What the "easiest" pedal to get out of is a fuzzy issue. I just switch from Crank Brother's pedals to the Time ATAC's. The Time's require about twice as much force from your leg to clip in and out of than the Crank Brother's did for sure (about the same to clip in). However, I actually feel like it's notably easier to get in and out of them - my leg is capable is producing far more force than required to unclip from either, but with the Time's I slide my foot out and it "clicks" and I'm out - with the Crank Brother's I would slide my foot out and overdo it and assume that my foot had actually unclipped...not nearly as confidence inspiring.

The spd's would probably be fine as well.

Like other people, I would also stay away from road cleats simply because they don't have any tread on the shoes, so when you put your foot down it's not very stable - something you get used to, but it's unexpected at first. Plus it's way easier to walk around in mountain bike shoes off the bike.

The only cleat system I specifically avoid is the crank brothers one. Like I said, I had them before I was just very unimpressed with them in so many ways. Clipping in and out was ok but not great. I had to install the extra shims so they had enough clearance for my shoe to actually rotate on the pedals. When I switched them from one bike to another, the axle was covered in oil/grease - something I haven't run into with any other pedal systems. My bike fitter said that they might be the reason I was having knee pain as they let the shoe slide left and right a lot (which seems to be ok for mountain biking, but not for road biking). The fitter also changed the positioning of stuff on my bike, but after switching to the Time's my knee pain has almost completely dissapeared.

The Time Z's have a fairly large platform which is nice -
http://www.nashbar.com/bikes//Produc...2_506612_-1___



Anyways, just my thoughts. Good luck.