Clipless pedal help

Sam,
I have myself a pair of Shimano PD-M424's and am quite happy with them. If you do feel a bit nervous first off on them you can lighten the clip spring tension so its much easier to "click" out of them in a hurry - I use them on light tension most of the time anyways for quick release on rocky terrain.

I'd recommend the M545's which have the alloy cage as opposed to the resin cage M424's if your going off-road as you'd be surprised how much of a hammering your pedals can take at times!

Try look at this range from the Shimano website:
shimano.com.aumountain pedals.htmlOpen ↗

Good luck and enjoy!
Wodge😄

samcrx3 said:

I've only been riding for about 9 months - I'm a member of our local BUG group and enjoy recreational cycling. I'm very happy with my tiny 42cm frame flat bar road bike GIANT CRX3. I recently got a pair of MTB cycling shoes and am slowly learning the difference between mountain bike pedals/cleats and road pedals/cleats. My shoes obviously take only the SPD type cleat/pedal. I currently have toe clips because I didn't feel ready for clipless pedals. I seem to be getting out of toe clips quite well now and am feeling confident about moving on to clipless. The problem is now what type of MTB pedal to get for the bike. I like the idea of the dual side clip in pedal with a bit of a platform just in case I don't get in straight away and to give some more stability. Does anyone have any good recommendations? I won't be going through mud and rocks in a hurry. Shimano the best?
Thanks Sam

Wodge80 said:

Sam,
I'd recommend the M545's which have the alloy cage as opposed to the resin cage M424's if your going off-road as you'd be surprised how much of a hammering your pedals can take at times!

Interestingly enough I had opposite advice in the past couple of days from a guy at the LBS. He says his experience is that the ABS cages result in less damage to the cranks. Yes, the pedal dies if it gets a real hard whack on a rock, but that is better than having the pedal survive and the crank get damaged.

I am about to buy a pair of 647s for my wife's new bike - a similar situation to yours, although she has been riding in toe clips for a little longer, about 30 years 🙂

Thanks for that info. I've been looking at the reviews on these MTB pedals.
The Shimano PD - M424 didn't have good reviews because of the plastic cage being a on the shonky cheap side and the same one with the alloy cage had a good review being sturdier. I also read the review of the PD - M647 and there wasn't one bad comment. They seem a bit more expensive, but I like the idea of the reported ease at which you can get your foot in and out of the pedals.
Our bike shop suggested the pedal with a clip on one side and a normal pedal on the other, but then I've heard once you have gone clipless you don't want to go back to a flat pedal.
Is this a common experience?
Regards, Sam

samcrx3 said:

Our bike shop suggested the pedal with a clip on one side and a normal pedal on the other, but then I've heard once you have gone clipless you don't want to go back to a flat pedal.
Is this a common experience?
Regards, Sam

True. I haven't used a flat or clip pedal for over 13 years, and now couldn't dream of feeling secure without clipless pedals. The cheaper, if not the more expensive, Shimano MTB-style SPD double-sided pedals come with a black plastic platform that clips on to one side, allowing you to use that if you can't clip quickly or if you don't want to clip at times (like my girlfriend 🙂 , who remains deeply suspicious of being fully clipped, although she'll clip one side happily).

Shimano PD-A520 a road SPD pedal, it will best suit the bike and MTB shoe, mine cost about $80:

gclark8 said:

Shimano PD-A520 a road SPD pedal, it will best suit the bike and MTB shoe, mine cost about $80:

Looks like a nice pedal but it appears to be single-sided; correct me if I'm wrong. If it is single-sided, it'll be a little harder to use for a learner. You can pretty much just stomp the double-sided spd pedals, but not the roadie-type single siders.

This topic gets a regular run and a search will show previous threads that deal with clipless pedals. I favour the shimano spd m520 dual sided cro -moly pedals that perform well on road or mtb bikes, the bonus is that at under $30 pair from http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=D1013 with post charge of $19 hard to beat for value. Get 2 pair for $80 delivered to your door generally within a week and you end up with a spare set of cleats, not that they wear out in a hurry from my experiance. They are hard wearing and can take a pounding.
I find the clipless pedals easier than cages to exit and safer in addition to allowing more power transfer and smoother action, just practice unclipping prior to riding, instruction come with the pedals. Have seen a shimano platform insert that can clip in to allow easy use of standard shoes if thats an issue. Doubt you will go back to cages after clipless pedal use.
Enjoy

I just bought a Giant OCR2 yesterday and had the origonal clippless pedals swapped for the M520. I wanted the 505's but the 520's must be the replacement for this pedal.

Now I just use the one set of shoes for the MTB and road bike.

Daniel

PD-M505s are el-cheapo OEM pedals,
Best value:
PD-M540
PD-M520
PD-A520
I have a pair of each...

I would like to sell the PD-M520s, they are still in the box and a near new pair of SH-M038 shoes, size 45, I bought too narrow. $125 for them both. (Perth only)

samcrx3 said:

Our bike shop suggested the pedal with a clip on one side and a normal pedal on the other, but then I've heard once you have gone clipless you don't want to go back to a flat pedal.
Is this a common experience?
Regards, Sam

Honestly, I don't see a point in going that route. The big problem is that when you need to clip in, you will have to fiddle around to make sure that the clip side is facing up (and not the platform side) in order for you to clip in. In an off-road situation (and I suppose all situations really), you want to be concentrating on what is in front of you, not fumbling around on your pedal.

I would recommend one of the Shimano mountainbike designed pedals with the cage around them as listed previously. If you don't feel like riding with cycling shoes, no problem. If you do, no problem. If you're out on the trail, and not confident in being clipped in then don't, you still will have decent grip.
The Shimano pedals are great value for money! 😉

AzzaC said:

Honestly, I don't see a point in going that route. The big problem is that when you need to clip in, you will have to fiddle around to make sure that the clip side is facing up (and not the platform side) in order for you to clip in. In an off-road situation (and I suppose all situations really), you want to be concentrating on what is in front of you, not fumbling around on your pedal.

I would recommend one of the Shimano mountainbike designed pedals with the cage around them as listed previously. If you don't feel like riding with cycling shoes, no problem. If you do, no problem. If you're out on the trail, and not confident in being clipped in then don't, you still will have decent grip.
The Shimano pedals are great value for money! 😉

The other thing that I've noticed with the off-road clipless pedals with the platform surrounds (eg the Shimano M424's or the 545's) is that the mounts typically stick out above the platform, so even if you do decide to ride without the cleated shoes you still feel the mounts above the platform, still rideable but naturally not as comfortable as riding on a flat platform. However, if you do use the cycle shoes and lock in... they feel and work great with the added lift motion in addition to the usual push down motion on the pedals you are achieving a more efficient ride and as they say... once you go clipless, you don't want to turn back!