and two pairs of shoes. It's a mild PITA regularly swapping pedals, but no biggy.