Originally Posted by
Steely Dan
i guess that makes you and me different then.
my feet must have tiny brains in them that just "know" which side of the pedal they want to be on for the SPD cleat receiver or for the platform. i think over the years my feet have just learned what they need to do because the pedals are weighted to always hang the same direction when foot pressure is released.
Sorry, but as my Dad would say "Horse hockey!" Unless you have some kind of telekinetic ability, you
can't have the proper side of an asymmetric pedal always up for the kind of shoe you are using. Even if the pedal is weighted so that it always hangs the same direction, sooner or later you are going to have to flip the pedal to get the right side up.
And once the bearings have loosened, the heavier side, nonplatform side is going to almost always be down. Either that or your bearings are too tight. This is absolutely not a problem with symmetrical pedals. Like I said, get your feet on the pedal and the cleat will engage.
You
can ride SPD pedals with normal shoes too. Without modification or additions. It's not terribly comfortable for any appreciable distance but riding platforms for an appreciable distance isn't any more comfortable.