I need advice specific to me, so the old posts weren't
quite what I needed.

I'm a year round commuter, intend on doing a few tris
a year, and I mountain bike in the foothills quite a
bit. I just switch my pedals around depending. I'm
looking for a good clipless that can be used for
intense commuting and training but maybe is flat
enough to be used as a regular pedal on trips to the
grocery store. (weight is not an issue) I also need a
pair of shoes that I can wear at the bar if I meet
friends but not necessarily all day at work or
anything like that. (which I think rules out the hard
shoes I see all over) Perhaps a recessed cleat? I
commute the most, train for the tris second, and
mountainbike third.

What would be a good shoe and pedal for me?

Thanks in advance for all of the good advice!!

Look into Campus pedals... they are SPD clipless on one side and a regular platform pedal on the other. You can wear any shoe on the platform side, and any SPD shoe for the otherside. Since SPD shoes come in styles that allow easy walking, you really end up with the best of all worlds.

Draw backs... well campus pedals do not spin around to present the clipless side to your SPD shoe. When taking off from a stop, I don't worry about it... my foot just gets on the pedal and I go. Then when a good opportunity presents itself, I flip the pedal to the clipless side and clip in (boy that sounds strange doesn't it).

The SPD side gives me more power and greater hill climbing and higher cadence abilities... The platform side lets me use any shoe.

BTW these "campus" pedals are available at Performace.

I like genec's idea.

Even with a recessed cleat, cycling shoes are pretty stiff, so if you walk on them for any period of time, you're feet are going to hurt.

I'll second that, I have similar pedals to the Campus, and love them. They work just as well as any other platform for normal shoes or boots, and let you clip in when you want.

For shoes, I use the Diadora patrol shoes. They're not as painfully narrow as most cycling shoes, look good enough for semi-formal business, and are very comfortable. I wore them walking around, standing, and snapping photos for three hours tonight and was very comfortable. The only time I was aware of them was going up stairs (the stiff sole is very evident there) and when something crunched under the cleats.

Egg Beater Mallets have about the best recessed cleat compared to the pedal surface.

I just ran a google search on the campus pedals and they had some pretty poor reviews. Even some recalls back in 2000. Could you guys post some specific styles, versions that I could look into?

Thanks again...

I just recently got my first pair of clipless shoes, on the cheap, (free!). So, I have been looking into what pedals to get. I am considering either these:

SHIMANO M424 ATB PEDAL

Or getting a more "standard" set of two sided pedals. Then using a clip-on sneaker platform, when needed.

Shimano M520L ATB Pedal

some pedals to consider.................

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...goods&v=glance

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...goods&v=glance

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...goods&v=glance

https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=2122

I'm using Wellgo WPD-95B campus pedals, and have had absolutely no problems. I originally purchased them simply because they're what my LBS had in stock... in the end, I liked them so well that they're now present on all 3 of my primary bikes.

If memory serves, I got them for about $50. It looks like Performance carries a very similar pedal for about $40 (note: I haven't tried their version).

A little pricey, but these peds seem to have solved that problem:

I dunno why the performance campus pedal would get a bad review, I've done about a year and 1000 miles of commuting on mine, they've held up just fine. For $40 I was totally satisfied. They are great for either clipless or platform and it doesn't take you very long to get used to flipping the pedal to the correct side (it doesn't really matter, if you come down on the wrong side you can still pedal a turn or two before flipping it to the correct side).

My sister uses recessed-cleat shoes with SPD-type pedals. She competed in a short tri last year and participated in the RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) last year. She had no problems, and convinced me to get recessed-cleat shoes for my commute to and from campus (6.5 mi. each way).

I'd definitely recommend that route.