Road Cycling - Clipless pedals and shoes for the newbie

Okay, next to buying my first road bike, I need to get clipless pedals and shoes. Should I get those with some degree of float or none at all?

I understand nuts about clipless pedals, I don't understand what float means, and I don't even understand how they click! Please clear this up for me, I need to know.

Also, I'm particularly concerned about clipping out from the pedals, with my safety in mind. I do want to have the ease of clipping both in and out. Please help suggest some good pedals that is good on the knees, easy to clip in and out and fairly good enough for the newbie. THANKS!

Degree of float basically means how much play your heal has when clipped in the pedal. Meaning, how much movement your heal has from side to side.

In order to click in to a "clipless" pedal you would have to slide the front part of your cleat (attached to the bottom of your shoe) into the pedal and pusg your heal down until you hear an audible click. Then you are securely in place. To get out you simply swing your heal out and your disengaged. It is really not as hard as it looks. It is much more difficult to write what you do. With a little practice you will be a unclipping champion.

I swear by Crank Bros Eggbeaters on my MTB and road bike. They have 6 degrees of float and two settings for easy clip out for beginners and a more secure fit for the more advanced. No knee problems whatsoever w/ these pedals as I did with my previous Shimanos. Any more questions fell free to ask.

Check out classified section for good buys.

I believe the tension is adjustable on most clipless pedals.
You want to adjust the tension so you can click in and out easily. But you don't want to be able to pull your foot free when pulling up hard like when climbing.
You'll have to play with the tension until you're happy with the way clicking in feels and especially how hard or easy it is to twist your foot (heel out) to release.

If you are not used to riding clipless you may want to consider a two sided pedal like Shimano mountain bike pedals or Speedplay. (I have Shimano M-535 on my commuter.)
Talk to your riding buddies or someone at your LBS about the kind of single sided pedals they use if that 's the kind you're interested in.
Same with shoes. Just make sure they're comfortable.

The egg beaters would be a good start, because they have four-side entry.

For pedals I like Look's as they have a little bit bigger platform. They don't have as much float as speedplays but they don't bother me knees and there still is plenty of movement. They are also pretty easy to set up and "newbie" friendly. The cleat is very durable as well, I've had mine now for 3 years and they are still going strong.

I'm not sure if you want a recommendation for shoes or not but here would be my suggestion. If you don't want to spend a lot on the shoes look at a pair of Specialized body geometry shoes. I just switched from some Diadoras to Specialized Comp roads and the difference is incredible. They were both similar prices, $90 for the Diadoras and $100 for the Specialized Comps but the comfort is much better with the specialized. My foot would swell up so bad and "roll" with the diadoras that it was very uncomfortable to ride but with the Specialized it is much more comfortable. Good luck.

One thing about road shoes I've seldom seen anything said about is arch support. I don't have really high arches but I'm not flat footed either. My first pair of road shoes were lakes and they had next to no arch support. I always had sore arches as a result.
On adjusting the tension on your pedals, be very careful not to adjust them to light. I once had the misfortune of having a foot unclip while nearing the end of a hard climb. Lets just say it wasn't pretty :D Probably would have been interesting for someone to watch though!!

What difference does arch make if your not walking in them?

Originally posted by shokhead
What difference does arch make if your not walking in them?

It seems like there can be a big issue. I ended up with plantar fasciatis, a painfull foot problem from riding (mountain & road) and working wearing flat sole shoes. My problem got so bad I could not stand up in the morning. Inserts and staying off the bikes for 3 months helped. My problem came back as soon as I started riding again without using the inserts, my thought, I'm not walking how much can it matter! I keep sports inserts in all my cycling shoes to keep the problem away. You don't have to spend $100+ to get good inserts but the cheapie ones don't do much for you. Look for solid support and a pronounced arch.

On the same note, don't have them set too tight either. I was test riding a bike from a LBS and the pedals were set much tighter than I am used to. I was climbing a steep hill, and the gears were slipping, so I wanted to stop and adjust them. I slowed down, and went to unclip, and nothing happened. Lucily I had a quick rush of adreneline, and in a burst of panic, both feet popped out of the pedals and hit the ground. Another half-a-second and I would have been on the ground myself.

My first experience with clipless a few months ago - I bought Speedplay and like them. Some swear by these as well as other brands/types, so it seems to be more of a personal preference versus any one type being the best for everyone. There are certain drawbacks no matter which way you go. With Speedplay, the locking mechanism is in the cleat on the shoe, and there is the risk of dirt/mud clogging the mechanism. I use coffee shop covers when off the bike to prevent this occurence. Also, as with the Looks, the cleats are large - so if you plan on doing a lot of walking with them on, I'd go another direction. The Speedplays have been easy for me to get use to, and they are easy to clip in/out of due to the two-sided entry. Also, I have not had to adjust/mess with the "float" as may be an issue with some of the others.

Side note, I have relatively high arches, and the Sidi shoes offer me good arch support.

Hope this helps.

Go with the Look pp206's I put those just recently on my road bike and I love 'em. cheaper and lighter weight than the other looks also.

My foot would swell up so bad and "roll" with the diadoras that it was very uncomfortable to ride

tokus - I wear diadoras now and haven't had this problem. Do you have wide feet? Mine are pretty narrow, which is a godsend for biking shoes, I hear.

I'll second the speedplays (for the millionth time). I just bought some x/2s. They were a snap to install and I didn't get the "standing on ice cube" feeling because I've been riding long enough, I guess. These sure beat my old spd's.

Pistachio-

Yes, I do have relatively wide feet. I think that may have been part of the problem but either way the body geometry shoes really up the comfort. The Diadoras just seemed to be really flat on the bottom. I also hated the fact that there was no rubber on the heel to help prevent slipping on smooth surfaces.

By the way, which Diadoras do you have? I have a 3 year old pair of Cosmos..

Tokus,

Not sure what kind of diadoras. They are about 5 years old, black with silver soles, 3 velcro straps. I think I'm due for an upgrade.

For comfortable shoes you can walk around in when off the bike, I'd say go with MTB shoes, if that's your need. I wear a pair of the light, more streamlined-looking Shimano ones. Very comfortable and give good arch support on and off the bike.

For the pedals, I ride Speedplay Frogs. They are "easy in and out". Love mine!