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Shoes, cleats and pedals

OxfordredOxfordred Posts: 5
edited August 2016 in Road buying advice
Good morning all.

New to the forum, so hello.

I am looking at moving from CB hybrid to a Ribble Gran Fondo. Being my first road bike I was hoping for some advice on pedals etc as it can seem a little confusing to a lifetime user of flats.

Cheap, cheerful and comfortable if possible.

Many thanks.
David

Posts

  • singletonsingleton Posts: 2,180
    There are various options with pedals and cleats. Shimano SPD-SL, Look, speedplay to name a few.
    You need to get cleats that are compatible with your pedals - so I have SPD-SL pedals and cleats.
    The shoes also need to be compatible with the cleats - and again most road shoes will take 3 hold SPD-SL.

    The shoe fit is the most important thing. Probably worth going and trying some on at a local shop and then getting pedals / cleats after that. I went with Shimano as I had previously used SPD mountain bike shoes and they are very widely available and generally compaible with a lot - but lots of my friends use others.
  • imposter2.0imposter2.0 Posts: 11,738
    Best advice would be to just have a read through these forums and do a few key word searches - loads of info on here.
  • Jerry185Jerry185 Posts: 143
    Being a newbie, I've gone through this: first experience of 'clips' was to get the only shoes that would fit.

    Perfectly reasonable Specialized SPD's but only later, when someone remarked 'gosh, they're heavy,' it sparked a furious trawl of sites like this re shoe weight and effect of performance. Now with a pair of Bontrager carbon soled wonders

    Advice was though that if you find the right cleats (not hard) and find a shoe, for your budget and activity requirement, that fits (quite hard) then get it, regardless of the colour
  • alistairdalistaird Posts: 290
    Jerry185 wrote:
    ...regardless of the colour

    Sacrilege - non matching kit, how dare you.... :evil: :evil: :evil:
    Alistair


    Best Weather Bike - Time ZXRS
    Summer Road Bike - Pinarello FPX Dogma
    Winter Road Bike- Colnago E1
    Being Dismantled - Sintesi Blade
    Mountain Bike - Sold them all....
  • oscarbudgieoscarbudgie Posts: 850
    Exustar pedals (Look Keo or spd/sl compatible) are very good value compared to Look or Campag, very hard to tell the difference in either weight or functionality
    Cannondale Supersix / CAAD9 / Boardman 9.0 / Benotto 3000
  • arlowoodarlowood Posts: 2,538
    As a newbie I'd caution against spending a huge amount on shoes until you know you will be able to adapt OK to clipped-in riding.

    Great low cost option is the Wiggle DHB R1

    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/dhb-r10-road-cycling-shoe/

    Best thing too with Wiggle is you can order 2 or 3 pairs in different sizes to check the best fit - then return the ones that don't fit for a full refund

    For pedals I've used various incarnations of the Look Keo brand. Currently using the Look Keo Classic but for a cheaper option you could go for the Look Keo Easy

    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/look-keo-easy-pedals-2016/
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