Beginner Pedals & Shoes Help

MattP75

Firstly, apologies if this topic is covered elsewhere....

I've been commuting for about 6 months on my Scott Sportster 55, and really enjoying it.
I feel it's now time to look at moving away from using the standard platform pedals that came with my bike, and and have a go at being attached to my bike!

I'm looking for some help and advice on choosing the right type of pedals and shoes for someone who's never used SPD's or similar.

Can any one make any recommendations?, preferably not too expensive....

Cheers

Matt

cookdn

For first shoes and pedals I can recommend the following (I have a pair of both):

Shimano MT42 MTB SPD Shoes - £35.99

Shimano M520 Clipless SPD Pedals - £18.99

Bear in mind that Shimano shoes are sized small and you generally need to go up a size. I normally take a size 43 shoe but a Shimano size 44 is comfortable. The cleats are supplied with the pedals not the shoes.

If you are commuting any distance over the winter you may want a pair of overshoes to stop your shoes and feet getting soaked. These BBB Water Flex Overshoes seem to be popular but I have no experience of them myself.

Best regards
David

MattP75

Thanks for the info David, very useful.
I've had a quick look for the shoes on a few sites, i've not found any sites carrying stock of any in size 45 yet.
I'm wondering if a newer version of the shoe has been brought out that supercedes the Shimano MT42 MTB SPD
I'll keep looking....

Thanks

Matt

cookdn

MattP75 wrote:

I've had a quick look for the shoes on a few sites, i've not found any sites carrying stock of any in size 45 yet. I'm wondering if a newer version of the shoe has been brought out that supercedes the Shimano MT42 MTB SPD I'll keep looking....

Thanks

Matt

Apologies about that, I hadn't noticed that all the common sizes of the MT42 on CRC were discontinued. It looks like the MT42 has been superseded by the MT43.

The High on Bikes eBay shop have your size of the MT43 shoes at £52.95 with free shipping. I am 95% sure this where my shoes came and I'm sure the shipping was next-day. They also have M520 pedals at £19.95. You will find those pedals cheaper elsewhere on eBay but be careful, the sellers have usually split-out the cleats to sell separately.

Best regards
David

rolf_f

Best buy shoes locally rather than going online even to the very excellent High on Bikes. For example, Shimano shoes are notably narrow. If your feet are narrow then they'll be fine but they are hopeless for me. Northwave (and Specialized I believe) are normally much wider. 'Going a size up' really isn't a reliable formula.

Mind you, for commuting I use Aldi shoes. £20 and they last for thousands of miles and still look as mildly crap as they did when I bought them. Excellent value!

fill_uk

I have just bought a pair of mt43 shoes for £59.99 in decathlon, they are comfy and sturdy, they do look like they will let a lot of water in so i expect to be using my overshoes a lot over the winter months. I wanted to try them on first as i'd been told that shimano shoes are tight i tend to always wear a size up as i have a wide size 7 foot and find 8s more comfy most of the time. So far so good though they are comfy

Pedal wise i bought these http://www.evanscycles.com/products/shimano/m324-spd-pedals-ec005285 as i wanted spd on one side and flat on the other as i cycle with my kids on a child seat at weekends and was worried about having them on and being clipped in at the same time incase i fell off. This is a pain sometimes as i dont always get the clip in side up when i set off. if i had a bike just for commuting then id go for a double sided spd pedal.
Hope this helps.

cookdn

fill_uk wrote:

I have just bought a pair of mt43 shoes for £59.99 in decathlon, they are comfy and sturdy, they do look like they will let a lot of water in so i expect to be using my overshoes a lot over the winter months.

Yep, the MT42s are the same having pretty open mesh structure. Great for spin classes at the gym, not a problem on the road until it starts getting wet.

fill_uk wrote:

Pedal wise i bought these http://www.evanscycles.com/products/shimano/m324-spd-pedals-ec005285 as i wanted spd on one side and flat on the other as i cycle with my kids on a child seat at weekends and was worried about having them on and being clipped in at the same time incase i fell off. This is a pain sometimes as i dont always get the clip in side up when i set off. if i had a bike just for commuting then id go for a double sided spd pedal.

+1. Single-sided SPD pedals are a pain-in-the-butt for urban commuting. I'd avoid the road orientated Shimano A520s for the same reason. Nothing worse than trying to accelerate away from traffic lights and not being able to clip-in reliably. Seem like a good idea until you start using them. Ok if you have a specific use-case in mind, otherwise don't bother. I have a pair in my box of spare bike bits. Keep trying to encourage my wife onto SPDs (she already has cycling shoes) but would buy her a pair of double-sided pedals rather than risk her being put off by the single-sided ones.

Best regards
David

Kieran_Burns

I had the m324 pedals and they're great. When they wore out I went for the A530s as an alternate double sided SPD pedal.

The A530 is easier to clip into than the m324 as the weight of the pedal rotates the clipped side properly for a rapid clip in. Plus you have the flat side for when you're stuck in traffic and not confident of unclipping in time.

I can't fault them

inkz

I got my first SPDs about 3 months ago and can't imagine going back now!

I bought Shimano M530 from Planet X.

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/PESHM530/sh ... spd_pedals

I then bought Specialized BG Sport shoes to go with them from Primera Sports.

http://www.primera-sports.com/products/ ... -8418.aspx

I used Primera Sports because they are local to me and I tried different ones on and ended up going for size 11.5 where normally I'm a 10. I bought MTB shoes because I can walk in them. Road Shoes would just be a nightmare for commuting because the cleats aren't recessed and just stick out the bottom of the shoe.

Shimano M520 pedals would be a great starting point and can be bought for under £20! Then just go to your lbs and try some shoes on!

walkingbootweather

Since you need size 45 how about these Shimano M160 MTB reduced from £110 to £55. If you speak nicely to Bike + they may discount some suitable pedals if you buy them at the same time.

cookdn

InkZ wrote:

I bought Shimano M530 from Planet X.

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/PESHM530/sh ... spd_pedals

Both On-One and Chain Reaction seem to a good discount on M530 pedals. At that price I think I'll order a pair, have a swap about to replace some older pedals on my MTB with these ending up on my CX.

Best regards
David

MattP75

Thanks for all of the comments, plenty to think about so far.
I'm thinking double-sided pedals are the way to go - commuting is the sole reason for cycling thus far, however I do get out in the evenings and weekends every now and then.
It seems that trying on some shoes is going to be best, given the sizing differences between manufacturers. Just need to find a good lbs that stocks cycling shoes now then...

Thanks again

pastryboy

Have a look at touring rather than MTB shoes. They're lighter and less bulky but you can still walk fine in them. I have Shimano RT32 which feel much better than the MTB shoes they replaced.

MattP75

So thought I'd post an update, as I've now purchased both shoes and pedals.
After much deliberation and bargain hunting, I finally got kitted out with both shoes and pedals, for just £45:

Shimano SPD M324
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=5937

Aldi Cycling Shoes
http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_26720.htm

So far so good, the pedals are easier to use than I thought they would be and provide a much better riding experience, The shoes are very good quality for the price.
Overall I'm very happy, and glad I made the transition to spd pedals, and wish I'd done it sooner.

Cheers for all of the advice.

Matt

Big_Paul

I went SPD a few weeks ago and now my MTB, CX and Fixie all have them, got the shoes off CRC for something like £23 because of my comedy clown feet, I'm normally size 11 but I got a couple of sizes bigger as my feet are wide, the CX and fixie are on 520s the MTB on 530s. To be honest the 530's are harder to clip/unclip then the 520s for some reason.

The most important thing is the cleat position, took me a bit of faffing to get it right but now when I ride one of my non SPD bikes, it just feels wrong!

Do it, you won't regret it.

duckehhh

This week I got m520 pedals and m064 shoes in size 45 from CRC. I initially bought size 44, but they were too small, and bought the m530 pedals. but they were too big for my liking. returned both via the free collect +.

love my new shoes and pedals so far. fell over once when i was first testing them. didnt forget to click out. just couldn't do it with my right foot, from various breaks, sprains and strains during my youth. luckily my right leg is my start off leg, so I don't unclip that one when commuting to work.

JamesB5446

How far is your commute and on what kind of roads.

If it's not very far and mainly in town with traffic I'd say stick to your standard pedals. Clipping and unclipping is a pain in the arse in stop start traffic.

michaelappleton

Some good beginner pedals linked by cookdn, search google and there is plenty of information.

As JamesB has also said, you need to take into consideration your length of your commute and type of roads also.