Beginner’s advice on pedals & shoes?

What type of riding do you
What type of riding do you do? If you mainly do training rides with only the occasional stop (ie- intersections or stopping to get your kit sorted) then a non-recessed cleat like Look might be just fine (a lot of people find them comfortable). If you’re mainly doing commuting or rides where you get off and on your bike (cafe rides, having to do the dreaded gravel skip…) you’ll probably be happier with a recessed cleat system (like SPDs) where you won’t damage the cleat with walking on them. Also, if you’re riding on mucky roads with debris where you have to unclip at stops (Portland roads are horrible, they only clean the streets twice a year so there’s mud, decomposing leaves, …) which can get stuck in your cleats when you clip in making it hard to unclip with some exposed cleat systems cuz the muck gets jammed in there when you clip in. Not an issue with recessed cleats which are usually favored by MTB and cyclocross riders who revel in the muck 🙂

Do you have any knee problems or ankle stiffness? There’s varying degrees of knee float with different brands allowing your knee to shift in or out slightly with your stroke motion (the older we get, the less comfortable it is to pedal in a fixed position for hours so the knee appreciates a bit of float). My husband has decreased ankle flexibility (it’s almost fused in some places) so a system with an ankle twist instead of requiring you to flex and release your ankle might work better in that situation.

I have pretty normal knees and ankles but do mainly urban riding (long rides with fun climbs but in the city where you have to deal with stop lights and dodging traffic/pedestrians) so I use Speedplay Frogs which are their MTB system. I like Speedplay because road or MTB platforms are dual-sided (you can clip in to either top or bottom of the pedal so less fumbling at starts), the recessed Frog cleat is easy to walk on and because you twist your ankle to get in/out of the pedal, any debris that happens to get into the cleat will be squished out before you lock in so you won’t get trapped in the pedal and fall trying to uncouple. I’ve also found that after several hours, my knees still feel great with the 15 degrees of free float (their Zero road racing pedals allow for 30 degrees whereas Shimano SPD with red cleats allow zero float which some people say gives you more power transfer?). I love reading what people think and have learned about their riding experience but if you have a LBS that you like, it’s always nice to be able to look and test. Mine even had a set up where I could test out the different systems on one of the bikes in the store, just brought my Sidi’s and they switched out cleats for me.

Sorry for the dissertation. Hope this made sense 🙂

I’ve stuck with Shimano SPDs
I’ve stuck with Shimano SPDs on my 2 road bikes with no intention of changing.

I’ve gotten used to them over the last 20 years on mountain bikes, and thus can use the same shoes on all my bikes.

If catastrophic failure dictates (ie tyre blow out, happened to a mate last summer), I can walk home too.

I chuckle at my mate with his speedplays, reaching for the cleat covers or taking his shoes off prior to walking on hard surfaces.

I have ridden Shimano SPD,
I have ridden Shimano SPD, SPD-SL and Look Delta. The former are touted as a MTB and leisure/touring system while the latter two are road types. Speedplay are an expensive road type that some people prefer but I’ve never tried them.

SPD is so good that I can’t see a reason to bother with the other systems. I have used Shimano M520 pedals for commuting (now on their 6th winter), MTBing, training rides and time trialling. Benefits:
– they are easier to get your shoes in and out of, you can adjust the spring tension
– the M520 double-sided pedals are cheap (e.g. absolutecycles on ebay), and there’s plenty of choice
– you can actually walk safely in the shoes as the cleats are recessed
– they have lots of ‘float’ (side-to-side free movement), good for dodgy knees
– they will easily take SM-PD22 clip-in reflectors on one side for extra visibility
No downsides IME.

Road cleats make you walk like a duck and wear out easily (Deltas are scarily slippery on a smooth surface). When racing they can give the sensation of being really secured to the pedal but there’s less float and they don’t make you any faster. You’re also more likely to miss clipping in, it’s not stamp-and-go, and the pedal can bang your shins. Ouch!

You can’t mix’n’match, they are not cross-compatible, though some shoes have drillings for both SPD & road types.

Well if you ride one of the
Well if you ride one of the other stories avoid lampost or looking behind you. 🙂

Seriously. Good advice given above. I too prefer Speedplays as they have more float to save the old knees and are double sided. Wish I’d gone to a shop to be properly set-up first.