Fifty Plus (50+) - Pedals for 50+ year old knees

OK, let's just say I'm ready to give up the SPDs for some real road pedals on the Giant.
It deserves real pedals, right?

Speedplay Zeros or Look KEOs (of some sort)?

Which are easier on the ol' knees?

This may or may not be a good idea. When I did this I ended up with foot pain and had to sell the pedals and the shoes at a loss and go back to the SPD pedals, but everyone is different. I think my short right leg contributes to the problem.

Bebops fit MTB shoes and give a lot of float for knees.

Pedals are one of those things that seem to be very individual and yet they are not easy to try before buying.

All I can tell you is that I have pretty creaky knees and I ride with Look Keos and have no problems. I've been using the red cleat (max float) and have even been toying with switching to the grey cleat (intermediate float). One other thing is that on these things the plastic is very soft and they damage easily with just a little walking on them. If you get Keos, get and use the cleat covers.

I'm 58 and have had good success with the Shimano SPD-L's. They are one-side only, but still easy to click into when starting up, easy to click out of when stopping, and no problem at all for my knees.

Rick / OCRR

I have Crankbrother Candy SL, they have lots of float and are very easy to get in and out of. I have the mountain bike version on my touring bike.

If you're not having problems why switch? I'm using spd's on my mountain and road bike. I find my sneaker style mtb shoes comfortable for both riding and the little bit of walking I might do during the ride. FWIW when I got fitted for my new bike last year, the LBS tweaked the cleats a little and improved comfort immensely!

Standard Shimano Ultegra road pedals - good platform on which to stand, and good float for your knees.

Just be sure and get some decent stiff shoes (e.g., Specialized carbon soled).

I think Zeros are great. So long as you keep the cleats clean, they are great on the knees.

I would say it's all in the shoe so whatever you do, get excellent shoes. I have about four pairs: Two with road cleats and two with spd's. I only use the spd's now and have converted the pedals on all my bikes.

My recommendation is Sidi's which, road or mtb, I think, sets the standard...But they are expensive. They are much more reasonable to walk in than the road version ie with the road cleats attached but I still wouldn't want to hike very far in them. Still, I have frequently slipped with road cleats (and walk like a duck) but never with the spd's and I see no sacrifice in performance, comfort, clipability...

My knees would most likely not have survived that past three years without the Speedplays.

Bebops fit MTB shoes and give a lot of float for knees.

+1

Of the common true road pedal systems, Look pedals have 9 degrees of float, SPD-SL has 6 degrees, Speedplay Zeroes have 15 degrees and Time has 10 degrees.
That alone won't tell you which is best for your knees. Some people need or prefer more rotation or less. Some people even prefer none.

I first tried Look pedals with black, no rotation cleats. My knees hurt like crazy. I switched to red, 9 degree rotation cleats and my pain went away. That was in 1992 and I have not had any reason to change.

Bebops fit MTB shoes and give a lot of float for knees.

I use Bebop's on my road bikes with road shoes as well. They offer the float creaky knees require. Other pedals with some float include the older Look A5.1 9% of float and Xpedo's which use the Look cleats, red for float. Speedplay sued Bebop over the design so they are similar.

Sampson pedals claim to have 20% of float but are expensive and look much like the Wellgo that Nashbar sells for cheap. Have tried the Sampsons and they do offer alot of float.

When you have a problem finding the right solution may take some expermentation.

If you are satisfied with SPD cleats but just want more of a "road pedal" look, try Shimano A520 pedals. I have these on my roadie and Shimano M520s on my MTB. Like them both.

A520s: http://www.rei.com/product/724917

I tried a pair of the A520 and I had a hard time getting out of them. Maybe I had a bad pair or something. The SPD M424, worked for me. A little big, but they did the trick.

If you are satisfied with SPD cleats but just want more of a "road pedal" look, try Shimano A520 pedals. I have these on my roadie and Shimano M520s on my MTB. Like them both.

A520s: http://www.rei.com/product/724917

Heyyyy... I have those, actually. I had them on the LeMond but took them off because A) I don't want to sell them with the bike and B) I was going to have the LBS put them on the Giant)... in the end, I had them leave the M-520s (http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/products/pedals/mountain/product.-code-PD-M520-L.-type-pd_mountain.html) on there. I like that they're double sided but I'm not sure there's enough of a platform to get "maximum" power down. The Speedplay Zeros (which have adjustable 0-15 degree float) have an undeniable "coolness" factor going for them PLUS they're double sided. I don't know how big the platform size is on them, though. I'm also not sure they would work with my current shoes.

Speedplay Frogs have lots of float and are MTB style, so walkable shoes . . . Very easy in and out . . .

My vote would be to put the A520's on the new Giant. I put them on my Novara Randonee when I purchased it last spring. I liked the appearance and I liked the fact that the cleats were compatible with the pedals on my Sirrus.

No problems for my 55+ year old knees to date.:)

Al

Crankbrothers Quattro are great. Double sided entry, lots of foot support, and can be used with road or mtb depending on the cleats.

My vote would be to put the A520's on the new Giant. I put them on my Novara Randonee when I purchased it last spring. I liked the appearance and I liked the fact that the cleats were compatible with the pedals on my Sirrus.

No problems for my 55+ year old knees to date.:)

Al

+ 1 on the A520's Far better on the feet and you can keep the same shoes for walking in.

+ 1 on the A520's Far better on the feet and you can keep the same shoes for walking in.

+1 on the A520's. Have them on two bikes: Touring and long distance.

OK, let's just say I'm ready to give up the SPDs for some real road pedals on the Giant.
It deserves real pedals, right?

Speedplay Zeros or Look KEOs (of some sort)?

Which are easier on the ol' knees?

Did anyone actually read the original post?:rolleyes:

+ 1 on the A520's Far better on the feet and you can keep the same shoes for walking in.

+ 1 more I love mine.

Did anyone actually read the original post?:rolleyes:

I did.

Did anyone actually read the original post?:rolleyes:

Yes, but I ignored it! :D
SKT didn't say he was unhappy with SPD, but seemed interested in more of a "road style" pedal.

Did anyone actually read the original post?:rolleyes:

Yes. But this is 50+ and we forgot, already. :rolleyes:

Don't let them talk you into a compromise, SKT. You bought a real road bike. You are riding it on real hills. There are plenty of situations that call out for "road-ish" pedals based on MTB pedals, but you have recognized that this is not one of those situations. Go for the real thing. Don't settle for less than going all the way. Yes, your bike does deserve it.