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chokofingrz.
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January 29, 2014 at 2:20 pm #20597
parksey
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.
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omikin wrote:I’m not sure I
omikin wrote: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…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.
JeevesBath
omikin wrote:Plus – I have
omikin wrote: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…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…edster99
As with many cycling related
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.omikin
Thanks for the help – I am
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…
Him Up North
They say everyone falls over
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…😀
Ah, always good to see an old
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.
sergius
Fitting pedals requires
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.
I’m so glad I came across
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!
Nearly went for the 105
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… 8|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.
Look Keo Easy pedals were one
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.
Colin Peyresourde
My personal opinion is that
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?!?
charlie_elise
Ooh can I take this
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!
PJ McNally wrote:Better hope
PJ McNally wrote: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.
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! :))
mtm_01
This is exactly what I did –
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!)PJ McNally
parksey wrote:
Having visitedparksey wrote:
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 have to admit to having then ordered them from Chain Reaction…
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 🙂
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