Just a couple of thoughts on pedals. I ride Looks, SPDs and toe clips. I have clips on my Madison as my grab and go bike, and four, or about half, of my C&V bikes for C&V purposes. I don't mind riding clips but, for the C&V's with clips, if I am going to put in any real mileage, I'll swap them out for clipless. I have SPDs on my Volpe single speed, my "city bike," and my go anywhere Land Shark cyclocross. My modernish bikes all have Looks or Shimano Look clones. They all work. However, I will never again wear cleats with clips.

Now, a couple of other meandering points. My experience is that Looks and SPDs are extremely solid and well built. As a result, the used bike market is full of 15 plus year old Look Deltas / Arcs that have been ridden hard and still work as well as the day they were new. I've picked up about a half dozen sets of Looks as part of old bike purchases. When I've actually bought a used set, I probably paid $15. So, they are plentiful and cheap. Likewise, particularly with sales, you can get perfectly adequate and functional clipless compatible shoes for less then $50. So, there is easy entry into this market.