stapfam

Some of the single sided pedals always seem to be the wrong way up for me. I have only ever had the conventional double sided SPD's and initially I got the Shimano 515's-The ones so many people had problems with. Don't know about the problems but I used to change conventional pedals every year. Since going to the cheapest Shimano SPD's The only pedals I have bought are the ones for the other bikes. Still have the original pair and never had to service or adjust them.

As to unclipping. It is a technique that you aquire very quickly. Set the pedals up loose initially and they are easier to unclip. Both intentionally and unintensionally. Then as you get used to them, tighten the tension up untill it is only the intentional clipping. They will change your pedalling stroke though as with the stiffer shoe- the power gets transmitted quicker. Then there is the way inwhich you can pedal in circles. By this I mean that instead of just putting in power on the Down stroke- you also pull up on the pedal. This does take a bit of training though but when you start pulling the shoe out of the pedal on the upstroke- You tighten up and wonder how you ever got on with conventional pedals or even toe clips.

The problem is what type of pedals to go for. I am a mountain biker and use SPD's on all the bikes- including the road bike. As I have said- I use Shimano pedals and have yet to wear a pair out, and that is in 8 years of using them. Previous to shimano- I used another manufacturer but these did maintenance on a regular basis to keep running smoothly.

If looking at SPD's Go the whole hog and get the double sided- but there are some that have an outer cage to make them larger and this means that they can be used with conventional shoes for the quick trip down to the shops.