Originally Posted by mattkime
Clips? Clipless? What should I go with?
I commute to work and would prefer to be able to walk around in whatever shoes i bike in. I think this might mean leaning away from clipless. That being said, I'd really like to hear suggestions based on experience.
You can have the best of both worlds. I've tried two different pedals that allow you to clipless with a shimano SPD cleat on one side and wear whatever shoe you like on the other side. The heavier duty pedal is called a "forte campus pedal" that is sold by performancebike.com. The other is a Shimano PDM520 and comes with a plastic platform on one side. The campus pedal is heavier and can chew up your shoes a bit when not using the side intended for the cleat. They have both worked well for me and I don't really have a preference. The Shimano pedal came on my new touring bike so I don't know what the price is on that pedal. However, the forte campus pedals sell for $29.99 on the performancebike.com website.
Either way, you gotta do your maintenance on the pedals. Grease them when you install them. Take them off every few months, clean them and re-grease them.