What are the best pedals??

There's no best answer. If you good pedals you should look at Speedplay, Look, Time, and Shimano. My own preference is for Speedplay.

The best pedals are the ones that you feel really comfortable with, you don't gripe about for some design fault and don't think about too much when you're using them.
As Alienator said, there's no best answer. I've tried Shimano SPDs, SPD-SLs and Crank Bros. Of those, I've gone the Crank Bros path. Might one day try some of the others but I don't need to right now.

If your budget is limited, then focus on good shoes first and then buy your pedals with whatever is left over.

I agree with the previous post that shoes can make all the difference. When I first started, I bought an expensive pedal, and a not so expensive shoe. I constantly had hot spots and my feet were uncomfortable. When I got a new bike, I also bought a new pair of Shimano shoes, which I absolutely love.

As for pedals, I originally used Speedplay Zeros. Because the spring is in the cleat itself, you cannot screw the clamps in hard, or the spring doesn't work. While out on a ride, a teammate had a problem, so I got off my bike to help him. We had to move onto the grass to avoid traffic. The dirt in the grass was enough to clog my cleats, which would no longer clip into the pedal. I had to take it apart and try and clean it out while on a ride. In the process, I lost a screw (screwing too tight, spring doesn't work). After I got home, I promptly went to the LBS and bought a pair of Ultegra pedals, and since then, I've had zero problems with them.

My preference is Ultegra pedals. They are light, good cornering, easy to get into, and easy to walk in the cleat.

Time are my preference. I love the "click" when you go in and out as well as the rotational float. Another thing that is important to me is that they have no loose play - where it feels like your foot is rattling around in a shoebox. I think Look pedals are bad about that. But, yes... shoes are more important. The only thing that can be improved on the Time pedals is the release tension - could be higher (for me).

I was planning on buying the DMT R3 triathlon shoes from nashbar ... would you guys consider these "good" shoes???

thanks
Zach

hmm. I'm not too keen on that cleat insert thing. and for the price, I think you should be looking at a carbon fiber sole.

how 'bout this for a tri shoe?

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=19256&subcategory_ID=2110

remove any returns on that link.

kunstadt said:

Time are my preference. I love the "click" when you go in and out as well as the rotational float. Another thing that is important to me is that they have no loose play - where it feels like your foot is rattling around in a shoebox. I think Look pedals are bad about that. But, yes... shoes are more important. The only thing that can be improved on the Time pedals is the release tension - could be higher (for me).

===========================================================
Look pedals don't rattle around - it's only if the cleats are very worn. Look pedals(depending on the colour cleat) go "click" too and have 9 degrees of rotational float as well.

cazorp said:

I was planning on buying the DMT R3 triathlon shoes from nashbar ... would you guys consider these "good" shoes???

thanks
Zach

I thought I took care of your question 2 days ago on another thread?

I would go with speedplays. I just recently switched from look to speedplay. And the power transfer and the feel of the speedplays is really significant.

Jcyclist said:

I would go with speedplays. I just recently switched from look to speedplay. And the power transfer and the feel of the speedplays is really significant.

I have the opposite experience. I switched from the speedplays to Look Keo. My wife now rides with the speedplays. Different strokes for different folks.