Originally Posted by
floatsinwater
I'm in a bit of a budget conundrum... Here's the deal:
Do you race?
Are you competitive?
Do you race in the mountains?
Do you weigh about 2 pounds per inch (ex: 140 pounds for 5'10") which implies morphology suited for winning climbing events?
If so get the expensive pedals. Loosing the last 100 grams of bike weight beyond the UCI minimum will give a 140 pound rider a 0.14% speed gain up the steepest hills hill for about five seconds more separation per hour between him and the chasing peleton when he's racing off the front to an up-hill finish.
Otherwise get two sets of pedals and consider two pairs of used high-end pedals with one new set of cleats (pedals last far longer than cleats, even with metal SPD like cleats).