advice on picking pedals (1 Viewer)

[concretejungle]

I'm getting back into riding after a long hiatus from mountain biking back in my college days. I just picked up a new Trek road bike and while i'm waiting for it to come in i need to get some pedals and shoes.

Here is where i'm leaning and what my logic is so i'd like to hear your input.

The bike shop is trying to sell me some speedplay pedals. He likes them because they are light and have about 20 degrees of float for your knees. Here is what i don't like... i have to wear a flat bottom shoe for the clips to work. We end up riding a nice loop and finishing at a local brewery where there are food trucks. It's about 1 mile to the house from there, downhill and so it's just a very nice finish to the day. My GF has these pedals and she has to take her shoes off because the clip on the bottom of the shoe sticks out so far that they are just near impossible to walk around on. That is why i'm kind of leaning towards a show that has a recess for the clip. But, i'm told these pedals won't work with a recessed shoe.

I'm also thinking that in the next year or two i'll want a mountain bike. I would prefer to have one shoe that i can clip into both bikes.

So there you have it... i'm kind of leaning towards a mountain bike shoe with a recess for the clip and am looking for a good pedal i can put on two bikes that will serve the purpose but yet not have some ridiculously large mountain bike pedal on my road bike. It would also be preferable to clip in on either side of the pedal.

Any suggestions?

 

[Angelo1]

Speed Plays are the best pedals I've owned. They alow your knee better movement to decrease stress on them. Also, easy to unclip from. I have raced MTB and road cycling with them

 

[concretejungle]

Thanks for the response.

So you run them on your MTB too?

What about the comment from the bike shop that they will only work on flat shoes? I don't see that as a good MTB shoe unless you never come off the bike.

 

[gandrimp]

SPD with mt bike shoes. Have them on my 3 bikes. Same shoe

 

[Whitfimb]

SPD's on EVERYTHING! "M" Multi release cleat for MTB, the other cleats for road.

 

[concretejungle]

https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-PD-M...F8&qid=1469718175&sr=8-3&keywords=shimano+spd

You talking about these?

 

[gandrimp]

Yes

 

[concretejungle]

ok cool. I just ordered one step up from the one's above..

 

[gandrimp]

I think you will be satisfied with that. I have 2 pair of the style you linked to and I have 1 set of the xt M8000. For my taste the M8000 are to stiff for Mt. Biking. With the 520's I have actually pulled out just in time to avoid a faceplant and somehow landed on my feet, yeah that day I was a "superstar". It would have been a painfully different story with the M8000.
There are lots of shoe choice, I have only purchased the shimano brand of shoe. Been happy with them but have nothing else to compare to.

 

[KliersLC]

Agree with above. I prefer Look pedals for my road bike as I don't spend the money for the really high dollar shoes and the Look cleat spreads the force out on my foot--SPDs tend to irritate my feet on longer rides. That said, I run SPDs on my mountain bike and my road commuter and the utility of having a shoe that you can walk in is well worth the slight irritation on a longer ride. Bottom line--while I prefer the Look pedals, it isn't enough difference for me to swap pedals if I feel like taking a longer ride on my SPD equipped bike.

 

[concretejungle]

So far i've ridden once with these pedals and i'm happy. Easy in and easy out.

 

[Tigerstripe40]

Speedplay pedals move the weight from the pedal to the shoe. I don't think that the overall system is any lighter than SPD once you've put the cleats on the scale as well. Then there is the HUGE cleat on the shoes making them nearly useless for walking in.

I have Shimano XT pedals on my trail bike. They are low-ish profile, and can clip in from either side. I tried the multi-release cleat and hated them (worse part of a platform coupled with the worse parts of a clipless), so I use the single release cleats.

I've also been running DMR V8 and V12 platform pedals on my DH and FR bikes. That way I can run a regular shoe.

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

Time Atac's is what I've been using for years. I have them on my commuter, road and mountain bikes.

They're bomb proof, have some float and completely rebuild-able/serviceable. And I find they don't get as gummed up with trail-grit as the SPD's.

 

[gregnash]

Yeah the problem with road bike clips is they stick so far out that ultimately you walk around with your toes in the air. I have fun Shimano SPD clips for years (both the M520 XC type and the Trail/SLX M540) and they have been great. Love the adjustability of the tension so you can unclip quickly if needed. However, they are not idiot proof, I am an example of that as I sit with my leg up on my desk because I recently crashed on my mtb and my foot didn't unclip, caught my heel on the trail and ripped the foot under me. This completely destroyed the ligaments in my ankle and caused a dual fibular fracture. Now I am out for the rest of the season! Not saying that clipsless is bad or anything , just be careful.

 

[gregnash]

@concretejungle did you ever end up getting clips? If you do one of the "right of passage" of a new clipless rider is the stupid falls. You will experience these, mostly while moving very slowly, probably in traffic or where there is lots of people to view what has just transpired.

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

@concretejungle did you ever end up getting clips? If you do one of the "right of passage" of a new clipless rider is the stupid falls. You will experience these, mostly while moving very slowly, probably in traffic or where there is lots of people to view what has just transpired.

I did it in front of a city bus, down town, next to the college campus, in traffic...

 

[gregnash]

I did it in front of a city bus, down town, next to the college campus, in traffic...

My most humiliating was on the trail, by myself. Had just pushed off to start riding again after taking a breather and both feet IMMEDIATELY clipped in, lost momentum and fell to the side I was trying to unclip. Somehow my foot was still clipped in with my upper thigh pinned between the nose of my saddle and the top tube. Since I was laying on that side I could not move my ankle enough to unclip, so I just laid there floundering like a fish out of water for a good 3 minutes while I figured out how to unclip that foot and get out.

 

[concretejungle]

I did end up getting the Shimano SPD pedals.

I used to ride when i was younger and had clips then... but that seriously was like 20 years ago. So, I did ride a few laps in the circle of the neighborhood before i got out on the road. I feel pretty confident in them now.

 

[MANUCHAO]

Time Atac's is what I've been using for years.

Same here....
Great for mtb, road, & commute....

 

[Corbet]

Old thread but I'll throw in my $.02 as I've ridden most pedals over the years.

I'm definitely a Speedplay man. I had an ACL reconstruction in high school. My knee definitely prefers the float of the speedplay pedal. That is really it's advantage. I road on Durace road pedals prior to that.

On my MTB I started in the original Speedplay Magnums and then moved to he frogs when they came out. I still prefer those. I've ridden most other MTB pedals but never owned anything else until recently.

I just installed some Time ATAC MX pedals on my BMX bike today. They were really affordable. And offer me a platform in case I need it. The Frogs were death traps on ont BMX track. I've seen some ride Look style road pedals in BMX. I would assume for the size of the platform.

I've never been a fan of SPD style pedals. I always found the Speedplay to work better in mud. And of course the knee issues. On the MTB side they are really light even with the cleat factored in. As mentioned above he road cleat is much larger. But so are many other road cleats.

As far as beginner and or recreational riders it's probably better to simply put MTB pedals on all bikes. The MTB shoes are much easier to walk in. If you race on the road (I did back in he day) then actual road pedals have some benefits. Weight, Corning angle, and sometimes a larger platform for support on longer rides.