Mountain Biking - Beggineer cleats

im lookin for cleats for some good mud ridin and the shoes for under $
200

Speedplay Frogs. Easy in and out, only problem huge float.

Speedplay Frogs. Easy in and out, only problem huge float.
sorry but whats float

Float describes how much you can move your foot when you're clipped in. Frogs allow you to rotate your foot a lot.

Im pretty much a newbie and Ive been running some Shimano M520's SPD pedals with Pearl Izumi Vortex's shoes. Havent noticed any float at all. The pedals have adjustable tension. I found out the hard way its better to start low and work your way up. High tension = cant get out.

Only complaint for me on the combo is my area is extremely rocky so it would have been prefered to have a flat rubbery sole but they work out alright. Great for hiking up muddy hills since they have nice cleets (not the cleet to connect to the pedal). Sometimes Ill slide off rocks because of the hard soles. The pedals are very good at shedding mud. You should have seen my shoes after my last ride, they are still real dirty. Then theres the obligatory adjustment period of remember to twist your heels out to get out but we wont go into that. Too embarasing. :D Only takes a few times before you learn though.

Friend of mine has the same pedals but flatter/more rubbery soles (shimano M038 Mountain Shoe). When I tried them they were nicer for walking but my stiffer sole is better for power transfer and dirt/mud. Its all about riding though...not hiking...

Between the two I also noticed I like my velcro/ratchet straps more than his laces with one velcro strap on the top. I like my shoe being tight for riding. Took a little getting used to before I stopped getting it so tight I cut off circulation to my feet.

Pedals cost me $55 and shoes $90 (shoes were $20 off). Think my friends shoes were around $110. That was the price from our LBS. You can prolly find better deals online. Shouldnt be hard to find a good set for under $200 unless your looking for something real high end.

Theres what little infos Ive got.

Speedplay Frogs. Easy in and out, only problem huge float.

I'm probably going to get flamed for this but I actually think the Frogs make better touring pedals than offroad pedals. I used to run Frogs on my roadbike but then switched to pure road pedals (Zeros) . I found the excessive float to be uncomfortable and never got used to it. The Frog cleats also didn't work too well with my road shoes but that's another matter entirely. For offroad riding, I didn't like the toe-in entry method of the Frogs. I prefer multiple entry methods when MTBing. For mud-clearing easy-to-use pedals, I would recommend the various Time ATACs or Crank Brothers Eggbeaters line of pedals.

I've been riding SPDs and Coda SPD-style pedals for a little over 10 years. I've had them get bunged up with tacky dirt, but mud has never really stuck in them. I usually just try not to dab or get off the bike ;).

I personally like the 10 to 15 degrees of float that the SPDs give you, YMMV. Definitely start with the clips loose and tighten them down when you start popping out unintentionally. Even after riding clipless for as long as I have, I still don't have mine set much passed halfway.

i run crankbrothers eggbeaters, and i absolutely love them. I had the shimano 520 spds, but ran them for only 4 months and got sick of them. I just came out way too often for my liking. Now I have the eggbeaters, and I have yet to come out one time when I didn't want to.

Right now, Im riding forgs, i think they are ok, oh i am riding road. They are my first clip less, as people said good begginers for easy in and out.

I agree with jermsoccer. My Beaters are practically immune to the mud. THey aren't all that comfy on the road (no platform). but I just grin and bear it.

I am a new rider and I have the Specialized Taho Shoes and the Shimano pd-m505 pedals or something like that...anyways I like them, they don't move very much and they're pretty easy to get out of when you want out of them.

some people like float, others don't. I say find an LBS that will let you swap out pedals if you don't like them. Get something simple first that you can get used to. From what I can tell the Crank Brothers Mallet C would be a great beginner pedal since it has a decent sized platform and I've heard wonderful things about the mechanism. Might wanna give those a go since the platform will give you the opportunity to still be able to transfer power to the pedal even when not clipped in.