Shimano A520 or A530 pedals
 

I know that many of you use Shimano A520 pedals because their platform area around the cleat engagement area offers some of the support of traditional road pedals while using a recessed cleat better for walking.

Although I believe my Look pedals are far superior to any SPD or similar MTB type pedal system for pure road riding, I want to use a more walkable system on my Salsa Casseroll because of the type of riding I will do on it. Commuting, sightseeing, light touring etc. I have been using the same Crank Bros. Candy pedals that I use on my offroad bikes, but would like to try something with more contact area for my feet.

I was about to order the A520 pedals when I noticed the A530 which has a better platform on the flip side for riding without cleats. I like that idea, but I can't tell if the SPD side has as much or more contact area compared to the A520. Has anyone used both models and have an opinion on their relative shoe support?

I have the A530s on one bike, and a new pair in a box I'm going to install on my recumbent tomorrow. What can I say, except I love em.
I also have the fore runner to the A520 (not sure of the model designation) on another bike, and although they have less of a support platform around the cleat, I've found them to be very supportive.
If you like to have a platform option, the A530 is a far better choice that the Wellgo variant. I'm in the process of replacing my Wellgos with Shimano all around.

The A530 is like a normal mountain bike SPD pedal, except with a nice platform on the other side of the SPD mechanism. It doesn't, nor does it purport to offer any extra support to a clipped-in shoe like the A520.

What the A530 does offer is that you can pedal as well on a pair of SPD shoes as any ol' shoe because the platform side is large, supportive and non-slip. I have a pair on my commuter that I only wear SPDs for if I'm going for a long (>30 mile) ride; otherwise, I'll mosey along comfortably in normal shoes. The A520 doesn't work well with non-SPD shoes because the presence of the SPD mechanism does not allow your non-SPD shoes to grip adequately on the pedal.

I don't really have any problems with any hot-spots or support issue with my A530 with Sidi Dominators, but I also don't have any such issue with my dual-sided, no-extra-support mountain bike SPD pedal (PD-M959). YMMV.

I have the SHimano A530s on two of my bikes - the commuter and a utility bike. I love the pedal works well as both a platform and as an SPD - 90% of the riding I do on the commuter bike is with SPD cleats, the utility bike probably gets 50/50. Easy to clip into, when riding as a platform, they work better with the platform side up, but when starting they are OK upside down.

I tried both the A 530s and the 520s and I like the Time Atac Z pedal better than both of the other ones. I was getting hot foot from the 520s and the 530s were harder to get released from and they didn't swivel like they should. Maybe that would have loosen up in time, but I didn't want to wait and see if they did or not. I think the Time Z pedal has the biggest platform of any other pedal and it's really easy to get in and out of.

Thanks all. Looks like the A530s are out as the foot support is the important feature to me. The platform side would be more of a nice-to-have. I'll have to take a look into the time Attac pedals as a possibility.

I have no experience on the A530, but I do like the A520. I use them for all my clippless applications, even the MTB. Once broken in, they always hang tail down so clipping into the one side is a natural as any road pedal. There is foot support although I suspect that different shoes with even small differences in the depth of the cleat area in the sole might make a differencs in support. This is a change from the normal road shoe with a flat bottom and external cleats. I'm using the Shimano sport MTB shoe with these pedals.

I run A520s on my road bike and I love them. For many of my other bikes where I prefer the convenience of double-entry, I use M424s. I also prefer the M324 over the A530 for applications where I want a platform on one-side and SPD on the other.

I'll be wearing Shimano MT32 shoes.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/I...Full/31696.jpg

I have the A530's on the Tandem for when a NON- Clipless rider gets on it. I Have them on the stokers crank and when i ride with them I obviously use the clipless side. But it is a bit of a problem always getting them the right side up.

I use the A520's on the road bikes and like them. I have on the odd occasion ridden them in normal shoes for a couple of miles and no problems. Over the normal SPD's I do find that the A520's are more comfortable after a couple of hours riding.

I run the 40 which is a very similar shoe with the addition of a velcro upper strap to cover the laces. It works well for me with the 520 pedal and has a lot more support than the standard MTB pedal. The center or mechanism of the pedal is exactly the same as a dual sided MTB pedal and around that is a frame that helps to support the sole of the shoe. It works, but I'm not the person to compare it to a top of the line road pedal.

I had both. I loved the A530 because of the option to ride with street shoes/sneakers. However as my riding journey got into longer and longer rides, hot foot set in and I needed to switch over to SPD-SL.

Me too... I have them on four bikes. It is not impossible to get hot foot on long rides with them though. I suspect shoes are a big factor on that. The Times do look interesting too.

I use A520s with a Shimano "sport touring" SPD shoe -- sort of an earlier model of this shoe. I don't really know what "hot foot" is, so apparently (and luckily) I don't have that problem with this setup.

Following much of the advice here, I chose the A520 pedals for my Casseroll. I took them out for the first ride today, a 50 miler. I am very impressed. The pedals are easy to engage and disengage. The attachment is more solid feeling than with the Crank Bros. pedals I had been using and the float is not as free. The best feature is that the sides of the pedal come in contact with sole of the shoe so there is very little rotation in and out along the pedal spindle. The Candies allow quite a bit of this rotation which is not a problem for MTB riding, but disconcerting on the road.

The A520 pedals are not as solid feeling as the Look pedals I prefer for aggressive road riding, but a big step in that direction. I think they will work very well for the kind of riding I intend to do on this bike, where the need for improved walkability warrants sacrificing some of the pure performance considerations preferred for the fast ride bike.

The Shimano MT32 shoes are also proving to be comfortable; stiff enough for riding while flexible enough for walking.

Oh! The A520s? Yes sir... I had them on my Lemond.
When I sold that bike, I kept the pedals and put 'em on my Jamis. I think they're a fantastic pedal.
I also use them with an old pair of MT32s and with some pair or other of Shimano Road shoes.

A520s go on all my bikes. There's a pair for the new bike in the package I have to pick up at the post office tomorrow.

I don't like 700-800 miles of breaking in the bearings, but maybe that means they'll last a really long time.

You should give Looks or SPD-SLs a try on your new blue bike if it is going to be your sporting bike. I'm a big believer in different solutions for different circumstances.

Usually the first thing I do with them is repack the bearings.

I just took my recumbent out for the first ride since fitting the A530s. What can I say about them that I haven't said before except :love::love::love:
http://i49.tinypic.com/118f89k.jpg
This makes 2 bikes with these pedals, and I will be fitting them on my other bikes.

I got a new pair of shoes for winter only use. I got a couple sizes bigger just so I could fit wool socks AND neoprene socks under them. No more freezing feet.
The shoes are Bontrager Race Mountain. They have a unique adjustable insole with a rigid arch support integrated into it.
I normally wear custom orthotics, but I've found the stock insoles to be very supportive for riding and some walking, although I haven't tried walking too far in them.

http://i50.tinypic.com/egomjt.jpg

I have Shimano M520 pedals on both my road bikes and my mtb. I wear Shimano MD76 shoes. I have had no problems at all with either

I've tried both. I never used the 530's w/o cleats so swapped them for 520's. I love them, I tried some "store" brand SPD's but at 250 and thunder thighs I was breaking them after 5-8 weeks. I've had the 520's for a few years now and doubt I'll use anything else. I wear Shimano SPD shoes and had hot spots until
I got used to the very stiff soles.