Which CHEAP clipless pedals?

Bill H. said:

I decided to look into adding clipless pedals to my bike so I cruised
over to the Nashbar website. HOLY [censored]! They have a set of clipless
pedals for $20! I also noticed that there are some Shimano clipless
pedals (PD-M525) for about $30.

I have these Nashbar clipless pedals and like them.

That is quite a good deal on the Shimanos, though.

Quoted message said:

Also - these things come with cleats, right?

Yes.

Quoted message said:

I'm trying to keep the total expense to around $100 or so (shoes and
pedals). Yeah, I know - the budget sucks.

I think this budget is tight but realistic. My advice would be to not buy
the shoes mail-order, so you can try them on.

Don't wait; buy now.

Quoted message said:

I can spend a little more, I suppose, but remember - I have to EAT!

Eating, shmeating. How are you gonna be a skinny biker dude if you eat all
the time?

Good luck,

Reid

Reid Priedhorsky said:

Bill H. said:

I decided to look into adding clipless pedals to my bike so I cruised
over to the Nashbar website. HOLY [censored]! They have a set of clipless
pedals for $20! I also noticed that there are some Shimano clipless
pedals (PD-M525) for about $30.

I have these Nashbar clipless pedals and like them.

That is quite a good deal on the Shimanos, though.

If you can get shimanos for 30--do it--the bearing are a lot nicer than
the Nashbars.

That particular model of Nashbar pedal isn't completely compatible with
standard spd cleats. Not a big deal--especially for 20 bucks, but fair
warning.

I ride these cheap Nashbars:
http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=108&subcategory=1078&brand=&sku=2428&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

and they're just fine. Again, the bearings could be smoother, but the
build quality is excellent. I got mine on sale for a twenty.

I've also bought shoes of the Nashbar house brand. They're actually
rebranded Lake cycling shoes. Lake/Nashbar shoes fit pretty darn true to
size in my experience if you feel like taking a chance. Perhaps slightly
narrow, so if you have a very wide foot, get the wide model.

"Bill H." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bearing in mind that I still have to get some shoes to go with these,
which pedals will be the best value? I'm kind of tempted to get those
$20 Nashbars, but I'm wondering if the Shimano might not be a better
buy simply because of the brand name and possible warranty. I also
want something that will work with whatever shoes I end up getting.
And, of course, I've never ridden on clipless pedals before.

Also - these things come with cleats, right?

New pedals at a bike store will always come with cleats, however used ones
on ebay do not always include cleats. I just picked up a pair of used
Shimano M-535s on ebay for $17, so that would be a great place to check if
you're looking for a good deal. You can also quite often find shoes on
ebay. You will probably want SPD type pedals and shoes, so just look for
SPD on both the pedals and shoes and you'll do fine. I have a pair of
Answer Impact shoes. These are great shoes for the price and would be
perfect for mountain biking. They are much more comfortable than my last
pair and are not bad at all for walking. They will cost you around $100 in
a bike store, so this may be out of your price range, but IMO they are far
superior to anything cheaper in price.

maxo said:

If you can get shimanos for 30--do it--the bearing are a lot nicer
than the Nashbars.

Agreed. I have Shimano SPD on one bike and Nashbar on another. Nashbar
works, but I like the Shimano much better.

RFM

maxo said:

Reid Priedhorsky said:

Bill H. said:

I decided to look into adding clipless pedals to my bike so I cruised
over to the Nashbar website. HOLY [censored]! They have a set of clipless
pedals for $20! I also noticed that there are some Shimano clipless
pedals (PD-M525) for about $30.

I have these Nashbar clipless pedals and like them.

That is quite a good deal on the Shimanos, though.

If you can get shimanos for 30--do it--the bearing are a lot nicer than
the Nashbars.

I'll chime in with some agreement. The M525 are good pedals, I think
I've put about ten thousand miles on them since my last pair of pedals
died. I would certainly go with the Shimano ones for $10 more.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"Advertising is 85 percent confusion and 15 percent commission."
-Fred Allen

Bill H. said:

I'm a beginning mountain biker. I ride a Gary Fisher Marlin (hardtail)
mostly on mildly technical singletrack and the occasional bike
path/city street. I ride just fun and fitness - I'm not a racer or
anything like that. I like to tweak as much performance from my bike
as I can, but I'm also poor (college student).

I decided to look into adding clipless pedals to my bike so I cruised
over to the Nashbar website. HOLY [censored]! They have a set of clipless
pedals for $20! I also noticed that there are some Shimano clipless
pedals (PD-M525) for about $30.

I bought a set of the M525 been working great for about 300 miles. I just bought
another set for another bike that I haven't put any miles on yet.

Quoted message said:

Bearing in mind that I still have to get some shoes to go with these,
which pedals will be the best value? I'm kind of tempted to get those
$20 Nashbars, but I'm wondering if the Shimano might not be a better
buy simply because of the brand name and possible warranty. I also
want something that will work with whatever shoes I end up getting.
And, of course, I've never ridden on clipless pedals before.

Also - these things come with cleats, right?

They do come with cleats. The cleats with the M525 do not have any float, so
they are a bit fussy to get just right.

The two hole SPD drilling is standard on all mountain shoes and pedals so that
isn't an issue.

Quoted message said:

I'm trying to keep the total expense to around $100 or so (shoes and
pedals). Yeah, I know - the budget sucks. I can spend a little more,
I suppose, but remember - I have to EAT!

Anyhow, any recommendation on clipless pedals? I don't want something
that's [censored] - just basic, good performance. Weight isn't really a
priority, but price obviously is.

The M525 worked well enough for me that I bought another pair, so of course I'm
going to recommend them.

Ron

Quoted message said:

Here are some links to what I was talking about:

Nashbar Pedals -
http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=108&subcategory=1078&brand=&sku=8863&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

Shimano Pedals -
http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=108&subcategory=1078&brand=&sku=12808&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

I suppose the other option is to wait until I can afford some really
GOOD pedals and just stick with the stock platforms for now. That's
fine too, but I was hoping there'd be a good, cheap pedal that will
work for what I need and won't fall apart after two months.

Thanks for any input.

-Bill H.

I run Performance Team mtb pedals and I have no complaints.

On 10 Mar 2005 11:24:27 -0800, "Bill H." <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I'm a beginning mountain biker. I ride a Gary Fisher Marlin (hardtail)
mostly on mildly technical singletrack and the occasional bike
path/city street. I ride just fun and fitness - I'm not a racer or
anything like that. I like to tweak as much performance from my bike
as I can, but I'm also poor (college student).

I decided to look into adding clipless pedals to my bike so I cruised
over to the Nashbar website. HOLY [censored]! They have a set of clipless
pedals for $20! I also noticed that there are some Shimano clipless
pedals (PD-M525) for about $30.

Bearing in mind that I still have to get some shoes to go with these,
which pedals will be the best value? I'm kind of tempted to get those
$20 Nashbars, but I'm wondering if the Shimano might not be a better
buy simply because of the brand name and possible warranty. I also
want something that will work with whatever shoes I end up getting.
And, of course, I've never ridden on clipless pedals before.

Also - these things come with cleats, right?

I'm trying to keep the total expense to around $100 or so (shoes and
pedals). Yeah, I know - the budget sucks. I can spend a little more,
I suppose, but remember - I have to EAT!

Anyhow, any recommendation on clipless pedals? I don't want something
that's [censored] - just basic, good performance. Weight isn't really a
priority, but price obviously is.

Here are some links to what I was talking about:

Nashbar Pedals -
http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=108&subcategory=1078&brand=&sku=8863&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

Shimano Pedals -
http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=108&subcategory=1078&brand=&sku=12808&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

I suppose the other option is to wait until I can afford some really
GOOD pedals and just stick with the stock platforms for now. That's
fine too, but I was hoping there'd be a good, cheap pedal that will
work for what I need and won't fall apart after two months.

Thanks for any input.

-Bill H.

If you are willing to go to eBay, you can get the Shimano m520 pedals
for $30-40. They are actually a newer design than the 525. Very nice
pedal, standard SPD cleat with float, and holding up well for me.

http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/pedal/

Bill H. said:

I'm trying to keep the total expense to around $100 or so (shoes and
pedals). Yeah, I know - the budget sucks. I can spend a little more,
I suppose, but remember - I have to EAT!

Anyhow, any recommendation on clipless pedals? I don't want something
that's [censored] - just basic, good performance. Weight isn't really a
priority, but price obviously is.

this is one of those areas where you need to look for what works
for you, and ignore the price. i started with ritchies, and then
went for the wellgo clones, but neither one really had the float
my knees needed. last summer i bought a pair of speedplay frogs
and now i wondered why i waited for so long! it was worth the
extra money to have pedals that don't make my knees hurt.

the same goes for shoes. you probably won't find a pair that
comes close to comfortable for less than about $80, even on sale.
if you have wide feet, the problem is worse. i finally found a
pair of pearl izumis that were wide enough for somewhere around
$80 --- thank goodness since the only others reputed to be wide
enough were carnacs that cost about $100 more!

buying pedals and shoes that don't fit or don't work for you is
worse than buying none at all, because at least then you still
have some money. just find what fits best for you, and then
save the money if necessary; make your own lattes for a while,
give relatives large hints before birthday/holidays, or scrimp on
pizzas, or something.

Bill H. said:

I suppose the other option is to wait until I can afford some really
GOOD pedals and just stick with the stock platforms for now. That's
fine too, but I was hoping there'd be a good, cheap pedal that will
work for what I need and won't fall apart after two months.

Go for the Shimano 525 pedals. I just got a pair. I have been using SPD
on & off road for almost 10 years now. I have a dozen or so family
bikes set up with SPD. I have bought several pairs of Nashbar clones
and several grades of Shimano. The Nashbar pedal on special is not
Shimano compatible. That may not matter to you, but with so many bikes
and shoes, I have to worry about it. They do make a clone which is
compatible, which occasionally comes on sale for $20-25. If I remember
right the pedal you linked has cleats which work with Shimano pedals,
but the pedal won't work with Shimano cleats.

My impression of the 525 is that it's a very nice pedal (it does come
with cleats). It should serve you well for many years. It is smoother
operating than the clones (typicall Wellgo pedals). I've found Shimano,
even the low end, more durable than the Wellgos.

Oh yeah, I was lucky enough to get a "one time" 20% discount, so I got
them for $24. If you look around (Google) you may find a 10% discount
code.

Dennis P. Harris said:

this is one of those areas where you need to look for what works
for you, and ignore the price. i started with ritchies, and then
went for the wellgo clones, but neither one really had the float
my knees needed. last summer i bought a pair of speedplay frogs
and now i wondered why i waited for so long! it was worth the
extra money to have pedals that don't make my knees hurt.

If you need float then you've got to drop the $$ for the pedals. Most
people don't need float. Unfortunately the only way to find out is to
try.

Quoted message said:

the same goes for shoes. you probably won't find a pair that
comes close to comfortable for less than about $80, even on sale.
if you have wide feet, the problem is worse.

Diadora makes some pretty wide shoes, often found on sale for $40 or
so. You can often get spectacular deals on shoes if you have the right
size feet and get lucky. I got a new pair of Sidi Megas ($220 list) for
$75, have made similar scores for members of my family. The Sidis are
wonderful shoes (as they should be), but the Diadoras aren't half bad.

I am running Shimano spd type and I have Specialized shoes that are
made for spin classes at my gym. The shoes work fine on th ebike also I
paidabout $150 for pedals clips and shoes at my LBS.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

this is one of those areas where you need to look for what
works for you, and ignore the price. i started with
ritchies, and then went for the wellgo clones, but neither
one really had the float my knees needed. last summer i
bought a pair of speedplay frogs and now i wondered why i
waited for so long! it was worth the extra money to have
pedals that don't make my knees hurt.

If you need float then you've got to drop the $$ for the
pedals. Most people don't need float. Unfortunately the
only way to find out is to try.

Which are the symptoms for someone that needs
float? I'm kind of curious as to how much
float for which pain. Is there some in depth
science to this?

What hurts and where and how does that indicate
how much float?

thanks
Bill