Advice for commuter clipless pedals

Hans said:

Hi all,

I am in the process of getting a new commuter bike and I am wondering
which pedals to get. Clipless would be nice as I have a few hills ; I
have Time Atacs on other bikes but I find they are a bit slow to
unclip when riding downtown. Mec.ca sells Shimano M520 for Ca$55,
maybe that is a good choice. Any advice is welcome.

M520 is a good choice indeed for general urban riding, IME.

~PB

Hans said:

I am in the process of getting a new commuter bike and I am wondering
which pedals to get. Clipless would be nice as I have a few hills ; I
have Time Atacs on other bikes but I find they are a bit slow to unclip
when riding downtown.

I'm not sure what you mean by "slow to unclip." All of the pedal styles
I've used (Look, SPD clone, Time MTB) seem about the same in that respect.

I commute on Time MTB pedals. Works for me. I think anything with
recessed cleats will work fine for commuting. In your case, I'd vote for
the Time pedals. Then you'd have spares in case something breaks.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

On Wed, 28 Sep 2005 22:55:38 -0400 in rec.bicycles.tech,

(Hans) said:

I am in the process of getting a new commuter bike and I am wondering
which pedals to get. Clipless would be nice as I have a few hills ; I
have Time Atacs on other bikes but I find they are a bit slow to unclip
when riding downtown. Mec.ca sells Shimano M520 for Ca$55, maybe that is
a good choice. Any advice is welcome.

speedplay frogs. lots of float, easy on the knees, easy clip in,
easy out. easy to lube.

highly recommended.

dvt said:

Hans said:

I am in the process of getting a new commuter bike and I am wondering
which pedals to get. Clipless would be nice as I have a few hills ; I
have Time Atacs on other bikes but I find they are a bit slow to unclip
when riding downtown.

I'm not sure what you mean by "slow to unclip." All of the pedal styles
I've used (Look, SPD clone, Time MTB) seem about the same in that respect.

Agreed, Time Atac pedals are as fast as anything. Maybe the sole of
your shoe is causing interference when you try to unclip? Or your
cleats are positioned poorly, so that you have to rotate beyond a
comfortable range to unclip? Also, the cleats can be swapped left to
right to change the release angle (see "Tech Info" at
http://www.time-sport.com/us/accueil.htm). If you still can't unclip
quickly, your option is flat pedals.

-Vee

Vee said:

Agreed, Time Atac pedals are as fast as anything. Maybe the sole of
your shoe is causing interference when you try to unclip? Or your
cleats are positioned poorly, so that you have to rotate beyond a
comfortable range to unclip? Also, the cleats can be swapped left to
right to change the release angle (see "Tech Info" at
http://www.time-sport.com/us/accueil.htm). If you still can't unclip
quickly, your option is flat pedals.

-Vee

Thanks for the responses, and yes, effort is not a problem but I have to
rotate my ankle quite a bit, more so than on the shimano I tried
recently (may it was due to the better road shoes though). This is no
problem on the road but I find if riskyer in town. I set my cleats on
the easiest release angle.

--
Hans

Dennis P. Harris said:

speedplay frogs. lots of float, easy on the knees,
easy clip in, easy out. easy to lube.

highly recommended.

Dennis revealed truth. But I'd like to
add, that the cleats are very flat and
they don't protrude under the MTB shoe.
That is good, because you probably want
to walk with those shoes too.

I use Frogs on both of my bikes.

If Speedplay Frogs did not exist,
probably I would try Coombe Pro.

Nikolas Ojala

--
Home page: http://www.iki.fi/no

Static truth is dead truth and only
dead truth can be held as a theory.