pedal choice

On Fri, 03 Aug 2007 17:14:19 -0700, Campag <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

What is the most popular clip in these days. I've got an older Time

Popular? SPD or SPD-SL because they come with many bikes as the
default option.

Campag said:

What is the most popular clip in these days.

Probably SPD, originally for mountain bikes, because it's cheap,
tough and the cleat is recessed in the shoe, making walking easy.
But if you don't care about that, Look and SPD-SL are both popular
on road bikes.

Campag said:

What is the most popular clip in these days. I've got an older Time
set on the roady but i was never that fussed with them. I've been
looking around at a few bikes but its hard to get a sense of what is
the better pedal given the amount of different styles around. I should
point out that i am a six foot male if that makes a difference. So far
I,ve avoided the slow sideways fall at the lights and I would like to
keep it that way if possible 😉

Essentially all the systems around for road & MTB work the same, with
the exceptions of speedplay and egg beaters, they're all variants on
ski bindings (you already know this 🙂 ) If we stick to roady pedals,
within a few percent they all have similar pedal areas and cornering
clearances. Most of the rest of the claims about the different systems
boil down to marketing attempts to create a difference between
products that are mostly variants on a common theme. Speedplay are
great, but a maintenance nightmare, and eggbeaters are great MTB
cleats but offer little in the way of cleat adjustment (some will
claim you don't need adjustment, but they're just lucky users, in my
experience with fitting people on bikes, this is sometimes an
issue 🙂 )

It comes down to convenience, weight (if you care), cornering
clearance and longevity. I use Shimano SPD-SL's on my roadies and my
track bike because you can walk on the cleats with no major dramas
(I've done 5km in them once, and the cleats were fine) and they're
essentially maintenance-free. There's also a fair scope for cleat
adjustment so there's a good chance you can make them work for you.
Every few months I whack in new plastic inserts and I get 20,000km or
so out of a set of pedal bearings and I think my current set of cleats
is about 10,000km old now. I'm 6' and heavy and do quite a few miles
on them, you might say ... 🙂 This includes track racing, road racing
& crits.

Bleve said:

Campag said:

What is the most popular clip in these days. I've got an older Time
set on the roady but i was never that fussed with them. I've been
looking around at a few bikes but its hard to get a sense of what is
the better pedal given the amount of different styles around. I should
point out that i am a six foot male if that makes a difference. So far
I,ve avoided the slow sideways fall at the lights and I would like to
keep it that way if possible 😉

Essentially all the systems around for road & MTB work the same, with
the exceptions of speedplay and egg beaters, they're all variants on
ski bindings (you already know this 🙂 ) If we stick to roady pedals,
within a few percent they all have similar pedal areas and cornering
clearances. Most of the rest of the claims about the different systems
boil down to marketing attempts to create a difference between
products that are mostly variants on a common theme. Speedplay are
great, but a maintenance nightmare, and eggbeaters are great MTB
cleats but offer little in the way of cleat adjustment (some will
claim you don't need adjustment, but they're just lucky users, in my
experience with fitting people on bikes, this is sometimes an
issue 🙂 )

It comes down to convenience, weight (if you care), cornering
clearance and longevity. I use Shimano SPD-SL's on my roadies and my
track bike because you can walk on the cleats with no major dramas
(I've done 5km in them once, and the cleats were fine) and they're
essentially maintenance-free. There's also a fair scope for cleat
adjustment so there's a good chance you can make them work for you.
Every few months I whack in new plastic inserts and I get 20,000km or
so out of a set of pedal bearings and I think my current set of cleats
is about 10,000km old now. I'm 6' and heavy and do quite a few miles
on them, you might say ... 🙂 This includes track racing, road racing
& crits.

Thanks for that, excellent answer. I think I will have to go over to
these shimano pedals. I really like the look of the cleats and i
thought they would be ok for walking. Walking is straight out
impossible on the older time ones i have now. Its a shame though as my
bike probably wont forgive me given that it wears full campy gear.
Needs must better wants though.

Campag said:

Thanks for that, excellent answer. I think I will have to go over to
these shimano pedals. I really like the look of the cleats and i
thought they would be ok for walking. Walking is straight out
impossible on the older time ones i have now. Its a shame though as my
bike probably wont forgive me given that it wears full campy gear.
Needs must better wants though.

well for another perspective I use Look Keo.... awesome cleats, I came from SPD's to Look Keo's

MikeyOz said:

well for another perspective I use Look Keo.... awesome cleats, I came
from SPD's to Look Keo's

Me too. SPDs for commuting, KeOs for racing. When I travel with just
the race bike I'll take a pair of each. Easy to switch once you've
worked it out. Recessed cleats are much nicer for walking.

Aeek said:

MikeyOz said:

well for another perspective I use Look Keo.... awesome cleats, I came
from SPD's to Look Keo's

Me too. SPDs for commuting, KeOs for racing. When I travel with just
the race bike I'll take a pair of each. Easy to switch once you've
worked it out. Recessed cleats are much nicer for walking.

I also vote for Look Keo which have more float than SPD SL (2005
Ultegra). Got mine at a reasonable price from Probikekit. If you have
fussy knees then it might be worth selecting pedals that have float that
is similar to (or at least not smaller than) your old pedals. Both the
amount of float and the torque required to rotate your foot can be
important.

Martin
--
Removed z before replying by email.

Bleve said:

Essentially all the systems around for road & MTB work the same, with
the exceptions of speedplay and egg beaters, they're all variants on
ski bindings (you already know this 🙂 ) If we stick to roady pedals,
within a few percent they all have similar pedal areas and cornering
clearances. Most of the rest of the claims about the different systems
boil down to marketing attempts to create a difference between
products that are mostly variants on a common theme. Speedplay are
great, but a maintenance nightmare, and eggbeaters are great MTB
cleats but offer little in the way of cleat adjustment (some will
claim you don't need adjustment, but they're just lucky users, in my
experience with fitting people on bikes, this is sometimes an
issue 🙂 )

I've had a set of Speedplay Zeros for about 6 months now. They are
fantastic. Plenty of float which is good if you have any knee issues.

Make sure you buy the caps if you want to walk in them though.

So far maintenance has been no problem.

Rob

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

Quoted message said:

Aeek said:

MikeyOz said:

well for another perspective I use Look Keo.... awesome cleats, I came
from SPD's to Look Keo's

Me too. SPDs for commuting, KeOs for racing. When I travel with just
the race bike I'll take a pair of each. Easy to switch once you've
worked it out. Recessed cleats are much nicer for walking.

I also vote for Look Keo which have more float than SPD SL (2005 Ultegra).
Got mine at a reasonable price from Probikekit. If you have fussy knees
then it might be worth selecting pedals that have float that is similar to
(or at least not smaller than) your old pedals. Both the amount of float
and the torque required to rotate your foot can be important.

Martin
--
Removed z before replying by email.

I am also very tall 193 cm and I use SPD with mtb shoes with recessed cleats
for road training and on my MTB bike.

I use these shoes (size 48) and find they are great for walking, hell you
can even run in them.

< http://www.deanwoods.com.au/store/prod2084.htm >

These are on my Mountain bike.

< http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=K3134 >

These are on my road training bike.

< http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=d1013 >

For my race bikes both road and track I use Ritchey SPD-R type pedals, as
they have metal cleats like the SPD and are very secure and long lasting.

I am using the Nike Poggio carbon shoes that can take SPD-R, SPD-SL & SPD
cleats, Similar to the ones below, only mine are a later model and all black
with a carbon fiber look on the straps.

< http://www.dirtrag.com/print/article.php?ID=618&category=web_only >

These are the pedals I use, I bought 4 sets of them as they are a excelent
deal at $50 AU for a pedal of that quality, and as SPD-R has now been
discontinued I thought having a few spares would be handy.

<
http://www.icyclesusa.com/catalog/ritchey/ritchey-v3-comp-road-bike-pedals.htm >

If you want to know why I use SPD-R have a read of this article, and being a
more of track rider even more reason 😉

<
http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2006/features/meares_bt_stealth

Quoted message said:

"Pedals are the now-extinct Shimano Dura-Ace SPD-R with a custom strap
attachment to prevent accidental unclipping during those surges from the
start gate. Smith says that Cycling Australia bought around 50 pairs before
they went out of production in 2003 - now you know where they've all gone."

If your just commuting and doing general riding I recommend SPD type cleats,
mostly due to the being able to walk in the shoes factor.
It's nice to be able to go down the road and walk into the shops and not
risk slipping on your [censored], or having everyone look at you thinking your a
tap dancer :P

quote='Campag'On Aug 4 said:

Campag said:

What is the most popular clip in these days. I've got an older Time
set on the roady but i was never that fussed with them. I've been
looking around at a few bikes but its hard to get a sense of what is
the better pedal given the amount of different styles around. I should
point out that i am a six foot male if that makes a difference. So far
I,ve avoided the slow sideways fall at the lights and I would like to
keep it that way if possible 😉

Essentially all the systems around for road & MTB work the same, with
the exceptions of speedplay and egg beaters, they're all variants on
ski bindings (you already know this 🙂 ) If we stick to roady pedals,
within a few percent they all have similar pedal areas and cornering
clearances. Most of the rest of the claims about the different systems
boil down to marketing attempts to create a difference between
products that are mostly variants on a common theme. Speedplay are
great, but a maintenance nightmare, and eggbeaters are great MTB
cleats but offer little in the way of cleat adjustment (some will
claim you don't need adjustment, but they're just lucky users, in my
experience with fitting people on bikes, this is sometimes an
issue 🙂 )

It comes down to convenience, weight (if you care), cornering
clearance and longevity. I use Shimano SPD-SL's on my roadies and my
track bike because you can walk on the cleats with no major dramas
(I've done 5km in them once, and the cleats were fine) and they're
essentially maintenance-free. There's also a fair scope for cleat
adjustment so there's a good chance you can make them work for you.
Every few months I whack in new plastic inserts and I get 20,000km or
so out of a set of pedal bearings and I think my current set of cleats
is about 10,000km old now. I'm 6' and heavy and do quite a few miles
on them, you might say ... 🙂 This includes track racing, road racing
& crits.

Thanks for that, excellent answer. I think I will have to go over to
these shimano pedals. I really like the look of the cleats and i
thought they would be ok for walking. Walking is straight out
impossible on the older time ones i have now. Its a shame though as my
bike probably wont forgive me given that it wears full campy gear.
Needs must better wants though.[/QUOTE]Carl summed it up pretty well... if you are Campag minded you could consider their version of the same style of pedal the Campagnolo Chorus Pro Fit (here's a review) [img]roadbikereview.comproduct 28048.jpgOpen ↗[/img]They run around the same price as Ultegra SPD-SLs ($180200ish), may be a little harder to get replacement cleats as some shops may not carry them.
I use these on my training road bike, (keeping it Full Campy) they are light, good Q factor ( ie: The lateral distance between the pedal attachment points on a crankset) and very adjustable. The retaining clip in the back end is a bit different to the SPD-SLs (metal retainer) but are as efficient IMV if not a bit stronger overall.

I do use SPD-SL on my road racing bike, and it is otherwise fully Campag, so it doesnt seem to mind having renegade pedals and FSA chain rings too !!(ssshhh).
Carl has it right tho if you want all the pedals the same that allows you to mix up your shoes and bikes can be "spares" when needed in a hurry.

I make life difficult in that respect, R1 SPD-SL, R2 Campy, Track & Fixie both Suntour Superbe cage & Christophe toe clips and Sprint straps. Hybrid SPD's (Mtb type) and Classic Roadster rubber grips for street shoes.
Nothing like variety in life eh!