General Cycling Discussion - Beginning Cyclist - Clipless Pedals & Shoes

I purchased a Trek MTB a few years ago and I have been riding on the road more than the trails. I will purchase a road bike once I save some money. I did my first 30+ mile ride this weekend. I need to work on increasing my speed and distance.

In the meantime, I put slicks on the bike and ergo grips with bar ends. I want to purchase some pedals and shoes that I can transfer from the mtb to the road bike once I purchase it. Does anyone have a good suggestion on a brand of shoe and pedal for a beginner?

Any cycling shoe that fits comfortably will work.
Do you want to walk "normally" when off the bike? Get mtn bike shoes. Otherwise get road shoes.
SPD pedals work with road or mtn bike shoes.

I thought that SPD worked with 2 bolt shoes and the 3 bolt pattern shoes used look type cleats and most road shoes were 3 bolt pattern shoes. I use the spd pedals and shoes on most of my bikes. It is easier to walk around in the spd shoes and cleats.

I thought that SPD worked with 2 bolt shoes and the 3 bolt pattern shoes used look type cleats...
True. I was still asleep when I posted this. My brain didn't think 2-bolt, 3-bolt.

Not all road shoes are 3-bolt only. My Sidis have lots of holes and will accommodate 2-bolt or 3-bolt.

Would you get this type of SPD pedal
http://www.coloradocyclist.com/img/product/full/s/ssrmfsuu.jpg

or this type?
http://s.wiggle.co.uk/images/shimano%20m424%20pedals%2004.jpg

I was thinking of getting the one with more of a platform.

I want to purchase some pedals and shoes that I can transfer from the mtb to the road bike once I purchase it.
Choice #1.

Look around. ColoradoCyclist is not the cheapest place to buy.

If you're transferring the pedals to a roadbike in the future,
I would also go with the first set.

Remember however MTB cleats tend to be made of metal. No big deal on a MTB shoe. But on a road shoe the metel cleat will slip like you are an ice skater on a resturant floor. I have used MTB shoes on my road bike with Crank Brothers pedals and cleats. Works pretty well until you get over 45 miles or so on a hot day and your feet get a bit hot. Then the small cleat can, not saying it will, but can give you hot spots.

Still a lot of people prefer MTB shoes because they are easier to walk in. (The very reason I have had MTB shoes for the last two years.) I have to pairs of Specialized MTB shoes and just got some Shimano road shoes and look cleats and pedals.

This question gets asked every week, so I created a thread that includes everything I could think of on the "what bike pedals should I buy" topic -
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?652782-Choosing-2-hole-%28mountain%29-shoes-vs-3-hole-%28road%29-shoes&p=10936693

My personal favorites are the Time ATAC Roc's (more specific reasons included in that thread).

I bought SHIMANO M520 Mtb pedals and Shimano Mtb shoes and so far very happy with the purchases. Don't expect miracles though - they do help going uphill but otherwise I didn't notice much difference between my stock Specialized platform pedals and M520s.

Oh yeah - You WILL fall a few times if you never rode with clipless pedals before :) Just comes with the territory.

fyi, from my experience and listening to what other people have done, if you're careful with clipless pedals at first, taking plenty of time to train your legs to clip out to make the right motion to clip out and everything, and you don't push it until you've become familiar with them, on average you'll only fall once, at that will be at 0 mph when you go to stop and just don't quite unclip your foot in time, so mostly you'll just get a bruised ego nothing else.

Riding clipless is like learning to ride a bike - it's tricky and possibly dangerous before you get used to it, but once you get practiced and natural with it it's safe. Falling over several times doesn't usually "come with the territory" unless you're reckless about it.

I have had shimano mtb-style shoes and shimano A530 pedals for a few months. 2-bolt. The key to the easy transition I had was a lot of serious road commuting before getting them. I had all my traffic light routines down and my skills honed before adding spd into the mix. Once I did, I was confident in the other areas of my riding, so the extra moment of thought it took to disengage at appropriate times was no prob.

Jumping into commuting AND clipless at the same time might be hard.

Also, I worked up to a certain average speed with platforms and sometimes loosely fitted toe clips. When I was ready to make the switch, I was in shape enough to really be happy with the overall speed boost I got. :)

I use SPD SL pedals/cleats on my road bike, and wanted something as nearly wide for my tourer, that uses SPD shoes/cleats, which are a lot easier to walk in (recessed cleats on many MTB shoes). I found A520 pedals met my requirements. Reasonably priced, and should work on MTB, Tourer, or Road bike.:thumb:

I use SPD SL pedals/cleats on my road bike, and wanted something as nearly wide for my tourer, that uses SPD shoes/cleats, which are a lot easier to walk in (recessed cleats on many MTB shoes). I found A520 pedals met my requirements. Reasonably priced, and should work on MTB, Tourer, or Road bike.:thumb:

Assumably you would just get other pedals (non 520's), but use the same shoes and cleats, but technically the a520's would work very poorly on a mountain bike used for mountain biking due to their 1 sided design - having to look down and possibly flip the pedal over while mountain biking just wouldn't work. I personally find it rather annoying on the road, especially with lots of stops and starts, but you can get by. While mountain bike it just wouldn't work as there's not a lot of flat sections to casually look down and clip in.

Assumably you would just get other pedals (non 520's), but use the same shoes and cleats, but technically the a520's would work very poorly on a mountain bike used for mountain biking due to their 1 sided design - having to look down and possibly flip the pedal over while mountain biking just wouldn't work. I personally find it rather annoying on the road, especially with lots of stops and starts, but you can get by. While mountain bike it just wouldn't work as there's not a lot of flat sections to casually look down and clip in.

The A520 works a lot like an SPD SL--It has kind of a 'pendulum' effect. It hangs with the clip-in side facing the rear, so you just put your shoe on it and clip in. Like ALL clipless pedals, it takes some practice, but once you get the hang of it, it is fairly simple.

With a new user, I would advise loosening the clip-in tension to minimum until that person feels comfortable enough to raise it. Personally, I leave mine loose so they are easy to unclip. I have not yet had one come out unexpectedly.

The A520 works a lot like an SPD SL--It has kind of a 'pendulum' effect. It hangs with the clip-in side facing the rear, so you just put your shoe on it and clip in. Like ALL clipless pedals, it takes some practice, but once you get the hang of it, it is fairly simple.

With a new user, I would advise loosening the clip-in tension to minimum until that person feels comfortable enough to raise it. Personally, I leave mine loose so they are easy to unclip. I have not yet had one come out unexpectedly.

I've owned another similar pair of Shimano, and I would disagree with saying that "Once you get the hang of it it's fairly simple". Many people agree with me - and likewise there are plenty of people who disagree with me and say they like them just fine for commuting, so I don't want to get in an argument about it - some people like them, some people really don't like them.

But that's for road use, where you can coast for a couple seconds to get clipped in, or to let the peddle go back to it's default position. If I had to unclip and put my foot down the middle of a rock garden, it's already not the easiest with a regular double-sided pedal where I don't have to look down to clip in and a clip-in side is always up. I can't imagine it if I had to look down (and when you've bounced your bike over a log or 15 rocks, who knows where the pedal would end up being rotated towards).