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Beginner's advice on pedals & shoes?
Ok, so in a blatant show of my complete lack of road cycling knowledge, I'm after advice please on the subject of road bike pedals and shoes.
Having had my road bike for a couple of months now, I feel sufficiently confident on it to be thinking about upgrading from the toe clips that came with it.
However, I literally have no idea where to start...
I'm broadly aware that there are different types of pedal system out there, but quite how they differ (or put another way, which one is better), I don't know.
What are people's thoughts on this?
I don't spend hours on the bike or ride competitively, so I'm not looking for the lightest, stiffest, high-end stuff, just some serviceable kit to help me do some reasonable weekend mileage.
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
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Not only do I have wide feet put also fallen arches!! I've been suffering from numbness in my toes, but after fitting a Specialized footbed, the blue one, into my Shimano MT42 MTB shoes I've noticed an improvement in comfort.
I had been looking at these too (well, the RT82 version), as they seem to tick a lot of the boxes around the £100 mark. I guess given your glowing review of the predecessor, that's what your money would be on?
I have a reasonably local shop that stocks both the Bontager and Shimano shoes, so it looks to be a case of heading up there to try them both for size. They've also got the A520 pedals for the same £25 price as Wiggle, or the A600s for what appears to be a bargain at £49.
Further input is of course appreciated though!
I use Shimano RT82s (about £80) which look like road shoes from the top with a ratchet strap and all, but have a recessed SPD cleat space on the bottom. They're not too heavy, 650g. I've got carbon Look Quartz pedals that I got on eBay for a song and can't imagine needing anything more.
The pedals are about 110g each so v. light and the cleats about 20g so it adds up to a very light system. I can walk all I want (just getting down the dodgy front steps here would be a nightmare with SPD-SLs) and there's plenty of float and a good solid connection. Nobody on the road has commented on my shoes, ever, so I'm happy!
Yes, it's violating one of the Rules but hey.
I've ridden clipless for the last 20 years - look, spd, eggbeaters and spd-sl. I ride eggbeaters on my MTB and they are the easiest to get in and out of. I currently use SPD-SLs on my road bikes and I like the really positive engagement, but they are more tricky to get into, sometimes. I do wind them up to maximum spring pressure, which in combination with Sidi Ergo shoes gives a fantastic platform. I use SPDs at the gym and they are somewhere in the middle, (not that it matters how hard it is to get in on a spin bike). Having said that, I prefer the float that you get on SPD-SLs to those on normal SPDs.
If i was just starting out, I'd go with eggbeaters and some mid range shoes.
Don't restrict your thinking to just Shimano spd. I wasn't a fan when I tried them.
Other small platform mtb pedals to consider are Crank Bros Candy, Look Quartz and Time ATAC. All of these allow the lugs on an mtb shoe to take some of the strain off the cleat area and minimise the possibility of "hotspots". You'll see a lot of Crank Bros Candy and Time Atacs at Audax events (and virtually no "road" pedals) simply because they are very comfortable over long distances. They also all look a bit less "mountain" than others on the market and come in a range of specs and prices.
Any of these three will work equally well with cheap or expensive shoes, from flexible £50 Diadoras to "I can't believe I just paid that much for a pair of shoes" Carbon soled dancing slippers. Take it from Imelda. Imelda knows shoes.
The Candys are based on the eggbeater chassis, but give more stability due to the platform.
Another shout for the RT82s. Review if you haven't seen it already:
http://road.cc/content/review/90820-shimano-rt82-spd-shoe
I ride in them, my boyfriend rides in them. They're the most comfortable shoes I own (even off the bike), keep off the rain a bit, dry quick, and I think they look alright! Especially if you're not using them solely for clean summer rides. Never had any flex/hotspot issues when hammering the commute or riding all day. means I can swap between all my bikes and can actually walk around. I mainly use Shimano A520s and they give a nice little 'platform' much like road pedals.
Keos are nice but you won't believe how fast the cleats wear out if you do any walking whatsoever. Same with all delta style road cleats really.
Also, plenty of people swap between the systems, preferring the ability to walk safely and shed any dirt in the winter months.
Ergo - SPDs are a good place to start, as you an always relegate them to the winter hack if you ever feel the need to 'upgrade'.
That was pretty much my exact thinking. Start off on a fairly basic setup and then if the need ever arises, or I buy a better bike, I can perhaps then switch the SPDs out to a more dedicated road pedal and shoe.
The more I read about the Shimano RT82, the more they seem the way forward (not least the review on here). Comfort and walkability is what I'm after, not something super-stiff and light.
Just to update on this topic, if anyone is interested, I went in the end for a set of Shimano R550 SPD-SL pedals and a pair of Shimano R088 shoes.
Having visited another L(ish)BS to look at few options, these came away as my preference on a combination of factors, not least the surprising ease of walking in them.
I'd expected it to be a nightmare but it really was anything but, even on the polished floor of the shop, so I've got no concerns about mooching around the mid-ride cafe in them (I will of course update you as soon as I fall on my arse in them!).
I have to admit to having then ordered them from Chain Reaction at a little over £91, absolute bargain in my view. The LBS where I actually got my bike from were after more than £150...
Only managed a quick 15 mile ride in them so far, with no mishaps yet, albeit I am unclipping well in advance of any need to stop. They're set to the lowest tension so they're easy to get in and out of, although I seem to find it easier to twist my heel in rather than out to release them.
So far, so good.
Better hope your LBS doesn't read road.cc!
Seriously. Good luck with clipless. But if you go to try before you buy, then buy online...
Hmmm.
The way i did it, i just bought some cheap 2nd hand pedals and shoes on ebay, that was my "try before you buy" (or, before i commit too much cash), then i bought proper shoes online from Evans and CRC, with a clean conscience
This is exactly what I did - bought a cheap set on Ebay and then upgraded to carbon soles and whatnot once I was well up to speed (and had broken the plastic sole on the Ebay pair!)
It's alright, they wouldn't know me by this name anyway...
To put it in a bit of perspective, I was in the area of another reasonably local, much larger store, and so deliberately stopped by as I knew they carried a good stock of shoes. By comparison, my proper LBS only had older models in and nothing in my size, so they would have had to order stuff in just for me to try on. All a bit of a faff.
I didn't get a great deal of attention in the store I was in anyway, they were admittedly busy, but the guy just got the shoes from the back and basically left me to try them out by myself. Not a service particularly deserving of my money, even if it was only £100 or so. Was the same when I went looking at actual bikes, you'd basically need to put your money on the counter before they'd give you the time of day.
As for my proper LBS, he gets all of my maintenance/servicing work as I'm useless at that sort of thing, plus he's not exactly short of people dropping 6 grand on bikes in there, so I don't think he's too worried about me not buying a cheap set of pedals and shoes!
Besides, the £60 saved also treats the other half to a Valentine's meal tonight, which then smooths things over as far as my continued, and ever-more-expensive, obsession with cycling is concerned!
Ooh can I take this opportunity to express my love for the Look Keo Easy pedals? I personally really struggled with clip-in pedals for ages. I tried some different pairs and just could not get my feet out of them in time. However, and this is pretty personal to me, my ankles are hypermobile and I think that's why. I switched to SPDs and they were fine. Much easier.
After about a year one of my soles split (on a pair of dhb shoes which were otherwise, incredbily comfy and very good value, check them out for width - I'm not a skinny-soled person) and that was it. Couldn't find any SPD road shoes which were reasonably priced so bought some Look keo easy pedals and a pair of Specialized shoes in the sale (I've got small feet so tend to get decent prices). And luckily, they worked. Not easy to walk in (but neither were the others).
Do you need clip ins? Probably not, but I much prefer them especially in the wet when slipping off pedals more likely, that is uncomforatble and possibly dangerous. Toe clips I find extremely uncomfortable too. For mega sprinting the easy might not be so good because it's easier to clip out but for club rides and sportives they have done me fine. They are also reasonably priced and very light - mostly becuase they can't be adjusted. So if you think you need float and four way adjustment and all that, they are not for you. Good luck!
My personal opinion is that double sided MTB style PDs are a waste of money unless you MTB. Start with toe clips and then get the one-sided clipless. The Shimano 105s represent good value.
Toe clips get you used to rotating the pedal for the one-sided clipless. The MTB two-sided has far too much play and so quite a bit of the 'efficiencies' are negated. I have both (an MTB and road bike) and now hate my MTB pedals. Though wearing shoes for those clips is more convenient if you should have to walk anywhere....but why would you?!?
Look Keo Easy pedals were one of the recommendations from my LBS, so will definitely bear those in mind if I don't get on with the SPD-SLs.
My shoes seem to take pretty much any 2 or 3 bolt cleats, so it's only a case of £40 or so on the new pedals if I do want to change.
Nearly went for the 105 pedals, but just couldn't really see why they were worth the extra £30 or so over the R550s, other than to match the other kit on my bike...
Have to admit that rotating the toe-clip pedals round was a pain in the ass, whereas at least these clipless ones seem to be weighted so they always hang in the same place when you're not clipped in.
I'm so glad I came across this thread as I was going to ask exactly this question. As a result of the feedback and input above I have taken the plunge and ordered some RT82s and a pair of A530s as this would seem to give me a good balance of clips that are easier for a newbie to use, plus the convenience of pedals I can use with normal shoes when doing slow family rides / Centerparcs etc.
My questions is - do I need to get a professional to fit the pedals to the bike and/or the cleats to the shoes? I know pretty much nothing about bike maintenance, so unless it's utterly foolproof then advice would be great.
Thanks guys!
Fitting pedals requires nothing more than a spanner (note that the thread is in the opposite direction to the pedaling rotation), be sure to apply some grease to the threads before adding your new pedals.
There is loads of information out there about cleat fitting. You can either pay a professional or have a go yourself. I personally wasn't particularly impressed with my fitting at my LBS - they just don't have the time to set up anything other than the "average" person ideal position - which may or may not work for you.
There are lots of articles on the web about this topic (http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/articles/footloose/ is one of my favorites), personally I'd give it a go yourself to start with after doing some reading - see a professional if you start doing lots of distance and start experiencing pain.
Ah, always good to see an old thread resurrected.
As for the fitting, this is a simple job if you've got the right-sized spanner, I had a cheap adjustable one knocking about the toolbox with a head narrow enough to fit between the crank and the pedal itself so as to tighten the nut. They don't need loads of torque as they effectively self-tighten as you pedal, and watch the reverse threading too.
Cleat fitting is again a DIY job with an allen key, but a bit of trial and error with the outright positioning as to what then feels comfortable when riding the bike. I don't know exactly what the adjustability is like with SPD cleats, but experiment with moving them around over the course of a few rides. There may be other threads on here re cleat positioning which address it more, err, scientifically...
Good luck with getting used to them. You *will* fall off a few times whilst practising, in my experience it was simply due to not thinking to unclip when coming to a stop rather than not actually being able to release my foot from the pedal. After a few goes it really does become second nature.
They say everyone falls over three times when they make the move to clipless pedals. I must be special because I've done it four times so far, including once in a column of traffic at a junction and once in front of my wife and kids on a family joyride. But hey, perseverance is the mother of, you know, whatever...
Thanks for the help - I am reassured that I might be able to manage this!
I'm not sure I do have an appropriate spanner for the pedals - will have a rummage in the tool box this evening to see.
That link on cleat fitting will be really useful when the shoes arrive.
I was going to hold off longer until I clipped in, but I find the toe cages really fiddly, and I figure why struggle to get used to them then switch to clips and struggle to get used to them when I can just struggle to get used to clips straight away!
Plus - I have noticed that as well as the friendly nods I get from other road cyclists, these are also accompanied by a puzzled glance at my feet as I have been wearing Converse hi-tops...
As with many cycling related things, there is a bit of unnecessary bad press on the difficulty of some things, like clipless pedals. Really, given a bit of dedicated time somewhere like an empty carpark practicing (in, out, in , out, left , right, both, in, out, right , left... ad nauseam) for an hour or two its not that hard! It is tedious doing that but think of it as an investment in your cycling pleasure for the future. Once you have done a few hundred in and outs, you'll be sorted.
That's just because you're obviously a style icon
Actually, just bought myself some one-sided SPD pedals, so I can still wear the trendy daps when I want...
A normal 15mm open spanner should do the job. Main thing is how wide the head of the spanner is, as you don't have a lot of clearance between the pedal body and the crank arm to get in there and tighten it up.
If you don't, I'm pretty sure this month's Cycling Plus magazine has a "free" pedal spanner with it. Doubtless it won't be the most exquisitely-engineered tool you'll ever use, but it'll do the job and you've then got something to read when you're done.
Thats not strictly true;
1. A lot of systems use a allen key in the axle as opposed to flats (the 3 pairs of Looks I own follow this) for a spanner.
2. You can't just get any spanner, an adjustable is usually too wide, and some spanners themselves are too wide. A dedicated pedal spanner is best if your pedals have the flats on, slightly longer for leverage when removing.
You learn something new every day
All the pedals I've ever had (a few pairs of shimanos + various flats on the MTB/BMX) have used a spanner, I've not had Look pedals before.
I've never had a problem finding a spanner that fits when changing pedals, but I do happen to have about 40 of the things in my toolkit.
Just remembered I bought Cycling Plus magazine this month so I have that pedal spanner!
I have an update:
Last night I fitted the pedals to the bike, and the cleats to the shoes. Then I practiced.
I managed to fall over just getting the bike out of the garden as I had already clipped in one leg. Then I mounted properly and rode about a bit clipping both feet in and out - no problem. I was feeling pretty confident. I then decided to stop and practice going from a standstill. I clipped my right foot out then fell over to the left. Big graze on my left knee, and bruised hand and shoulder. Ouch.
Was more concerned about any damage to the bike / shoes, but they seem fine. Felt really stupid as I clearly hadn't thought it through.
What advice do you guys have about technique to help me develop a good unclipping routine? Do you usually unclip the same side all the time?
Fortunately I work for a wound dressing manufacturer so I have a very expensive and high quality dressing on my knee and it is healing nicely, but obviously if I can limit the amount of falls I would really like that.
Firstly relax and remember you can keep going forward with only one foot clipped in. Start in a very low gear and if you miss the clip in first time, keep turning with your engaged foot. Concentrate on just one side at first so you develop the memory of leaning and disengaging from the same side. Once you've got that down, learn to do the other side. Always clip out before you get to a stop. As you're a starter, clip out well ahead so you don't come to a halt and panic still attached to your bike. Clip out whilst still carrying momentum.
It will vwery quickly become second nature. Don't fear it!
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