bds1168

As you all know i'm new to this so i'm going to ask more than a few dumb questions.
I have on my bike speed line clip in pedals I guess they are called egg beaters or lolly pop pedals. My question is are they good bad I don't know. I've heard they are bad for your knees. So far they haven't given me any problems other than helping me look realy stupid when I fell over at a dead stop because I forgot to clip out. I guess what I realy want to know is what are the pros and cons. My bike is a 06 Trek 1000 SL and I am only ridind about 15 miles a day at this time but hope to increse that soon.

10 Wheels

Welcome to Bike Forums.
Everyone has there favorite way of pedaling a bike.
Should you not like what you now have, try something else.

I don't like to be connected to anything that moves.
I have ridden 29,000 miles in walking shoes with toe clips, no straps.

You can ask this over in the Road Bike section and get many answers.

superdex

What makes them bad for your knees? If your knees hurt, that's a fit issue, not a pedal issue.

Also, these are egg-beaters:



and these are lollipops (aka Speedplay):

bds1168

O.K. I guess that I have lollipops (a.k.a. speedplay) or that is exactaly what I have. What do you think? Are they goog or what do ypu think?
Thanks, Bryan

RonH

A lot of people like Speedplays (don't call them lollipops when around other cyclists or be prepared for the hee-haws). I've been riding with clipless pedals since 2001. I tried Speedplays for 3 months in 2004 and gave up. In 2001 I started with SPD pedals but eventually graduated to Look pedals.
If you're new to clipless, I'd suggest SPD or Smarty (or Candy) pedals. Both are two sided and are easy to clip into and unclip from.

DustinLuckenbil

They are good pedals. Some people like them and some don't. The only reason I could imagine they would be bad for your knees is the lack of float. Float is the ability for your feet to twist a little while clipped into the pedal. Some Speedplays have the option of a certain amount of float or fixed and that would be determined by the cleats you have. From what I've read, some people get pain in their knees from fixed cleats, but I assume this is from their bike not being fit correctly and their pedals stick out too much or too little from the bike (pedal and knees not lining up). I'd say keep them and enjoy they until you have problems and even then you might only need new cleats. Actually, I just looked it up and depending on which Speedplays you have, float might be adjustable on them. It doesn't look like getting new cleats would change float on them like it does on Look style pedals. Hope that helps.

superdex

Speedplays have the most float (15* vs 9* on Looks?), are double sided, and have a very strong following. They're a great pedal, but if your knees are bothering you, I strongly suggest getting to a bike shop you trust and give them some $$ to do a basic fit. Your knees will thank you--