Clipless road pedals - advice needed

ScottyXTUK

Hi

I have got back into cycling in the last few years after many years away. I bought a Bianchi road bike about 3 years ago and it came without pedals. I took advice from a friend of mine who regularly commutes to work and he advised me to buy Shimano mountain bike pedals, namely these

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/shi ... s-ec050919

I thought it a little strange why I would need MTB pedals on a road bike but he said that if I wore road shoes I would find it difficult to walk in them and if I needed to stop suddenly it would be harder if I needed to put my foot down and stop wearing Road shoes.

Anyhow I bought them and some Shimano shoes and have been using them ever since. Recently I bought a Cube Agree GTC SL and needed pedals so automatically I again bought the same pedals. I now see also that they are a bit heavier than other pedals so was wondering if I should now swap the pedals for good lightweight road ones?

Any thoughts?

GGBiker

Get a set of shimano spd sl pedals, the basic pd-r540 are perfect and come with cleats, perfectly functional pedals and look fine too. Can be had for about £20, just need to check that they fit your shoes or you may need new shoes as well.

paul_mck

Id say go at least 105 on SPD-SLs.

personally I tried them (the cheap ones first, then 105) and went to Time iClic instead. Like them a lot better.

herb71

Before choosing pedals, consider first what shoes you want to wear. IMHO, unless absolute performance is paramount SPD pedals are best for most people who use their bike for leisure / fitness / commuting.

They don't need to be excessively heavy. You will be able to walk normally off the bike and won't risk a hernia when you slip on a tiled floor at the cafe stop. You can also use your current shoes assuming there is nothing wrong with them.

http://www.wiggle.com/shimano-pd-a520-touring-pedals/

ScottyXTUK

Hmmm...don't know what to do. So you think it's ok to have MTB pedals on a road bike?

I have a carbon bike now and I have noticed the pedals I have are quite heavy at 420g (is that per pedal or for both - anyone)?

I have seen these:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=54878

Would I be able to use the same shoes with these?

Also was looking at these but then I'd need new shoes as well as these are road pedals:
http://www.cyclesportsuk.co.uk/product_ ... s_id=12928{13709}67#scroll_to_here

Really don't know what to do, does the weight saved on pedals actually make any difference or do more expensive ones perform better?

herb71

It's your bike, you can have whatever pedals you want.

That said, there are lighter, more elegant pedals than the ones you have, even if you stick with SPD. If you get on ok with ' clipless' and don't need the platform on your current pedals then I would take a look at the 'touring' pedals I linked above.

northpole

The key drivers to my mind are - how many miles are you clocking up on a typical ride; how much walking in your cycle shoes will you be doing during your ride; how important to you is the look?

For longer rides, I think you would find road shoe and pedal combination better than spd's. The difference isn't as much now as it used to be due to improvements in shoe construction, but I still think the road pedals give a better platform. If you tend to take in a bit of sight seeing whilst cycling eg stopping to walk around an attraction, road shoes are pretty much useless - they are only made for cycling and will quickly get damaged on rough surfaces - not to mention what happens to you when you fall over! Not to be understated, but road shoes/ pedals definitely look better than spd's - esp on a nice carbon racing bike!

Walking is the only thing that would really deter me from road pedals. For my daily commute in central London I have no problem at all with road shoes. My preference for overall practicality would be for Shimano - their cleats are more robust than Look; and I'd recommend Ultegra or Dura-ace versions, depending on what deal you can find and how much you are willing to spend.

Those are my thoughts, but as the last poster commented, each to their own!

Peter

gozzy

If I'm remembering rightly, Graeme Obree swears by spd as the only system you'll ever need.

But then, that's just another opinion.

Personally I've not yet tried spd-sl, but considering a) I can walk in them, and b) I've been perfectly happy on spd over rides of 1-100miles, there's nothing to tempt me to spend £100+ on a new system.

ScottyXTUK

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm mainly using the bike for commuting to work (about 10 miles a day) and I have to walk in the shoes from where I lock my bike and down into the office, it's a fair old trek. I generally go for rides of between 10 and 50 miles at the weekend so I'm no pro or anything just a leisure rider.

I'm liking the look of Shimano XTR PD-M980 SPD Clipless Race Pedals



I'm pretty sure my current shoes will fit these and they quite a bit lighter than my current SPDs.

t4tomo

yes your current shoes will fit those above. If just lighter weight us all you need then they are a good choice. If you are doing reasonable distance the a520s herb suggests above are a good shout - they give you the bigger platform of a road pedal but you can still use MTB shoes with recessed cleats (i.e what you currently have) so you can actually walk around in your shoes.

I wouldn't recommend SPD -sl or other "road" cleat systems for commuting if you need to walk a bit as well.

chromedome

I'm having the same thought myself & leaning towards SPD as i have used them before.
My only question is,what is a good pair of shoes? I've seen the DHB,but don't really want a massive aggressive sole...any ideas


(sorry for the hijack)

t4tomo

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=92224&_$ja=tsid:46412%7Ccgn:Shoes+Road%7Ccn:Chain+Reaction-UK-PLA-PLA-Eng-DT-SE%7Ckw:355770UK_X-Road+Shoes&gclid=CMHbv5yhxrcCFTMQtAodhWwAZQ
Quite a good road looking SPD compromise at a reasonable price

Or just google touring shoes:

http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/clothing/shoes/f/touring/male#!

chromedome

Thanks for that,Touring look like the style to go for

ctc

I just got rid of my A520s and M077 shoes off the commuter for some Time RXS pedals and a pair of lake shoes
On the best bike swapped the R077s and 105 SPD-SLs for Time RXS as well

I prefer the float of the Times over the SPD and SPD-SLs. They weigh less as well, but that wasn't too much of selling point for me

However, on the commuter I only walk from the bike sheds into the office. The RXS cleats seem pretty sturdy - in fact that was why I got them rather than the Xpresso pedals - but they are not recessed like the SPDs

markhewitt1978

ScottyXTUK wrote:

Hmmm...don't know what to do. So you think it's ok to have MTB pedals on a road bike?

They are just pedals, don't get hung up on definitions, you should use whatever works best for you and your personal situation.

mikeabanks

Pair these

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-pd-a520-touring-pedals/
with these
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/?s=shimano+rt82

trek_dan

I've just had this dilema, built a new carbon road bike and felt I probably 'should' switch to proper road pedals, but couldnt justify it by the time I've bought a decent pair of pedals and another pair of carbon soled shoes it would have been at least £250, and I get on just fine with SPD. So as my new bike won't be used for commuting I went for A600 single sided touring pedals as they look a bit more roadie and are pretty light (only few grams heavier than Dura-Ace SL pedals) they seem good, but if your used to double sided MTB style pedals you can't just clip in without thinking about it as they don't always end up the right way up. And for the record I have tried SPD-SL and I couldn't tell the difference in performance so I wouldnt worry about that aspect.

team47b

mikeabanks wrote:

Pair these

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-pd-a520-touring-pedals/
with these
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/?s=shimano+rt82

I have the Shimano rt82 'touring' shoes, look like road shoes, rigid sole, small recess for spd cleats, comfy, buy one size up.

GGBiker

Is it ok to wear sandals with my tuxedo? It's just that's what I'm used to and they are so comfy.

I also like to keep bits of my breakfast in my beard in case I bonk during my leisurely ride.