Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
Indeed it is a pain to clip / unclip/ clip / unclip…
When I occasionally do a multimodal commute, bike ~ 2 miles to train in the city, train to an outlying suburban station, then cycle ~ 5 miles to work ,
I wear regular running shoes for the urban segment though the downtown, and bring my cycling shoes for the suburban segment.
Otherwise the full cycle commute of about 14 miles through MUP, residential, and early morning light commercial routes does not require many, sometime no stops...
Originally Posted by
CliffordK
Living near a smaller city, much of what I consider city center urban is probably what you consider suburban, and what I consider suburban would be what you consider way out in the boonies.
Nonetheless, while clipping and unclipping takes a moment of thought, it is not that big of a hassle…
A quick twist of the ankle and one is out. And, with some practice, I can often hit the cleats while pedaling…
I try not to carry two pairs of shoes, except for walking shoes if I'm planning on being off the bike for the full day.
And, I keep a pair of shoes at Mom's house as it is a frequent destination.
Thanks for the reply @CliffordK. As was posted earlier on this thread:
Originally Posted by
daoswald
I've tried several styles of pedals:
- SPD-A530 - Large but slippery platform on one side, clips on the other. Just ok.
- SPD-M324 - Smaller but thicker and still slipery platform on one side, clips on the other. Even worse…
The dual purpose pedals just never did it for me. The ones I used were a little too slippery on the platform side, and whether I was using regular shoes or SPD shoes, the pedal would always find the wrong side up. Just too inconvenient, for too little gain.
The single sided SPD pedals (A600) seemed about the best road-style SPD pedals out there. And I used them for years on my road bike. I don't prefer them for commuting. But for road cycling they're pretty easy to get into. ...but SPD-SL are more comfortable on long rides.
The SPD-SL pedals have won me over for road cycling. On long rides they do a better job at avoiding hot spots. They're pretty easy to get into. Sometimes they find the wrong-side up, but I'm pretty used to them now…
But for commuting 4.5 to 22 miles (depending on which way I go), in traffic, with a laptop in panniers, I just prefer the platform pedals. I wouldn't go back to clipless on my hybrid / commuter / utility bike.
Originally Posted by
Phil_gretz
I use these on my "commuter" bike, plus the metal caged one on my MTB. I use the single sided 234s (?) on my touring bike. I always ride in cleated shoes, however.
My thoughts exactly, SPD-SL for any performance-type road bike. I really like them…
As to the "butter on the wrong side", one only has to rotate the crank 180 degrees and meet that pedal in the new spot, and the cleat will be up. Easy.
I’m not particularly conversant with all the pedal types discussed, but mine clip only on one side. Clipping in and out are easy with one foot only.
Sometimes though on an incline upwards, from a stop with both feet free and unclipped, it can be a problem to get enough forward momentum to rotate the pedal and clip in, and the cleat is slippery on the wrong side of the pedal. On a couple of occasions I banged my shin on the pedal.
I tried riding with cleat covers for traction on such short distances, but I’ve lost two separate cleat covers doing that, and I prefer the “old soft shoe” routine.
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 01-03-20 at 05:35 PM.