Clipless pedals and shoes - recommendations?

http://tinyurl.com/8xzao
http://tinyurl.com/dhuam

Look and SPD are two different types of clipless systems and aren't
compatible (of course)..
Each have their zealots - you'll need matching (look or spd) pedals / shoes.

I like spd (shimano) hence the URLs above - but plenty of others like Look.

Cheers,
Graham

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

Quoted message said:

Hi again,

I'm going to give clipless pedals a try, with proper shoes. Can anyone
please make any recommendations?

Several people mentioned 'Look/SPD' in my other thread, but I'm not
quite sure what they are.

Also, it would be helpful if I could get the pedals which have a clip
on one side but can be used with ordinary shoes on the other, as I
have only one bike and will continue to use it at weekends with
trainers and maybe sandals.

Many thanks again for any help 🙂

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

Graham Dean said:

http://tinyurl.com/8xzao
http://tinyurl.com/dhuam

Look and SPD are two different types of clipless systems and aren't
compatible (of course)..
Each have their zealots - you'll need matching (look or spd) pedals / shoes.

I like spd (shimano) hence the URLs above - but plenty of others like Look.

Ahaa.... thanks, Graham :-)

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

Graham Dean said:

http://tinyurl.com/8xzao
http://tinyurl.com/dhuam

I see that on the second URL, for shoes, it says "cleats not
included". What are the cleats, exactly?

Thanks again!

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

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

Quoted message said:

Graham Dean said:

http://tinyurl.com/8xzao
http://tinyurl.com/dhuam

I see that on the second URL, for shoes, it says "cleats not
included". What are the cleats, exactly?

Thanks again!

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

Cleats are the bits that fasten to your shoe - then attach to the pedal
(i.e. a bit of metal).
They may well (should?) come with the pedals??

Graham

"Graham Dean" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

Graham Dean said:

http://tinyurl.com/8xzao
http://tinyurl.com/dhuam

I see that on the second URL, for shoes, it says "cleats not
included". What are the cleats, exactly?

Thanks again!

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

Cleats are the bits that fasten to your shoe - then attach to the pedal
(i.e. a bit of metal).
They may well (should?) come with the pedals??

Graham

Yes, they should come with the shimano pedals.

G.

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

Quoted message said:

Hi again,

I'm going to give clipless pedals a try, with proper shoes. Can anyone
please make any recommendations?

Several people mentioned 'Look/SPD' in my other thread, but I'm not
quite sure what they are.

Also, it would be helpful if I could get the pedals which have a clip
on one side but can be used with ordinary shoes on the other, as I
have only one bike and will continue to use it at weekends with
trainers and maybe sandals.

Many thanks again for any help 🙂

Different manufacturers have differing pedal systems each with own cleat
design that screws to sole of shoe. Examples include Look, Shimano spd,
Time, Speedplay... The pedal has to be associated with the correct cleat. Do
not try to clip into a spd pedal with a Look cleat and vice versa ;-)

I prefer Look as the cleat is quite large as compared to spd. But each to
their own. Nathan has Looks on one bike, spds on another and spd-sl on
another... long story! He manages to switch between systems with no hassle,
but I can't get on with spds at all - it's Looks for me.

As for what shoes - don't buy your first pair online - go try on lots in
shops.

You can get pedals that are normal platform on one side and spd on the
other - this is what Nathan has on his bike that he uses to commute to
college & back. Have a look at the pedals on the wiggle site to get an idea
of the different systems & types.

Cheers, helen s

Peewiglet said:

Also, it would be helpful if I could get the pedals which have a clip
on one side but can be used with ordinary shoes on the other, as I
have only one bike and will continue to use it at weekends with
trainers and maybe sandals.

Many thanks again for any help 🙂

Best wishes,

The pedal you're referring to is the M 324 made by Shimano. It has the
SPD system step-in lock on one side and a plain "Rat-trap" type pedal
surface on the other. Current cost online is round about 40 quid a
pair. The pedals come complete with the cleats which you bolt to the
sole plate of an appropriate pair of cycling shoes. I have used these
pedals on my touring bike for a couple of years and have been very
pleased with them.

--
Brian G

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 19:59:52 +0100,

Peewiglet said:

Hi again,

I'm going to give clipless pedals a try, with proper shoes. Can anyone
please make any recommendations?

Several people mentioned 'Look/SPD' in my other thread, but I'm not
quite sure what they are.

Different types of clipless pedals.

Quoted message said:

Also, it would be helpful if I could get the pedals which have a clip
on one side but can be used with ordinary shoes on the other, as I
have only one bike and will continue to use it at weekends with
trainers and maybe sandals.

I don't think you can get Look pedals to do this BICBW.

The advantage of SPD is that you can readily get shoes where the cleat
is recessed so you can walk in the shoes.

The advantage of Look is that the cleat is much bigger. While in general
this doesn't matter, if you are wearing very light shoes and/or
pedalling hard for long periods this will help to spread the weight
better on the ball of your foot.

Tim.

--
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = - @B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t,"
and there was light.

http://tjw.hn.org/ http://www.locofungus.btinternet.co.uk/

Peewiglet of said:

Also, it would be helpful if I could get the pedals which have a clip
on one side but can be used with ordinary shoes on the other, as I
have only one bike and will continue to use it at weekends with
trainers and maybe sandals.

Minority opinion coming up. Don't get this sort of pedal, you will spend
your entire time on the bike flipping the pedals over to the other side.
There is a better way to use shoes with clips and normal shoes on the same
bike. Get the sort of pedals that have clips on both sides with a cage
around. These work with both sorts of shoes on both sides of the pedals.
Have a look at the Shimano M424 on Wiggle to see what I mean. Or drop me an
email and come and try mine in South Manchester.
--
If law school is so hard to get through....
how come there are so many lawyers? - Calvin Trillin
Steph Peters delete invalid from [email hidden]
Tatting, lace & stitching page <http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/index.htm>

Peewiglet said:

Hi again,

I'm going to give clipless pedals a try, with proper shoes. Can anyone
please make any recommendations?

Several people mentioned 'Look/SPD' in my other thread, but I'm not
quite sure what they are.

Personally I'd go for Shimano SPD pedals. Don't be tempted into SPD's
from other manufacturers because they don't work as well. For shoes try
a number. Shimano are narrow, Northwave wide. You need to get ones
that are comfortable. The advantage of SPD over Look is you can walk
around normally in them as the cleat is recessed but it is a smaller cleat.

Quoted message said:

Also, it would be helpful if I could get the pedals which have a clip
on one side but can be used with ordinary shoes on the other, as I
have only one bike and will continue to use it at weekends with
trainers and maybe sandals.

An alternative is you can get platforms that clip into a clipless pedal
so you run a normal clipless most of the time and clip the platform in
when needed. One sided ones are a pain as you need to get the right
side upwards while the ones which have a platform and cleat on both
sides tend to hold the sole of your shoe and make clipping out harder.

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Personally I'd go for Shimano SPD pedals. Don't be tempted into SPD's
from other manufacturers because they don't work as well. For shoes try a
number. Shimano are narrow, Northwave wide. You need to get ones that
are comfortable. The advantage of SPD over Look is you can walk around
normally in them as the cleat is recessed but it is a smaller cleat.

Point of order Mr Chairman - I have Look shoes & boots where the cleat is
recessed into the sole so I walk normally. I am smug about this. I do also
have the shoes where the cleat is not recessed into the sole and in these it
is possible to bear a passing resemblance to a duck when walking ;-)

Cheers, helen s

wafflycat said:

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Personally I'd go for Shimano SPD pedals. Don't be tempted into SPD's
from other manufacturers because they don't work as well. For shoes
try a number. Shimano are narrow, Northwave wide. You need to get
ones that are comfortable. The advantage of SPD over Look is you can
walk around normally in them as the cleat is recessed but it is a
smaller cleat.

Point of order Mr Chairman - I have Look shoes & boots where the cleat
is recessed into the sole so I walk normally. I am smug about this. I do
also have the shoes where the cleat is not recessed into the sole and in
these it is possible to bear a passing resemblance to a duck when
walking ;-)

I stand corrected. I presume though that the range available of Look
recessed shoes is rather limited.

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

Tim Woodall wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

The advantage of Look is that the cleat is much bigger. While in general
this doesn't matter, if you are wearing very light shoes and/or
pedalling hard for long periods this will help to spread the weight
better on the ball of your foot.

I presume that by 'long periods' you are talking about rides lasting several
hours? I went out for a two hour ride this morning (just missing the rain!)
and didn't notice any discomfort at all in my feet. My shoes are ancient
SH-M055, and I wouldn't say that they were exceptionally stiff. They are
exceptionally smelly though :-) Could do with being thrown in the washing
machine again...

--
Chris

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I stand corrected.

It's the orthopedic shoes you know ;-)

Quoted message said:

I presume though that the range available of Look recessed shoes is rather
limited.

Indeed, which is why I am smug that I have some. It's a market Look have
spectacularly failed to exploit.

Cheers, helen s

Quoted message said:

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

Chris Slade said:

I presume that by 'long periods' you are talking about rides lasting several
hours? I went out for a two hour ride this morning (just missing the rain!)
and didn't notice any discomfort at all in my feet.

I've done 18hrs in SPD's without any foot problems and regularly ride
for 3-5 hours or more in them.

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 21:43:42 +0100,

Chris Slade said:

Tim Woodall wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

The advantage of Look is that the cleat is much bigger. While in general
this doesn't matter, if you are wearing very light shoes and/or
pedalling hard for long periods this will help to spread the weight
better on the ball of your foot.

I presume that by 'long periods' you are talking about rides lasting several
hours? I went out for a two hour ride this morning (just missing the rain!)
and didn't notice any discomfort at all in my feet. My shoes are ancient
SH-M055, and I wouldn't say that they were exceptionally stiff. They are
exceptionally smelly though :-) Could do with being thrown in the washing
machine again...

More like rides taking 10 hours. Almost anything will be ok for rides
lasting 2-3 hours. And even for rides of 10 hours or more you probably
won't notice any difference unless you are really pushing hard.

The couple of people I know who insist that this makes a difference are
the same two people who asked if I wanted to go with them on one of
their Sunday 200mile rides[1] (I declined). 100miles is a decent
workout, 150miles is unpleasant and teaches you to check Sunday train
timetables properly, 200miles is just insane! YMMV.

Tim.

[1] They didn't do this every week but they did do it a few times during
the summer months each year.

--
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = - @B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t,"
and there was light.

http://tjw.hn.org/ http://www.locofungus.btinternet.co.uk/

"Tim Woodall" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 21:43:42 +0100,

Chris Slade said:

Tim Woodall wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

The advantage of Look is that the cleat is much bigger. While in general
this doesn't matter, if you are wearing very light shoes and/or
pedalling hard for long periods this will help to spread the weight
better on the ball of your foot.

I presume that by 'long periods' you are talking about rides lasting
several
hours? I went out for a two hour ride this morning (just missing the
rain!)
and didn't notice any discomfort at all in my feet. My shoes are ancient
SH-M055, and I wouldn't say that they were exceptionally stiff. They are
exceptionally smelly though :-) Could do with being thrown in the washing
machine again...

More like rides taking 10 hours. Almost anything will be ok for rides
lasting 2-3 hours. And even for rides of 10 hours or more you probably
won't notice any difference unless you are really pushing hard.

I think other important attribute is the terrain - a couple of hours buncing
around
the North Yorks Moors in trainers is hard work up all those hills!

G.

in message <[email hidden]>, Peewiglet

(') said:

Hi again,

I'm going to give clipless pedals a try, with proper shoes. Can anyone
please make any recommendations?

Several people mentioned 'Look/SPD' in my other thread, but I'm not
quite sure what they are.

SPD is Shimano's name for several different and mutually incompatible
systems. However the original SPD is usually known as just 'SPD' and the
other systems are given a suffix - 'SPD-R', 'SPD-SL' and so on. The
original SPD was the first widely available mountain bike cleat system.
The original SPD system was at one time avialable for road-oriented
pedals as well (I have a pair) but these weren't very successful because
the pedal is small and concentrates the weight on a small area of the
sole of the foot. Vis a vis more widely used road systems it has the
advantage that the cleat is recessed into the sole of the shoe making it
comfortable and safe to walk on. However, like all ground-breaking
systems it has been rapidly surpassed off-road by other systems - Time
ATAC (my own preference for mountain bike pedals), Crank Bros Egg
Beater, Speedplay Frog, and others. The disadvantages of the original
SPD are

* Poor mud clearance - only matters off-road
* Relatively poor float
* Relatively poor engagement/disengagement

The remaining advantages of the original SPD is relative ubiquity and
cheapness of clone pedals, but frankly ATACs or Egg Beaters are better.
Note that none of these systems are compatible with any other, although
generally all mountain bike cleats fit the same shoes, with two bolts
side by side under the ball of the foot.

SPD-R and SPD-SL really have nothing to recommend them. They are simply
Shimano's attempt to produce a pedal which is a close as possible to a
Look pedal without actually infringing Look patents. The SPD-R, in
particular, uses a bolt pattern incompatible with anything else so you
either have to use Shimano shoes (which don't fit me) or use a heavy
adaptor plate, which is madness.

Look Deltas are the most common road racing pedal system. The cleat is
very large, and attaches to the shoe using a triangle of three bolts.
Because the cleat is large and is proud of the sole of the shoe, walking
with these things on is less than wonderful. Look Deltas are widely
badge engineered (even Shimano used to buy Look pedals and rebadge them
- I've got a pair of those too). They are comfortable and reliable in
use but the pedals are quite heavy. Look have recently introduced a new
pedal system, Keo, which is slightly smaller and with much lighter
pedals. This is now my favourite road pedal system.

Other road pedal systems - Campagnolo Pro-fit, Time RXS, etc are each
incompatible with the Look Delta system but most use the same three bolt
pattern so work with the same shoes.

Quoted message said:

Also, it would be helpful if I could get the pedals which have a clip
on one side but can be used with ordinary shoes on the other, as I
have only one bike and will continue to use it at weekends with
trainers and maybe sandals.

In that case you probably do want the original SPD system, or one of its
low cost clones (e.g. Wellgo WPD982, Shimano M324).

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; not so much a refugee from reality, more a bogus
;; asylum seeker

in message <[email hidden]>, Brian G

(') said:

Peewiglet said:

Also, it would be helpful if I could get the pedals which have a clip
on one side but can be used with ordinary shoes on the other, as I
have only one bike and will continue to use it at weekends with
trainers and maybe sandals.

The pedal you're referring to is the M 324 made by Shimano. It has the
SPD system step-in lock on one side and a plain "Rat-trap" type pedal
surface on the other. Current cost online is round about 40 quid a
pair.

The Wellgo clone (WPD982) is half the price and nearly as good.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; Women are from Venus. Men are from Mars. Lusers are from Uranus.