jwill226

Hello everyone. I was a member of BF a while back, mainly a lurker but for some reason the forum had no record of me so I had to start a new account.

I'm looking to start this summer out by finally making the switch to clipless pedals for my road bike. I'm having trouble figuring out where to begin. I have been reading a lot on wide shoes and the pros and cons of the different types of clipless so I have an idea of what I might like but I don't have a lot of money to 'try something new'.

First off I will say that I do NOT have a reliable LBS in my area. The only one I have in my town only caries about a dozen Trek bikes and a couple odds and ends for the bikes. The only peddles they have are platform and not a single shoe or piece of clothing in the building. And although he isn't that busy it can take a week of a tuneup and he doesn't do special orders.

I went to the next closest LBS at 95 miles away and it was run buy these over the top roadie types that laughed when I asked abut wide shoes. They offered to order them for me but I would have to buy them upfront and there is a no return policy on special orders. After the shoe question they wouldn't even talk to me about the types of clipless pedals.

That said, I'm going to be doing my whole clipless experiment via the internet.

I have about $250 to spend all together at the moment. I'm hoping to get a good base setup and upgrade later as money permits. I am concerned about my size; I'm 6'1" and pushing 320 pounds. I have strong legs. I swim about 8-10 miles a week so I need something that can take the abuse. Also if last summer will be any indication I will be doing about 30-40+ miles a day. And like the topic says I have 4E wide feet.

Also I am leaning towards MTB shoes because I want to be able to ride to the community pool and not have them throw me out for destroying there new tile floors with the cleats. And just being able to walk around would be nice too.

Any advice on an inexpensive reliable system would be greatly appreciated.