I ride 22 mile round trip 3-5 days per week on a pretty spunky road bike (recent upgrade from my touring bike). This new bike came with one sided Shimano SPD road pedals and I can't stand them. They are a pain to get clipped in at every light or stop, especially when I need to take off quick. My previous bike had 2 sided spd mtb pedals that worked fine. But since I need to get new ones I'm looking for some input from other commuters. I need a good pedal that's easy to get in/out, but not huge bulky ones (I don't need a platform for riding without bike shoes) and they need to be good (long lasting) for various weather conditions. I also ride 2-4 centuries each year as well so they need to be functional, comfortable and solid for the long haul rides too.

What are you using?

thoughts?

Shimano A520.
If clipping in quickly is your highest priority, get egg beaters.

I like the regular old SPD two sided mtb pedals. Quick and easy to get into and out of plus I like the cyclocross/mtb shoes for commuting because the cleats are recessed and you can walk well in them.

Here's the trick --

Taking off quickly at a green light works best when you can pedal no matter whether your foot is clipped in or not. Doing that is a lot easier with a nice, fat platform.

At the other extreme, Crank Brothers' 4-sided Eggbeater is pretty easy to clip into, but it spins out from under your foot like, well, an eggbeater if you're not careful about pedaling when not yet clipped in.

There's a middle ground you're going to have to find between small pedals and easy-to-pedal-when-unclipped (because an unclipped foot might as well be a plain shoe).

Nope. Shimano M520. Dirt cheap (as little as $25), rugged and double sided. Stomp and go, the cleat will go in. And, despite my damnedest efforts, I haven't been able to break one in about 15 years of use.

M520s are what I use. I rarely have to think about clipping in or out, though - it just happens. It's fairly rare that I even feel the need to pedal when I'm unclipped, but on the occasion that I do, I find that I can put the instep of my rubber-soled walkable MTB shoe over the pedal and go, then clip in at my leisure later.

If you're looking for more of a road style pedal that has two-sided entry, you could try the Crank Bros Quattro. They were discontinued about a year ago but still can be found. Supposedly they're going to continue making the cleats because they work well for people who want to use road shoes with their other pedals.

I recently picked up a set of Quattros and they might be just what you're after. I'm also going to be trying a pair Crank Bros Acids. Those will likely end up on the winter bike.

The Quattros use the same egg beater mechanism as the other Crank Bros pedals. The difference is the small platform which provides a surface area for the Quattro cleat to mate to. More of the shoe ends up in contact with the pedal. Eggbeater style pedals provide a little bit easier entry and exit compared to standard SPDs in my opinion.

I recommend eggbeaters when riding in stop-and-go traffic. They are very easy to clip in and out; (after a few days of practice) there is no reason to ever not be clipped it. Just put your foot down at the right spot and in they go. If you will ride on salted roads, get the SL model.

Possible issue with Quattros is the shoes the OP is wearing for the commute. Many mountain bike or touring shoes will not work with the Quattro due to the size of the inboard bearing. I cut a rubber lug off of one pair of my mountain bike shoes to get them to work, but I can't use the Quattros with my Keen biking sandles --- the cleat is recessed therefore the tread hits the bearing and you can't clip in.

But along similar lines, I have Eggbeater Candies on my commuter/CX bike. The platform is not quite as large as the Quattros (which are on my road bike) but any shoe will work with them. And if you don't click straight in when stepping on the pedal, you still have a solid platform to push down on for a stroke or three to get you moving.

I haven't tried lots of different pedals, but I like my candy C's. Cheap, easy to clip in/out, and a platform if you're not clipped in.

One hesitation I have in more fully recommending Crank Bros pedals is that in terms of durability their record looks a little spotty. Most of the complaints seem to be from MTN bikers who often end up banging pedals against rocks and things. Not as common a scenario in the commuting world so I'm not too worried about it. I know another BF Member is switching from Eggbeater style pedals to Time Atacs. Somewhere there's a fairly detailed post explaining the reasons for his switch.

+1 M520 is awesome. I clip in for the suburban stretches and hills, and use the unclipped side for downtown and its myriad intersections. even at the intersections i tend to keep one foot clipped in and then go flat on the other one

It's funny, being that I wrote it I thought *I* would have it. Thought I bookmarked it - but I can't find it! :-(

I really like the Time ATAC's, having tried Crank Brothers and Shimano SPD's.

Durability - Time Atac and Shimano SPD's are good. Crank Brothers Eggbeaters have a poor reputation (at least the cheaper ones do, though they just redesinged them to supposedly make them more durable and have less constant recommended maintenance).

Float - Time Atac's are good. Crank Brothers have float, but it had a funny feel that I never liked - I think the cleat can move sideways itself. Wasn't sure it was good on my knees. Never liked the spd float that much, though lots of other people use them.

Dirt/Grime - Time Atac's and Crank Brothers have a good reputation for being able to clip into them no matter what. Including wading through mud while carrying your bike. Spd's aren't quite as good - wading through mud seems to be their limit where they finally get clogged. :-D

Clip in Feel - Time Atac's have a definitely feel to them the moment you clip in / out, which is really helpful - you actually know the moment you've clipped in or out with doing any weird leg things. Crank Brothers - not at all, you just sorta get used to the motion and assume you clipped in. Don't remember about spd's.

So - I think the Time Atac's have the best of all worlds. :-D Particularly the Time Atac ROC's, which I have.

Hmm...I should write this up in it's own thread so I can just reference it.

If you want more info from me, here's some other threads I was asking questions about them in -
https://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.ph...82#post6911982
https://www.bikeforums.net/mountain-biking/636821-ease-unclipping-time-vs-crank-brothers.html

I'm rolling with these. M970 - I've had them for about 4-5 years. They're perfect.

+1, More than likely he already has the A520's. But eggbeaters are best choice for dual sided click n release.

Unless your feet need a little more support, like mine, or you try out some cheap-assed PI shoes with soles that are slicker than cow slobber...don't ask me how I know. <ouch>

For commuting I like my M424s...double sided with resin cages. M324s are good too, platform on one side, spd on the other.

The Crank Bros Mallet has always looked like a good choice to me too...but I have way too much invested in SPD to try them.

Though I switched away from Crank Brothers entirely this year, I did ride this Acid's last year and I bought a pair of Mallets (though never used them, returned them unused) and I would say that for a commuter pedal the Acid's would be a much better choice.

The Acids have a larger than usual platform, but I never had trouble hitting it (even mountain biking). And the plastic material that made up the platform didn't seem to weigh very much (I didn't notice weight different compared to my other pedals). In contrast, the Mallets had only a slightly larger platform but were MUCH heavier - I could feel it the moment I opened the box they came in. According to the Crank Brothers website, the Acid's are 395g per pair for the lowest version while the Mallets are 540g per pair...hmm, it doesn't sound as much as I remember - but I really thought the Acid's seemed a lot lighter.

That's what I use, too. I got them so that I'd still be able to use my bike without bike shoes, but it turns out I wouldn't want to. Still, they work great. The right side is almost always up when I want to get on - they're slightly weighted - so I just put my foot down and go. If that doesn't work, I can flip the pedal over and try again without looking down or giving it much thought at all. I have nothing to compare these to, but they've worked well for me.

Egg beaters end of. Excellent pedals, easy to clip and and out of. Lightweight. What else do you need?

What else do you need?
1. Durability without constantly rebuilding the pedal
2. A pedal that doesn't leak grease all over itself
3. Being able to tell when you actually get clipped in or out by feel, rather than the "I'm pretty sure it clipped me in" feeling
4. No "loosey goosy" feeling from the side-to-side movement of the cleat



(and yes, my comments do come from owning a pair)

maybe you can give your pedals some more time. I ride one sided SPD pedals on my bikes. It took some time to get good at it but now it's no problem in traffic with a fixie.

I've used Look style pedals, SPD's and now Candy C's for commuting. Hands down, I prefer the Candy C's. Just so simple to use, nothing to adjust, just pop in, pop out. It's that easy. YMMV

That's the A520.

OP:

Put my vote on the M520 list. They offer everything you say you want. Have ridden them on centuries.

Just for clarity:

M520: 2 sided SPD pedal
A520: Single sided SPD with a platform around the mechanism
A530: SPD on one side, platform on the other.

The difference between the A520 and the A530 is that the platform on the A530 is meant for regular shoes and is on the opposite side of the pedal from the mechanism. One side is for clipless, the other is for regular shoes. The A520 is not intended to be used with regular shoes.

Shimano A530.