Pedals
 

I am getting my first real road bike today. I have generally ridden comfort/commuters with flat pedals. I am not sure what to get for the new bike. Clips, Clipless, half clips, platform or clipless platforms? I am not sure that I can afford new pedals AND new shoes. Reading this forum I am understanding that clipless is a better way to ride but it may not be convenient for me. I commute everywhere and go to school part time and work part time so leaving a pair of regular shoes at work is not an option. I dont want to carry shoes around with me and I dont want to wear cleats all day every day. Would I be happy with either half clips or pedals that I can use either cleats or regular shoes with?

Would these work? http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-PD-M42...8158378&sr=1-1

These are another option:
http://www.probikekit.com/us/contact...ng-pedals.html

You might want to try clips and straps to see if they do the job for you.

I use them and they work fine. The platform itself is not perfectly flat because of the SPD cleat, but that won't bother you for short to medium rides.

If you plan to use the bike for very long rides, as in 50-100 mile rides, then in that case I would recommend going with SPD-SL instead of SPD pedals. When you are in the saddle for 6 hours or more, the larger surface area of the SPD-SL cleat makes a difference. Of course you can also go with another road pedal system such as LOOK pedals.

Start with toe clips. But keep in mind that some pedals will tear up the bottoms of your shoes.

If you're using regular shoes the majority of time you spend on your bike, I wouldn't bother with clipless unless you do group rides or races where top performance is important.

For commuting IMO, the benefits of clipless are often outweighed by the inconveniences. That leaves regular platforms, BMX pedals, platforms with clips/straps, or platforms with something like Power Grips. Since I hate clips and straps, I'd personally go for the BMX pedals or Power Grips but YMMV.

I haven't tried the pedals in your link and they may be perfect, but I'd want to try them before committing to them.

Thanks everyone. I will eventually get ones that are clipless on one side and platform on the other but will probably go the cheap route today and throw on some old platforms with the possible addition of half clips.

Shimano A530 pedals work well for me, but there is a learning curve. I've eventually learned how to flip the pedal in transit, usually by taking my foot off at BDC and then locking on at TDC once the pedal has flipped on its own.

In hindsight, I should have gone with a double-sided clipless system, because I got on my bike once for a quick 1.5 mile ride with regular shoes and a block and a half later seriously was not happy not being able to clip in. How the hell I ever managed without the damn things I'll never know. But single-sided clipless is not bad.

I'm going to be getting new pedals soon as well and am interested in clipless/pedal combos....also I don't know much about the shoes. Any general tips on shoes or shoes/pedals you guys love?

I have the Nashbar combo SPD/platform pedals on a couple of my bikes. I like the fact that I'm not married to having to wear bike shoes all the time. For example, if my son and I decide to ride down to a park, I don't have to worry about transporting shoes and changing; I can just hop on the bike with my tennis shoes and go.

There is a learning curve to getting the right side of the pedal up (regardless of which kind of shoe I'm wearing), but it really isn't that bad.

I felt the same way after I first got my A530s. I rode with cycling shoes over 90% of the time anyway so having the option to use regular shoes didn't seem to have much value, - until I switched to pedals I couldn't effectively use with regular shoes. That's when my appreciation for the A530s grew.

The other thing that happened is that my A530s broke in. The bearings were pretty stiff at first and they didn't seem to hang any particular way consistently. After they broke in, they started to hang with the clipless mechanism facing rearward. Once I realized that, I change my technique to push the top of the pedal forward before trying to clip in. Now I get the right side almost all the time.

The other thing I realized that ending up on the wrong side of the pedal is something that can be addressed when convenient and I don't have to fumble with the pedals trying to get across an intersection.

It's not so much frequency for me as it is just ... if I go without clipless, I feel insecure. My feet come off the pedals a lot, I have to keep them settled on the platform instead of lifting my legs, etc. Technique is different, mechanical connection is completely lost, and it's unnerving.

When I first clipped in I thought it was awesome... the very first time, just amazing. After that I kind of don't much notice unless it's not there. I have the opposite effect riding without the clip-ins now, though. Just like when I switched from an automatic to a manual ... the manual transmission is easier to drive, automatic is unnerving and impossible to parallel park.

As for the pedals hanging or doing whatever, meh. My brain works out what's going on, my legs move accordingly, the cleat finds the pedals. The hard part is getting the cleat to actually clip in, which involves shifting my weight onto it... typically while I'm pedaling, if I don't get it immediately on take-off, and thus I'm trying to effectively power my bike but also trying to put power into my foot to lock a cleat into a clamp.

"Mountain" systems, like SPD, use small cleats, which are recessed into the shoe. You can walk easily in these shoes, without scraping the cleat into the ground. Road shoes are more cumbersome to walk in. Most people contemplating clipless pedals should decide road vs mountain based on how much walking they plan to do on a ride.

I use and like SPD. I have A-520 pedals, and like them a lot. Being one sided doesn't bother me at all. I thought one-sided would make them work pretty well in "normal" shoes, which isn't really the case, but on the other hand, I have almost no desire to use normal shoes with them, now that I have a feel for what I would have to give up. ( On the other hand, I can't leave a pair of shoes at the gym, so I'd actually like a platform/clipless pedal for this commute. )

Today on my local Craigslist, there's a pair of SPD shoes with pedals and cleats for $40. Obviously, the entire set is used. When I got my pedals and first pair of shoes, the entire package cost about $200 after tax. I'm not in love with the first shoes I got, but I do have a pair I got, used, for $45, with carbon soles, that don't flex, making them extremely comfortable. What I'm trying to say is figure out what type of clipless system you want, and get it used at a steep discount. If you like it, you can get nicer shoes later.