Am I the only cheap bastard that switches out the only set of Speedplays to whatever bike I choose to ride that day? In other words, I have 3 bikes, but only one set of pedals and shoes

Never considered because I assumed it would be more hassle than it was worth to save the cost of a set of pedals.

How long does it take you to change the pedals? How often do you do it? Do you have to deal with much dirt and gunk?

No, it takes me 5 min to first wipe excess sand and grit from around the pedal crank threads, put a Park wrench on just enough to break the tightness, slowly pull the pedal, re-grease, then place it carefully into the next bike's clean crank arm. The important thing is to keep the threads grit free and slightly greased. I guess I'm saving $300 on 2 new sets of Speedplays unless I'm not thinking of something here...

I'd worry about the threads stripping, but if your not overtighting them, you should be fine. I do that too with my pedals. It's a pain sometimes when I'm lazy and just want to ride.

I've heard of people buying eggbeaters so they can use the same set of shoes cleats for mountain/road/whatever.

This isn't a bad idea though. It could help me justify the cost of an expensive set of pedals. But until then, it's el-cheapo wellgo SPD for me

MKS makes quick release pedals. They come in platform or clipless models. They work just like a nail gun and a hose to a compressor, you pull back a ring and pull off the pedal. They are a great anti theft device too as a thief can't ride away on your bike if you bring the pedals with you. Sometimes you see them on folding bikes.

My time is worth more than that. Different pedals for different bikes!

Those MKS removable pedals are pretty cool, BTW. I'm thinking of getting the clipless variety for my folder (I have the flats, which come stock, but never use them).

That's what I do on mine. I have some eggbeaters on my MTB, Quatros on another bike and Candies on my commuter. One pair of shoes fits them all. My other bikes have other types of pedals, but the main bikes have Crank Bros.

I use SPD pedals mostly so I can afford to put them on all of my bikes. You can usually find a workable pair of SPD pedals for $30 or less and they come with an extra pair of cleats.

I have pedals for every bike, and currently have extras since I've sold some bikes off.

Given the number of speedplay pedals currently listed on ebay, I'd think you could pick up a few sets on the cheap if you watched it for a while.

Out of curiosity, what type of shoes are you using to switch between them?

I guess I just assumed that mtb shoes wouldn't work with quattros - or at the least, you would lose the platform effect their road cleat base-plate provides.

I have two road bikes and I have LOOK Carbon KEOs on both of them. Changing pedals between bikes would be a PITA and I like being able to simply hop on one bike or the other without having to screw around with changing components out. I do have one set of shoes though so I can go from bike to bike without having to deal with small differences between shoes/cleat placement.

I don't think switching pedals often is an issue with wearing out the crank arms. It just seems like a nuisance. I wouldn't put up with it.

Yeah. Not worth the hassle to me. I have SPDs all around.

Pearl Izumi MTB shoes. The standard cleats works across all of their pedals. Cool.... Seems to work pretty good with the quattros. I don't care for them as much as the Candies though. Not as easy to clip in.

Depends on how many bikes you have and what kind of pedals you ride. If you have 5 bikes, that's a lot of dough. I'd rather take a few minutes to swap out pedals than ride heavy ones that don't have enough float. I have three sets of pedals, but I'll soon be down to two.

I have never seen that! Cool idea.

To the OP, I have Speedplays and I did the pedal swap thing between my mtn bike and my SS. It doesn't take long with a 15mm wrench. I never buggered the threads, either.

"cheap bastards" don't use Speedplays

As others have don, I have all Eggbeaters (different versions) on my bikes. 2 sets of shoes: one uber-stiff mtn shoe, used for long rides, mtb, and commuting when cold.

And one set of sandals for the non-winter commuting. Gotta love those sandal tan lines I was iffy on the sandals at first but they're excellent!