nkfrench 

I have Shimano double-sided MTB pedals and wear Keen bike sandals w/ SPD cleats. Absolutely love them. I started with Tahoe MTB shoes but they were a little too snug and my toes got very cold and some hotfoot. I've moved the cleats back but just haven't been wearing the Tahoes because the sandals are just so much more comfortable. With wool socks and that rubber toe bumper, they are warmer than you would expect.

I also own some road shoes and really don't like them. They are designed for somebody with thinner ankles and I don't feel confident when putting a foot down on asphalt. With the smooth sole the shoe slips around more when I take a pedal stroke or two unclipped.

I have SPD/platform combo pedals on another bike and hate having to flip them to the "correct" side. I prefer riding clipped in anyhow.

For novices to clipless who have tendencies to being awkward: I definitely recommend MTB or touring shoes.

Don Gwinn

OK, I think you've all successfully talked me out of 2-sided pedals . . . I see that I would like to be able to clip in on both sides. But I only have the one bike I really like to ride, and I'd still like to be able to hop on in my everyday shoes . . . I don't want to be forced to wear even MTB shoes when it's a nice day and I want to hop on the bike and run over to the hardware store.

So I've been looking around, and the first thing that caught my eye were "pedal covers" that convert some pedals into platforms. It's hard to figure out what search terms to use, but I found a few examples that look like they would fit Egg Beaters and some that look like they're made for Speedplay Frogs. I could see leaving those in my panniers until I have a use for them. Couldn't find any discussion of them here, though, and they don't look all that durable.

I'm more interested in a clipless pedal with enough platform to be comfortable for short jaunts in plain sneakers. I'm thinking about the Crank Brothers Mallet:
https://crankbrothers.com/pedals_mallet1.php

Who has thoughts on this? Good idea? Bad idea? I'd like to be clipped on training rides, club rides, centuries and commuting (most of my bike commute is done on a dedicated bike trail) so I'd be using the clipless a lot more than the platform. I don't care much about impact resistance, since these are going on a road bike, but I'd like them to stand up to wear and tear and a heavy rider.

BethesdaCommute

I commute using Crank Brother Mallets (24 miles round trip) and love them. I used to use the Candy pedals but found that I liked the bigger platform that the Mallets give. I'm clipped in for 95% of my ride, but find that during the short stretches where I'm not clipped in it is really great having a platform pedal. The platform on the Mallets is also pretty comfortable - I can ride my bike around the neighborhood with my kids while wearing flip-flops and find that the pedals are perfectly comfortable (not so much with the Candy pedals, and definitely not the case eggbeaters). I've heard mixed reviews as to the durability of Crank Brothers pedals, but personally have had no problems (I've had my pedals for over 2 years and have had no issues - they've stood up to bad weather and lots of pounding). Also easy to clip into Crank Brothers pedals because you can clip into either side of the pedal. Based on my personal experience, I would recommend them.

Don Gwinn

Thanks!

fietsbob

Winwood 'decksters' [distributed by QBP, etc.] , and a spare cleat, added to one side of
most 'spud' pedals, offer a plain shoe surface to the pedal .

Time ATAC pedals are then an option, and a few others ..
Not sure if speedplay frog is in the compatibility game.

JohnJ80

I've used the winwood decksters and think they work pretty well. I've ridden long term on them and even done a somewhat technical descent on my mountain bike with them. I'd get these over getting one of those pedals that have a full platform on one side and the pedal/cleat interface on the other. For one, you lose 200 grams or so every time you use the clipless pedals and secondly you have a double side clipless pedal.

J.

David Chen

I use Shimano PD-M324 on my bicycle, so that I could use normal shoes for commuting (it's only 2 miles) but could clip in other times. I don't find it difficult to select which side to use--rather than being weighted so that one side is up or down, they're weighted so that the platform side faces forward and the clipless side faces backwards. So, it's very easy to orient.

Very occasionally the wrong side is up front, but it's not a big deal for me; I just pedal half a revolution and the other side is now up.

The other reason why I got the M324s has a bit to do with paranoia--these pedals take normal reflectors and I don't want some jackass saying that I was breaking committing some sort of technicality cycling at night without pedal reflectors and *that's* why they didn't see me despite lights and safety vest. I've never heard of anyone running into issues for not having pedal reflectors before, though, so I don't think it's a very credible concern.

The other nice thing (for me, at least) about the PD-M324s is that they come with the multi-directional release cleats. I've yet to fall from not being able to unclip despite several close calls where I forgot about being clipped in, and yet to unclip when I didn't want to.

As a related anecdote, I tried on about 6 shoes before settling on a pair of Shimano M087G's, which have treated me well so far.

pallen

I had a great experience with the platform/spd pedals. My main recommendation would be to not skimp on shoes. Make sure your shoes have a very stiff sole. The flexy ones feel nice to walk in, but caused me numbness issues and pressure spots. A stuff sole spreads the force over a larger area.

spare_wheel

Count me in as one of those who started using shimano m-324 and now can't stand them. I moved one pair on to my shopping bike but my commuters now have dual sided clipless spd from wellgo. In fact, I strongly recommend the $24 wellgo (RC-713 or similar) pedal. They are attractive stainless steel, fully spd compatible, and lighter (270g versus 310) than $200-250 shimano XTR pedals. I've been running wellgos for years with absolutely no problems.

tarwheel 

Get some Shimano M540 or M520 pedals and forget about it. You will get used to clipless pedals very quickly. The 520/540 pedals are double-sided so you don't have to worry about trying to flip them over with your foot while starting in traffic. These are very durable pedals as well. I've got some Wellgo knock-offs that are 10 years old and still work great with no maintenance during that time. I was using the original cleats until I replaced with some new Shimano M540s while building up a new frame.

The only reason to get the pedals with platforms on one side is if you want the flexibility to ride with regular shoes with no cleats. Once you try cleated pedals, you will probably never go back to platforms.

DirtRoadRunner

I've commuted using both the Shimano A530 platform/SPD and the Shimano M540 double-sided SPD>

While I didn't think the A530's were that bad, I like the M540's a LOT more. If you do hit the platform side of the A530's you can just keep pedaling and then switch to the SPD side once you are going comfortably fast. My reason for switching back to the M540's is that I almost never used the platform side of the A530's. Maybe once a month I would ride my bike 4 blocks to grab lunch during the day at work. I could have just as easily put on my SPD shoes for that. The M540's are great because I can just mash my foot down and be clipped in without even thinking about it. Unless you plan to ride in street shoes often, get the M540's.

canyoneagle

I've been using the Crank Brothers Acid pedals for my bikes and really like them. There's enough of a platform to allow comfortable riding without cleats and to make stoplight starts much less dramatic. I believe these are now discontinued, so they might not be the wisest choice (replacement parts, etc).

If you really want a nice platform, you could always go with these.

PaulRivers

lol, omg, I went through the same whole process as the OP, and didn't find any really good solution that I could use.

1 - as others have mentioned, I didn't like the "one side clipless, other side platform" because I had to look down to clip in. Some people have said that you can just ride with your foot on the platform and clip in later if the platform isn't up, but with the hard-soled regular mountain bike shoes I wear with hard plastic on the bottom they just slip off the metal platform side so that doesn't work.

2 - I tried the "large platform" pedals, I used the Crank Brothers Acids. (I didn't like crank brothers though). These were probably the closest I could find - if you wanted to casually pedal down to the hardware store they were fine, but if you wanted to ride half an hour they were annoying. My foot never quite got the grip on the pedal that I wanted, and the clip in the middle of the pedal was always kind of digging into your foot - not a big deal at first, but after a while you would start to notice it.

3 - I tried the Winwood Deksters and really hated them. I preferred #2. For one thing, when riding with regular shoes the platform side always ends up down (I suppose you could buy 2 pairs and put them on each side, but -). For another thing my foot also never got a comfortable grip on the pedal - the platform part is not big, it wiggles around under your foot some because of the clip, and it's specifically designed imo to not let your foot grip it to much for fear that you'll accidentally unclip the platform. I didn't like that at all.

4 - switching pedals. One can also just switch pedals, it's not "difficult" but frankly it's easier to just change shoes if you're going to go that far. And changing pedals always made my hands get a bit greasy. I always wished there was a power tool that would quickly undo the pedals so I could put the new ones on.

5 - the one thing that looked promising was the EZY Superior pedals -
https://www.calhouncycle.com/ProductC...idproduct=2075
https://www.calhouncycle.com/ProductC...&idproduct=799

They're designed to make it quick and relatively easy to switch which pedals are on the bike by hand. I was never able to try them though, as they only have an EZY pedal for Shimano SPD pedals, and I prefer Time Roc ATAC's (for a number of reasons, but also because I bike in the winter and they shed things like snow and mud better than spd's).

cyccommute 

I'd probably choose the M520 over the M540. Similar pedal but the M520 is cheaper. $90 for the M540 from REI is too much. You can find M520s for around $30...and they are easier to install. (I hate the allen wrench installation of the M540)

I don't understand this need for riding your bike in street shoes. If I have my bike with me, my bike shoes are near by. Changing shoes isn't al that difficult and, if you are using recessed cleats, bike shoes are comfortable enough for walking. I've even walked 10 to 15 miles in them...not suggesting anyone do that

Double sided pedals couldn't be easier to get into. Get your foot on the pedal and you can clip in. No silly flipping of pedals. Having mountain biked back in the Pleistocene with toe clips, I can tell you that not having to flip pedals is a blessing.

idc

They're not. I have some, used them a few times between maybe 5-10 years ago (same reason as you). The plastic part of them simply cannot last when being used as a virtual cleat. They're pretty much single-use only unless you want to disassemble your pedal to put them in and take them out. And they're not that sturdy either.

Agreed. If you would go to the trouble of putting on "pedal covers" then you might as well go to the smaller trouble of just using shoes with cleats. I have Crank Bros Candy on both my bikes, and you can ride them with regular shoes well enough, especially if you have an athletic shoe with a decent tread, such light hiking shoes or even cross trainers. The pedal parts and protrusions will dig into your tread and give you a decent pedalling platform.

I also have two pairs of shoes, one is the "commuter-style" Shimano MT21 (very easy to walk in, does not look like a bike shoe, has standard laces, very durable sole, out of production but you can Google Image Search what they look like) and a pair of older Specialized MTB specific shoes (stiffer, narrower, harder to walk in, great on trails, not bad for road rides either, esp when you have to walk to a tree to take a leak and everyone else is duck walkin'). But I've even done group rides in my commuter shoes - they are pretty much a do-everything shoe.

When I ride unclipped (in my bikes shoes of course) because there's extra caution needed, I just bring my foot forward a bit and ride more on the front bridge of my foot than the ball. It works fine for short distances, and if I'm unclipped I'm going slow anyway.

My 2c.

Steely Dan

most of the time when i'm biking, i am indeed in my bike shoes with recessed SPD cleats. however, i still like the flexibility of being able to ride in any piece of footwear that i own. if it's a nice summer day and i just want to run a quick errand on the bike with the flip flops that i already have on, i can just hop on the bike and go. if i'm riding my bike over to the marina to go out for a sail on my friend's boat, i can just bike over there in my boat shoes. having a dual-sided SPD/platform pedal on my utility bike affords me the greatest amount of flexibility of footwear. you may not understand that, but some people (ME!) enjoy having that flexibility.



having biked on dual-sided SPD/platform pedals for 4 years now, i have not found flipping the pedal to the correct side to be a big deal at all. sure, there was a learning curve in the beginning, but 4 years into it now, my foot just automatically knows what to do reflexively without me having to put any thought into it. it becomes one of those second nature kind of things, kinda like riding a bike in the first place.

cyccommute 

Having ridden in toe clips, toe clips on a mountain bike, road clipless and clipless mountain bike pedals, I can tell you that flipping a pedal is never reflexive. You always have to think about flipping the pedal. When mountain biking in toe clips, sometimes that meant climbing for a very long time before you could get up enough momentum to flip the pedal. Often just after you had flipped the pedal, you had to get out of them because you had lost momentum while fiddling with the stupid pedals. Two sided mountain bike pedals...the kind with engagement mechanisms on both sides...are reflexive. Get your foot on the pedal and you'll engage. That's why mountain bike pedals come with mechanisms on both sides...so you don't have to think about engaging the cleat while powering up hill.

Steely Dan

i guess that makes you and me different then.

my feet must have tiny brains in them that just "know" which side of the pedal they want to be on for the SPD cleat receiver or for the platform. i think over the years my feet have just learned what they need to do because the pedals are weighted to always hang the same direction when foot pressure is released.

Shimagnolo

New A-520's do *not* hang the same way until they get a couple thousand miles on them and loosen up.

Steely Dan

i guess it's a good thing that i don't use shimano A-520s then.

tjspiel

The A-530's were the same way. I don't know that it took THAT long for them to hang in one position consistantly. I have some Shimano SPD-SLs (road pedals). They hang exactly the same way so it's the same motion to tip the pedal forward and clip in. I bought those used and they've hung that way the whole time I've had them.

I find the road pedals very easy to clip into, - easier than SPDs, even though they're one sided.

Seattle Forrest

I like the A-520s I have on my preferred bike.

cyccommute 

Sorry, but as my Dad would say "Horse hockey!" Unless you have some kind of telekinetic ability, you can't have the proper side of an asymmetric pedal always up for the kind of shoe you are using. Even if the pedal is weighted so that it always hangs the same direction, sooner or later you are going to have to flip the pedal to get the right side up.

And once the bearings have loosened, the heavier side, nonplatform side is going to almost always be down. Either that or your bearings are too tight. This is absolutely not a problem with symmetrical pedals. Like I said, get your feet on the pedal and the cleat will engage.

You can ride SPD pedals with normal shoes too. Without modification or additions. It's not terribly comfortable for any appreciable distance but riding platforms for an appreciable distance isn't any more comfortable.

That Linux Guy

Weston, I have the M540 and have been totally SPD for the last few months. I had the same concerns as you when I was looking at going clipless and I liked the dual-sided engagement. It makes it easier clipping in. As for quick starts, it takes practice. The first time you do it, you'll fall so don't take them for their maiden voyage in traffic. Practice clipping in and clipping out, as well as resting stops and quick starts. Even after a few months, I've gotten much better but I still miss sometimes and I'm sure it looks goofy as hell.

What I usually do is when I'm in, say, a left-turn lane and I see the light will be turning green in about 5 seconds, I back up the bike a few feet, stand up and clip-in and try to do a sort-of track stand until my light goes green. If I'm back some cars, I typically do this when a car a few up goes off the brakes. Like I said, it takes some practice.

My only regret with going with the double-sided pedal is that I now HAVE to take my SPD shoes with me everywhere. The grocery store, Church, etc... I can either go shoeless at my destination or bring a spare pair of shoes with me for my arrival. I'm happy with my purchase but it does have draw-backs.

Unfortunately I can't give a direct comparison between the SPD pedals like the Shimano M540 and a road type SPD pedal.

idc

Possibly. Try doing some longer rides and see if it hurts after 10, 20, 30 miles. Fit issues (in general) won't be revealed on short rides.