Originally Posted by
jewelthief
For my first experience with clipless I went with the Shimano M324. The price was right (becauase I wasn't sure if I'd like being clipped in or not) and they looked like I could use them as clipless or platform. They are great as clipless as they have shown me that I like being clipped to my bike. As far as using them as platform pedals, they are only OK. By that I mean you can use them, but the clip mechanism does stick up. With hard soled shoes this probably wouldn't matter but I usually wear Chuck Taylors when I'm knocking around and can feel the mechanism through the bottoms of these shoes. It isn't bad because they seem to feel natural after a minute or two on the bike, but the first few times out it was annoying. I'd be reluctant to go any long distances in regular shoes, however.
The clipless mechanism sticks through onto the platform side?? I have tried Shimano M324's and did not have that problem... with the Performance Campus and Nashbar Rodeo pedals it's certainly not an issue.
Originally Posted by
jewelthief
If you can spare the money and are looking for some versitility go with the the Shimano PD-A530 or something similar.
Those
do look intriguing! They're basically SPDs on one side with very large platforms on the other. Hmmm...
Originally Posted by
lambo_vt
ride in slippery conditions
sprint
hop the bike
climb
I'd venture that most people in this forum do these pretty regularly.
Yeah, I definitely do all of these sometimes/often when commuting. And even beyond that, I just find that clipless pedals allow me to hold my feet in a more comfortable and efficient position since I don't have to worry about front-to-back motion of my feet.