getting a new pedal

Ron said:

i've ridden 1000+ miles with toe clips on to this point and i think its
time that i got into the clipless family of pedals. im new to clipless
and dont understand the terms float, cleats etc very well. could
someone enlghten me as to what these things are. i'm looking at buying
a nike poggio shoe, will this be compatible with look/speedplay type
pedal systems?

I assume have you been riding in shoes without cleats up 'til now.

If you plan to do any amount of walking on your rides, I would suggest you
NOT get Look type pedals, but rather something like Shimano SPD pedals that
use a recessed cleat (the cleat is recessed in the sole of the shoe. That
makes walking much more comfortable. Also with recessed cleats, you're foot
is much less likely to slip on the pavement. And the cleats will last much
longer than the plastic "Look" type pedals.

Float refers to how much your foot can swivel on the pedal. Without float,
your foot is fixed in one position.

The cleat attaches to your shoe, and clicks into the pedal when you ride.
You have to buy shoes that are compatible with the cleat/pedal system you
plan to use.

Quoted message said:

in terms of surface area, comfort, and ease to get on and off, whats a
good starting road pedal for a newbie? hope someone can help me.

As long as the shoe has a good stiff sole, the surface area of the pedal
isn't critical.

I'd suggest the Shimano PD-M520 pedals, and T092 or RT50 shoes. These dual
sided pedals are easier to get into. See:

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/sm-shimano-pd-m520-pedals--pi-2032850.html

http://penncycle.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=9360

http://penncycle.com/itemdetails.cfm?catalogId=39&id=6329

Art Harris

i hear the pd-m250 shomano pedals are mainly for mountain bike use. im
a roadie, is this a big issue? what about the weight? i'm not ready
to fuss about weight but how heavy is this pedal set?

-ron

bicycle_disciple said:

i hear the pd-m250 shomano pedals are mainly for mountain bike use. im
a roadie, is this a big issue? what about the weight? i'm not ready
to fuss about weight but how heavy is this pedal set?

What, is there some sort of law that requires you to use "road" equipment
exclusively on road bikes?

I second the suggestion of using a mountain-bike pedal. Walkability is
important. Unless you plan only to race, you will at least walk into
convenience stores for mid-ride food. You might have to walk home after
you have run out of spare tires/tubes/whatever, and no one answers the
phone to help you out.

I went from old-fashion toeclips and cleats (my foot was locked in by a
slotted cleat that fit around the edge of the pedal), to spds. Clipless
pedals are the single biggest improvement in cycling technology over the
past 20 years.

I currently use Speedplay Frogs on all my bikes. I don't know whether
they would be good for a beginner, but I think they are an engineering
marvel.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored
_`\(,_ | by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." --Ralph Waldo
(_)/ (_) | Emerson

Ron said:

i hear the pd-m250 shomano pedals are mainly for mountain bike use. im
a roadie, is this a big issue? what about the weight? i'm not ready
to fuss about weight but how heavy is this pedal set?

I'm strictly a road bike rider myself, and I used Look pedals and
cleats for many years. I switched to SPD pedals about a year ago, and
have never regretted it. The shoes I recommended do NOT have the
aggressive lugged soles of mountain shoes.

The PD-M520 pedals weigh 376 grams per pair, and are on sale at Nashbar
for $45 including cleats.

Art Harris

thanks for all your replies. i see the light in buying walkable shoes.
no im not a hardcore racer or anything, i just want something better
than toe clips.

i own a shimano off road walkable shoe as of now (i dont think this
model is any more on their website) with a recessed, but covered spd
cleat facility. i was stupid enough to not notice this and now i
realize these shoes can be used. but how do i go about cutting the
bottom away, and where do i get the cleats from? i hope any single spd
cleat can be used, since im already bogged down by models and more
models.

ron

bicycle_disciple said:

thanks for all your replies. i see the light in buying walkable shoes.
no im not a hardcore racer or anything, i just want something better
than toe clips.

i own a shimano off road walkable shoe as of now (i dont think this
model is any more on their website) with a recessed, but covered spd
cleat facility. i was stupid enough to not notice this and now i
realize these shoes can be used. but how do i go about cutting the
bottom away, and where do i get the cleats from? i hope any single spd
cleat can be used, since im already bogged down by models and more
models.

ron

There should be a rectangular score mark that you can attack with
suitable cutting edge. Once through that, you will be able to screw on
the metal cleat tab, in a variety of positions (fore, aft, various
angles to limit the float so you don't hit the cranks with your heels
all the time. Take time to experiment and find the settings that suit
you best.

One final thing - just about everyone uses and likes float, since it's
said to reduce strain on knees, but some people, such as myself, find
float literally a pain, making the knees hurt. If you've been used to
fixed angle cleats and straps, and you cannot get used to float on
modern clipless systems, keep in mind Look and Campagnolo, both of which
make fixed angle variants of their cleats, but these are of course much
harder to walk on, compared with SPD.

/Robert (who's used Look, has Campag, and has hurt his knees on SPD)

Last year I went to my first pair of clipless pedals. I bought a pair
of Crankbrothers Candies and love them. Granted, I have used no others
but these are easy to get in and out of and have no adjustments. Your
feet cannot slip out of them. The design is simple and they are hard
to clog with dirt. (I am strickly a roadie but I can see how they
would not get clogged.) They were easy to get used to and I have never
tipped over with them. (yet). They are an SPD compatible pedal so you
can walk in the shoes. They are also very light. Kind of pricey. And
made in the USA.

The metal cleats come with the pedals.

I am sure you will wonder why you waited, whatever you buy.

Ted.

Hi BD

By far best advice I can give you, is to buy Lennard Zinn's "Zinn & the
Art of Road Bike Maintenance". Read the chapter on pedals & the "Pedal
Cleat Compatibility" appendix. He shows you exactly how to remove the
rubber tab covering the SPD cleat area & answers questions about
'float'. It's possible that only the "Mountain bike" edition of his
books has the compatibility appendix. (I don't have access to my Road
edition to check this) In which case I'd recommend that you ask the
store where you buy the 'Road', if you can copy that part of the 'Mt.
Bike' book. Lacking that just buy the Mt. Bike book, but I'm pretty
sure that it's in the 'Road' book.

Oh, BTW I rode both Look pedals & compatible shoes for the road & SPD
pedals & SPD shoes for Mt. Biking for many years, until one day it hit
me, why ride both? I realized that I was much happier walking in SPDs,
& that I wasn't unhappy riding in them. For >10yrs I've only ridden
SPDs.

Best wishes, John

Sounds like you're going to go spd, which is pretty smart as it's
ubiquitous. Certainly the other styles have their advantages, but for
the recreational rider, spd is fantastic.

I ride $30 Nashbar mtb pedals with road shoes, and love them. No "hot
spot" despite the tiny contact area. They have a cartridge bearing and
a bushing. I recommend cutting away the grey dust guard first thing, as
it makes weird noises, and if you've got the right size socket, take
apart the pedal and regrease the bushing--takes ten minutes and your
dirt cheap pedal is now buttery like a $100 pedal. Cheap enough so that
you can afford to put them on all your future bikes, and they work well
enough. Mine were supposed to be interim pedals, but I can't find a
reason to upgrade them. The bike shop guys giggle at them, but so what,
they work.

http://tinyurl.com/3dn7f

Before I get strange looks from everybody for recommending a $30 pedal,
it seems that a lot of folks on mtbreview have been pleasantly suprised
by these as well.

http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/olderpedals/product_22463.shtml

Mine are two years old with heavy mileage and feel like new.

bicycle_disciple said:

hi bike folks,

i've ridden 1000+ miles with toe clips on to this point and i think its
time that i got into the clipless family of pedals. im new to clipless
and dont understand the terms float, cleats etc very well. could
someone enlghten me as to what these things are. i'm looking at buying
a nike poggio shoe, will this be compatible with look/speedplay type
pedal systems?

Yes-standard, now, three bolt attachments

Quoted message said:

in terms of surface area, comfort, and ease to get on and off, whats a
good starting road pedal for a newbie? hope someone can help me.

Speedplay X-5, or chromoly Speedplay Zeros.

Quoted message said:

-ron

David L. Johnson said:

bicycle_disciple said:

i hear the pd-m250 shomano pedals are mainly for mountain bike use. im
a roadie, is this a big issue? what about the weight? i'm not ready
to fuss about weight but how heavy is this pedal set?

What, is there some sort of law that requires you to use "road" equipment
exclusively on road bikes?

I second the suggestion of using a mountain-bike pedal. Walkability is
important. Unless you plan only to race, you will at least walk into
convenience stores for mid-ride food. You might have to walk home after
you have run out of spare tires/tubes/whatever, and no one answers the
phone to help you out.

Or get a road shoe and road pedal and carry covers. We sell many 'road'
bikes with 'MTB' pedals but we don't automatically look to those if
somebody isn't 'racing'. There are advantages to road shoes in terms of
stiffness and weight, and with a little precaution, road shoes and
pedals can be walked in w/o any issues.

Quoted message said:

I went from old-fashion toeclips and cleats (my foot was locked in by a
slotted cleat that fit around the edge of the pedal), to spds. Clipless
pedals are the single biggest improvement in cycling technology over the
past 20 years.

I currently use Speedplay Frogs on all my bikes. I don't know whether
they would be good for a beginner, but I think they are an engineering
marvel.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored
_`\(,_ | by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." --Ralph Waldo
(_)/ (_) | Emerson

ha, i think i've got you beat for cheapness. i got my nashbar mtb (spd)
pedals for something like $15 a couple years back. put a pair on each
of my bikes and haven't touched 'em since--i've never had a reason to,
including the pair on my commuter fixie. (so i've never quite
understood the appeal of those fancy expensive models they list on the
same page of their catalog...)

In article <[email hidden]>,

autopi said:

ha, i think i've got you beat for cheapness. i got my nashbar mtb (spd)
pedals for something like $15 a couple years back. put a pair on each
of my bikes and haven't touched 'em since--i've never had a reason to,
including the pair on my commuter fixie. (so i've never quite
understood the appeal of those fancy expensive models they list on the
same page of their catalog...)

I win again: this weekend, I picked up a pair of Look PP 166 pedals at a
garage sale for C$2 (about $1.65 in your Earth money).

438 grams, woo!

http://www.bikepro.com/arch_products/pedals/alook_pedal.html

PS: the real killer was the insane horse-trading to get cleats, though.
I swapped a beautiful "Apollo" (Kuwahara) frame to a friend who needed
it for a project. He returned a set of new cleats, a wheel bag, and
various odds and ends. The frame was also part of the weekend's garage
sailing, and cost me C$11.35. This means the cleats cost me about $2 too.

I slapped the cleats onto my Shimano road shoes ($10 at a swap meet),
the pedals onto my Japanese-made "Bianchi"* ($10 at another swap meet),
and rolled out this morning. The pedals work great.

The brakes and pads cost more than the rest of the bicycle combined,

*this was an early-80s road bike, apparently commissioned by the
Canadian license-holder for the Bianchi name. It's a perfectly normal
lugged-steel frame of the era.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

autopi said:

ha, i think i've got you beat for cheapness. i got my nashbar mtb (spd)
pedals for something like $15 a couple years back. put a pair on each
of my bikes and haven't touched 'em since--i've never had a reason to,
including the pair on my commuter fixie. (so i've never quite
understood the appeal of those fancy expensive models they list on the
same page of their catalog...)

Some of the fancy models can indeed feel a smidge nicer, I've always
liked the "feel" of the traditional large cleat Look style--but, the
cheepie nashbar/wellgo/ritchey pedal is 95% as nice for my needs and is
dirt cheap.I love 'em, one of the best deals in cycling. I clean them
with the same 50/50 solution of paint thinner and motor oil that I use
for chains, and they feel flawless. Super easy to service as well,
something you don't often see in cheap pedals.

$15 is indeed a wowser--but for anybody wanting to try these, be aware
that Nashbar has two house brand spds. The cheapest one isn't all that
great, but their "standard" one is the one we speak of, and just a
classic gem.