icepick_trotsky 

Like many of you, I have a lot of bikes. For commuting I use platforms and toe clips. It works well for me, and I like not worrying about what shoes I'm wearing. For my road and track bikes I use Look clipless pedals. That means I have road shoes with large cleats that aren't great for walking, but that's ok for those contexts.

Lately I've been debating trying out a double-sided pedal (clipless on one side, platform on the other) for my commuter to have more options. Anyone using these? Which ones do you have and what do you like/dislike about them?

kickstart

I use Shimano 324 pedals on my primary commuter and really like them. Once broken in, they hang vertically and it becomes 2nd nature to get on the appropriate side 9 times out of 10. I have no complaints about them.

gregjones

The 324's are more "toothy" than the A530's and much better in the rain/slush, in fact the 530 gets quite slick. The 530 is a little easier on the feet, due to lack of "bite", when wearing light shoes (Merrell Barefoot). Having had both, I sold the 530 and use the 324.

You are used to clipless so no problem, in fact the 324's might take a bit of getting used to. They are very easy to engage and release.

HardyWeinberg

I like the a530s a lot because they are not as bite-y as the 324s. You could ride them barefoot if you wanted, but they still have ridges that give some traction for soft soled shoes.

When I got my 1st 10-speed bike around junior high time that was the biggest bummer, with the bite-y pedals I couldn't ride barefoot anymore.

I know riding barefoot is not a best practice.

Steely Dan

over the past 8 years i've had great luck with the Forte Campus combo SPD/platform pedal from Perfomance. i've got them on both my CX commuter and my hybrid winter beast. i have Shimano A530's on my road bike, and they're fine, but i honestly feel that the Forte Campus pedal is a little better from a longevity standpoint and they're nearly half the price.

and i've found that SPD combined with shoes with a recessed cleat well is absolutely wonderful for commuting. i can sill ride locked onto the pedal, which i greatly prefer, while also being able to walk around like a regular old biped when i'm off the bike. and the platform side of the pedal is awesome to have in case i ever just want to hop on a bike without thinking about putting on special footwear. i really love that type of flexibility, but i know others on this forum have found combo pedals to be the worst of both worlds. to each their own, i love 'em and will never use any other kind of pedal.

JohnJ80

I have been using Time ATAC pedals for years and think they are far superior to the Shimano SPD offerings - lighter, more float, durable.

I recently switched over to the brand new Speedplay SYZR because it's got even more float, it's adjustable float, and it's metal to metal contact so the shoe treads are not part of the fit equation between shoe and pedal and so there is no wear on the shoe. Also, they offer the ability to cant the pedal so that you can adjust for foot issues like you can with a road pedal. Rumor is that they are also going to offer different spindle lengths to accommodate different Q factor needs. So far, I really like them.

J.

Steely Dan

^ does Time now make a combo ATAC pedal that is clipless on one side and standard platform on the other? if so, that's news to me.

JohnJ80

They did a while ago, I think I have a pair somewhere. In general, I don't like those kinds of pedals. But for those times when you want to do that, you can make any two sided pedal into a single sided pedal with these:

https://www.amazon.com/Winwood-Deckst.../dp/B001C6BJGK

We've used them lots and they work just fine. You just add a set of cleats on the bottom of them and then click the platform into the pedal.

J.

icepick_trotsky 

MKS does, actually. They use Time cleats.

https://www.benscycle.com/p-2045-mks...k6_RoC4Dfw_wcB

Steely Dan

yeah, those kinds of add-ons can work too, but i think the OP is looking to discuss pedals that are combo clipless/platform out of the box.

12strings

I go"evo VP " dual platform pedals for $22 about 6 months ago...I've been happy stub them, though they aren't the lightest...love the dual functounality for commuting.

no motor?

That's me. I tried a pair of those thinking I'd use toe clips on the platform side and then go clipless later. I hated the knee problems the toe clips caused so much I took them off and found the pedals to constantly be wrong side up when taking off from a stop. I ended up trading them to someone here who seemed to like them, ymmv.

TinkerinWstuff

I love my Shimano combo pedal. I commute in clipless and ride to the park with my son on the platform side. As said previously, the clip side usually hangs down when unclipped at a stop. So a half crank of the bottom bracket brings the pedal to the top with the clip upright and my shoe snaps right in. 9 of 10 times it's right on the money.

ThermionicScott 

I'm one of those who hated the combo pedals (M324). Always seemed like the wrong side was coming up for what I needed, so I'd rather commit and know for sure that when I put my foot down blindly, that it would do what I expect. I ended up giving those combo pedals to my brother.

That said, I occasionally get hot-spot issues with my SPD pedals on long rides (>100 mi), so I'm considering combo pedals that would allow me to pedal with different contact points for a while now and then.

spare_wheel

The M324s weigh 1.2 lbs. That is simply ridiculous.

For weight weenies these 286 gm pedals work very well for shorter platformish trips:

Shimano PDA600 SPD pedal review | road.cc

I have them on most of my bikes now.

Ray Lovinggood

I'm using the Shimano M324's now. They work just fine for me on my commute. I rarely use the platform side of the pedal, but the plain side comes in handy when I'm just too lazy to change shoes or I need to ride to the store, a whopping 0.6 miles away on mostly level terrain.

kickstart

Or irrelevant, depending on ones priorities.

spare_wheel

I did specify that I'm a weenie.

noglider 

I love my combo pedals. I have three sets on three bikes. Two are the Wellgo/Nashbar kind, and one is the Electra.

While I appreciate being able to walk in my SPD shoes, it does make a big grinding noise on concrete. For some reason, it does not dent wood floors, and it usually does not grind on asphalt, brick, or stone.

gregjones

The A600 is not a dual pedal that the OP is inquiring about. He already has a clipless system that he likes and is searching for a different pedal for a different need.

Other that that, they are a very nice set of pedals.

Steely Dan

yep, the A600 is not a combo pedal, it doesn't have a true platform side, it's just a single-sided SPD. i used to have them on my road bike, not a bad pedal, but then i threw on some A530's that i had laying around to give me the maximum flexibility that i like. 285g vs. 385g respectively, but i gained the functionality of a true combo pedal with an actual platform side, which i like having, so the weight penalty was easily and promptly overlooked.

but as i said earlier for only another 40g on top of the A530, i actually prefer the Forte Campus combo pedal because i've had better luck with it lasting for thousands upon thousands of miles (my original pair are still going strong 8 years later) vs. the A530 which i had a pair crap out on me around the 7,500 mile mark. and they're much cheaper to boot!

tjspiel

Just one word of advice regarding the A530s (and probably others). Let them break in before judging them.

The bearings on mine at least were pretty stiff when new so that the pedal would often remain in place after unclipping rather than rotating. This meant that the pedals were not always positioned consistently when trying to clip in.

Once broken in, they end up in the same position. Picture a forward slash: / with the clipless mechanism on the back side.

Notgrownup

I know not top of the line but I have the Forte Campus pedals and I like them,

fietsbob

I have a Pedal wrench , a nice one , so I take the Double sided (Time alium Atacs), off and the double sided platform pedals on.

actually havent put the SPuD pedals on in years ..

PaulRivers

I know they made one for sure, but I couldn't find it in a quick search so maybe they stopped making it. :-/

Like many other posters, I personally hated riding with the combo-sided (so 1 sided for any particular footwear) because when you clip out you have to look down to clip back in, which leaves you looking down at the worst possible time (right at an intersection). Some are worse than others for being unpredictable about which side is up, but there's always at least one choice of footwear that requires you to try to flip the pedal over to the right side being up in order to get your foot back on the pedal.

Other people say they like them. So opinions vary. If I was personally switching back and forth and using spd's I'd use the "ezy superior" pedals which appear to let you switch the pedals on your bike by hand in around 10 seconds.
https://youtu.be/S1aPm-WqZsQ?t=24s