Commuting - The quest for the ideal commuting pedal

I am on the lookout for a pedal to put on my CX-style commuter. There are days when I will want to ride clipless. There are times when I will use it to pop to the corner in my Crocs.

So I need the following:
- very good float (knees need it)
- clipless on both sides
- a good platform for pedaling with regular shoes
- recessed cleats, so as to allow walking with the same shoes (ie MTB-style)

I love my Speedplays on my MTB but they dont really offer a good platform for riding with regular shoes.

I have tried Shimano M520s, and while I can deal with the "clipless on one side/platform on the other" when riding clipless, it does get a bit irritating when riding on platforms (as the clipless side tends to be on the top for the most part), especially in stop-and-go conditions.

And the Shimano SPDs are not very comfy when it comes to riding with regular shoes on the clipless side, so a two-sided clipless version would not work either.

I was thinking of one of the Eggbeater platform models (Mallet or whatever), or perhaps the Time Atac Aliums. Anyone use them and have any opinions on how comfy they are when using with just regular shoes? Or any other suggestions?

Thanks,
V.

aliums will not work with anything but clipless. it's my biggest complaint about them. i find them hard to clip into but that may be exeperience. i bought them because they're supposed to be the most durable of all pedals.

mallets are not comfortable for long rides with regular shoes, imo.

I would go with the ATAC's. I have many of the same requirements as you and have tried several different pedals. Once I tried the ATAC I gave away or trashed all my other pedals. They don't have platforms so the requirement is failed, but they are very comfortable (for me and my knees) for long rides.

My real suggestion would be to buy MTB shoes comfortable enough to walk around in and not ever worry about having platforms.

In order for what you want to work, the clipless mechanism would have to be recessed or at least flush with the platform. That would make it very difficult for a cleat that's recessed into the shoe to engage it. The cleat or the mechanism would have to have a way of extending once the shoe contacted the pedal.

Nothing's impossible but I don't think this type of pedal/cleat system exists yet.

In another thread, shimano 647s (http://www.mtbr.com/cat/drivetrain/Pedal/shimano/pd-m647/PRD_362878_135crx.aspx) were mentioned which might be pretty close. It seems they are intended to be usable unclipped. Another person said that in spite of that, they're not really intended for use with regular shoes.

Shimano A530 (though I wouldn't say SPD has very good float)? I see you don't like the platform one side/clipless on the other, but how else will you get comfortable in regular shoes? Anyway after riding these for five minutes I don't even think about which side is which, it comes very naturally.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/images/pd6500.jpg

How far are you going in regular shoes? I've got Speedplay Zeros on my road bike and while not optimal, I can ride those as very small platforms if I'm just going down the street.

Edit: How about a clipless pedal with a platform adapter? I know they have them for SPD and Eggbeaters...

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x294/alleycatrace/sick-1.jpg
100% FRED!

100% FRED!

you left the wool socks out of the picture.

ha ha, True!

Thanks for the responses.

Yeah, I realize that there is no perfect combo of a clipless pedal that works well with flats - with a recessed cleat, the pedal mechanism will have to stick out. So I will probably have to deal with a protrusion against my foot when using flat/normal shoes. I was just hoping for a compromise which would let me do 15-20km casual rides without too much discomfort/awkwardness. I am not too fussed if the pedal protrudes a little bit into my foot,

As for wearing MTB shoes everytime I ride - I live/work on a tropical island and spend most of my day in Crocs (I know - tough life). So if I had to choose one way, I'd rather go with platform only rather than clipless.

Alternatively, is there a one-sided clipless pedal which mostly stays platform-side up? I have Shimano M520 and M324s, and they both tend to be clipless-side up. Rationale is - if I am riding clipped in, I wont be clipping in and out much whereas when I am riding in my Crocs, I'll be doing a fair bit of stop-and-go, and this will reduce pedal-flipping.

I'll also check out the platform adapters - if those are easy to plug in/pull out, that'd be the poifect solution.

V.

Thanks for the responses.

Yeah, I realize that there is no perfect combo of a clipless pedal that works well with flats - with a recessed cleat, the pedal mechanism will have to stick out. So I will probably have to deal with a protrusion against my foot when using flat/normal shoes. I was just hoping for a compromise which would let me do 15-20km casual rides without too much discomfort/awkwardness. I am not too fussed if the pedal protrudes a little bit into my foot,

As for wearing MTB shoes everytime I ride - I live/work on a tropical island and spend most of my day in Crocs (I know - tough life). So if I had to choose one way, I'd rather go with platform only rather than clipless.

Alternatively, is there a one-sided clipless pedal which mostly stays platform-side up? I have Shimano M520 and M324s, and they both tend to be clipless-side up. Rationale is - if I am riding clipped in, I wont be clipping in and out much whereas when I am riding in my Crocs, I'll be doing a fair bit of stop-and-go, and this will reduce pedal-flipping.

I'll also check out the platform adapters - if those are easy to plug in/pull out, that'd be the poifect solution.

V.

spd sandals

Shimano A530 (though I wouldn't say SPD has very good float)?
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/images/pd6500.jpg

I haven't had much luck with the 530's commuting. Clip always seems to be on the wrong side and if you have to jump on the pedals quicly in urban traffic I've chewed the daylights out of the backside of them.

spd sandals

Yeah, been thinking about them - thanks for reminding me.

Somehow, the idea of sandals and clipless makes me kinda wonder. I should read up on people's experiences with it, I suppose.

V.

I haven't had much luck with the 530's commuting. Clip always seems to be on the wrong side and if you have to jump on the pedals quicly in urban traffic I've chewed the daylights out of the backside of them.

Yeah I'm not in love with them either. They're on my commuter, but only because I got tired of the BMX-style platforms. I find that I'm not really interested in going more than a mile or two in regular shoes.

Bebops, or just ride platforms. MKS Lambda platforms are sweet.

very few, very few compact cleat clipless pedals are going to be comfortable with street shoes, esp/ 15 miles in Crocs!

the Bebop is the only one that even comes close IMO>

Those Bebops looks good - thanks for pointing them out! How wide is that platform, btw? Ridable in normal shoes? I have a pair of MKS-style pedals that I lifted off the Surly LHT, which I will use for now, but these Bebops look like they'd be just what I need, provided the platform is usable for tooling around.

V.

I ordered a pair of those MKS lambdas last week, and scored some Shimano sandals for Father's Day. Looking forward to trying them out.

... just ride platforms ...

Seriously, try it again. Simplicity, unlimited choice of shoes, and all the knee float you want.

I haven't tried them (yet) but the Nashbar Excursion pedal looks interesting. It's dual sided SPD with a huge platform.

http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product_10053_10052_175107_-1_201353_10000_201354

Sounds like SPD sandals are what you want.

There are several brands, Lake, Shimano, Keen, Sette, Nashbar, etc Some are knock-offs of others but may have a slight difference that works better for you.

I tried Lake and Shimano before deciding that Sette just seem to fit my feet better. I have shoes at the office but often forget to change into them and out of the sandals.

My commute is 12 miles or about 19 km if my math is correct. The spd sandal work great for me.

Yeah, am ordering a pair of the Bebop pedals off Ebay right now, and will get a pair of Keen sandals from Performance. Looks like this should do the trick!

Thanks for all the help, guys.

V.

Yeah, am ordering a pair of the Bebop pedals off Ebay right now, and will get a pair of Keen sandals from Performance.
Bebops are pretty much the same size as Speedplay Frogs, only don't have the ugly protrusion on both sides. But I don't think they'd be comfortable with normal shoes - soft or hard soles; they are small and have a hole in the middle.

Clipless sandals are pretty nice. Be aware that some pedals are officially not compatible with them. Frogs for example. Perhaps it's because sandals are pretty wide in the toe area, and this part might hit the crank when twisting out? Having said that, I used to ride in Shimano sandals with Frogs, and haven't had problems.

Others may know more though.

I really like the Shimano 324's for exactly what you want them for. Though they are flip/flop one side SPD, the big platform is very comfortable with regular shoes. While the float is not overly large, it is very smooth.

It doesn't take long to get used to flipping frontwards or backwards to use, and I like that the SPD side is the predominantly up side.

20km with regular shoes on bebops? You're braver/more tolerant than me.

Edit: Ah, I see you've changed your mind about the crocs maybe...

Hi Wander - if the platform side of the SPD was consistently up, I could probably have dealt with is as I am stopping/starting more often when on a casual ride (if I clip in, usually I rarely clip out until I am done with the ride). However, now that I think about it, my distaste for the one-sided SPDs stems from MTB/trail riding, where starting up can get a lot hairier if I am futzing around with the pedal. Maybe this will not be so bad for casual riding either.

I'll give the Bebops a go - if they are really painful to use with platforms (the gap in the middle shouldnt be a problem; lets see how the small platform holds up, however), I'll put them on my Surly LHT, and stick the M324s or the MKS on the commuter.

V.

Crank Bros. Acid Pedal:
http://www.gottaridebikes.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/acid1lg.jpg

Crank Bros. Mallet Pedal:
http://www.spadout.com/img/crank-brothers-mallet-pedal/34377.jpg