Originally Posted by vincenzosi
He could also bag a pair of dual pedals with and without clips. I saw a guy on the Staten Island Ferry. He had a pair of (I believe Shimano) pedals that had the mechanism for clipless, but it was attached to a pedal that looked almost platform.
If you're sporting about town during the week and doing long rides on the weekend, that's probably a great compromise.
I have some look dual purpose pedals, which I bought many years ago (around 1982) and I have very seldom, if ever, ridden them without the cleats. The good news is those pedals provide a much larger platform than the standard look pedals, so there is less concentration of pressure under the foot when riding with cleats. The dual purpose looks also are easier to start up from a dead stop, because you can get a little more pressure on the pedal with the unhooked foot as you cross an intersection, before you get cleated in. I did buy some spd pedals that were dual purpose, but haven't really gotten around to setting up the cleats, so I don't know how much different they would be. I have one mountain bike set up with the mini toe clips, and it makes a great short trip bike. There is no worrying aobut finding all of the right gear- just hop on and ride.