tankman10024

ok as many of you might know already I'm new to road biking. Now i have a question about pedals and shoes. do you first get the pedals and then the shoes to match or what?

Thx
tankman

jumpr

There are two main types of clipless pedals: SPD and Look. SPDs are more versatile because you can get MTB shoes to use with them, and they let you walk around with minimal hassle. Look pedals are nice and perhaps more secure than SPDs, but the associated shoes and cleats result in you walking like a penguin, because the cleats stick out way past the bottom of the shoe.

In short, you can buy pedals and shoes in any order you want. I recommend SPDs, however, because you'll have a much easier time off the bike. Shimano makes a good set sold here.

the beef

Could you guys elaborate a little more on how walking around with Look cleats is managed? I'm ashamed to admit that I still have a pair of platform/SPDs on my Bianchi. I've got two sets of Look pedals in the garage, but I wanted to find out a little more before I made the jump as well.

operator

You walk with heel going down first. Or if you have covers you learn how to walk like a duck and only the cleat cover touches the ground.

ericgu

It depends on the type of shoes and pedals. Shoes are divided into two groups. The "walkable" shoes have fairly thick soles so that the cleats can recess into them. SPDs are the most common example.

The advantages of the SPD system is that you can walk on them (though the shoe soles are fairly stiff, and may not be particularly comfortable), and that you can use them on normal pedals if you want. The disadvantages are that they are heavier, the soles typically quite as still, and some people get "hot spots" on the bottom of their feet because the cleat is small.

The "non-walkable" systems have a shoe with a very flat bottom, and the cleat mounts directly to that (in most cases a single shoe can support several different styles of cleats). That meanst the cleat sticks out, and can be fairly slippery. Some systems make cleat covers that can make it less slippery, others (SPD-SLs) have pads on them that make them much less slippery.

Different systems have different degrees of "float" - how much the foot can pivot freely in or out - which may help prevent knee issues, depending on your personal biomechanics. Setting up cleats correctly is something you should get done by a knowledgeable person, especially if the system you buy doesn't have much float.

So, to give you the short answer, if you go with "mountain style" spd, you could purchase the shoes first and use them on your current pedals. The stiffer soles will help over tennis shoes. If you go with a non-walkable (aka "road") system, you need both the shoes and the pedals to match, so you would buy them both at the same time.

One final note - Due to the vagaries of international finance, it's often cheaper to buy pedals from a place in Europe even after shipping. I've used https://www.totalcycling.com a couple of times.