Originally Posted by bikegummo
Hi everyone,
Great forum! I'm returning to cycling after about 10 years away, and I recently purchased a Diamondback Century (basically an entry-level aluminum road bike with straight handlebars--used to ride a mountain bike, and wanted the familiarity). Anyhow, I'm really, really loving the bike and riding about 20 miles per day.
The only thing I want to change soon is the pedals. Currently, I've got fairly low-end pedals with toe clips. I want to move to pedals with cleats, and I can't seem to get a handle on the various cleat patterns. Also, any advice on a decent, fairly inexpensive pedal and a fairly inexpensive shoe I should look into?
Thanks for any and all help!
Depends on what's important to you.
Broadly, there are walkable systems that are designed for mountain biking. They have a cleat that is recessed into the sole, so you can walk on them normally - well, as normally as you can on a shoe where the sole doesn't bend. Lots of people use these on road bikes as well. Shimano SPD is one of these systems.
Then, there are the road systems. On these systems the shoes just have a flat plate on the bottom, and the cleat is mounted so that it sticks out underneath. None of these are great to walk in, but the SPD-SLs are somewhat walkable, while the looks are fairly slippery. Then there are speedplays, and several other systems.
The chief advantage of the road systems is that the shoes are a bit lighter, and the pedal is bigger which gives you a broader area over which to spread the force. Some people have problems on the mountain-style systems because of the smaller area.
You need shoes that are compatible with the cleats that match the pedals you buy. Generally, shoes fit either road or mountain cleats, but some fit both.