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Moving from SPDs to Ultegra pedals

topcattimtopcattim Posts: 766
edited August 2007 in Road beginners
I've just upgraded my road bike from SPDs and mountain bike shoes to Shimano Ultegra pedals and Northwave Revenge shoes. Two reasons:
    1. I have had a bit of knee pain and wanted to see if a larger pedal platform would improve this 2. I wanted my road bike to have proper roadie pedals :wink:
I went out tonight on the new set up and the shoes certainly feel a bit stiffer, particularly when I am out of the saddle and pushing up hills. What I'm wondering is, are there any other particular differences I can expect to notice (and yes, I realise that a lot of this is psychological, but I'm just wondering what difference I will end up noticing for my £110)

Posts

  • Hotblack DesiatoHotblack Desiato Posts: 136
    You'll be much quicker up hills as your wallet is substantially lighter grinning-smiley-028.gif


    .
    My Bikes:

    Road
    Dirt
    Fast
  • Lucky LukeLucky Luke Posts: 402
    When I changed from SPDs to SPD-SLs I somehow felt more 'attached' to the bike if you know what I mean . Also my feet felt comfier after long rides but maybe it was just the shoes that were comfier rather than due to the actual pedal change .
    Luke
  • topcattimtopcattim Posts: 766
    Hotblack Desiato wrote:
    You'll be much quicker up hills as your wallet is substantially lighter grinning-smiley-028.gif


    .
    :D
    And I've also noticed a much better "fit" and ventilation from the new shoes as Luke suggest.
  • pneumaticpneumatic Posts: 1,989
    You'll find it easier to develop the habit of "rotating" the cranks, rather than just pushing them down with each foot in turn. The first stage is that you pull the cranks up more and, after that, you find yourself pulling them around the bottom and top of their arc as well. This seems to develop that bit on the back of the calf that makes wizened old-timers look like they have been carved out of a knobbly tree.

    It takes time and you needn't really bother consciously trying to do it; it just seems to happen with good road pedals and shoes, like you have.

    Now, when I ride a bike with spd's or, even worse, just plain flat pedals, it seems so much more like inefficient hard work.

    Fast and Bulbous
    Peregrinations
    Eddingtons: 80 (Metric); 60 (Imperial)
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