Clipless?
 

OK. I was lucky enough to come into an immaculate Trek 1500 today. I only test road it briefly and was amazed at the world of difference between that bike and my old French and English classics! The bike should have clipless peddles on it, not that old platform jobbies that I slapped on just to be able to ride it. The problem is that there are so MANY brands and models that I don't even know where to begin! The bike is mostly 105 so I guess something along the same level would be the way to go. Ideally, I would like something that I could use as regular AND clipless if the situation arose. Thoughts?

Shimano A530. Platform on one side, clipless on the other.
http://www.biketiresdirect.com/produ...pd-a530-pedals

I ride bmx pedals on a bike that "should" have clipless....I guess anyway. Who cares, just ride what you like.

My crank bros. and SPD's are in my closet.

I agree with Turbine, though I have SPDs on bikes that have always had platforms, I love them.

I've been a fan of pedals with platforms on one side and SPD on the other for years. I've used the Shimano PD-M324 Pedals, among others. I really like that for bikes that I tend to ride both for exercise and for transportation. Although if a bike is going to be used only for mountain biking or fast road rides, I'd probably go with a more specialized pedal. For mountain biking it is especially nice to have a clipless pedal you can click into from both sides.

I just bought a used road bike that I'm going to set up for fast rides. It's a lugged steel frame that came with the wheels and some other parts... including some old Campy pedals with toe clips and straps. I used to ride these exact pedals in the 1980s before I switched to clipless. Now I'm afraid of them! When I used clips and straps regularly I was used to reaching down and loosening the strap so I could pull out at a stoplight if I needed to, but with clipless I'm used to just twisting my foot to disengage the pedal. I could see myself forgetting to loosen the straps on these and just falling over at a stoplight. Of course it's unlikely I will find old road shoes with the slots for these old pedals anyway...

I love my A530's. I think they're in the sweet spot of utility and performance for someone like me who rides for a combination of commuting, pleasure, utility, and speed. My equivalent wellgo's are hard to clip in and out of.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2110/...60b61c0f_z.jpg

I have the Nashbar SOHO pedals on my SS (SPD on one side, platform on the other) good product for the price.
http://images.buzzillions.com/images...019917_175.jpg
On my touring bike, I have Shimano PD-M325 (SPD on one side, platform on the other) and they are good too.
http://www.krislynn.net/catalog/images/shipedals.jpg

I guess that satisfies the urge for both clipless and the convenience of platforms but I never use the platforms so I dont really know why I bought dual purpose pedals...

I used to use the platforms all the time while commuting to and from work. It allowed me to wear regular shoes. For longer rides I would clip in using my SPD shoes. Then last year I bought a pair of Keen SPD shoes that look like casual street shoes, so now I wear those to work most days. Since they clip in I don't use the platforms so often either. They are really only useful if you wear non-cycling shoes from time to time.

By the way... the casual Keen Austin cycling shoe? It's not bad as a cycling shoe, but not great either. It has a stiffer sole than the regular Keen Austins, but they are heavier and warmer than most cycling specific shoes I have worn by Shimano and other companies. This isn't so bad in Winter, but during the Summer months I prefer to wear cycling shoes that are a bit lighter and better ventilated. But for shoes you want to wear off the bike as much as on, they are quite nice. Very easy to walk in and the cleats don't scrape on most surfaces. My Shimano shoes are not as good for walking, and the cleats often scrape.

Sean

I ride a look system, but that is for a road bike. The pedals require cleats that are difficult to walk in.

SPD pedals work pretty well. The cleats are metal so they do not wear out. The cleats also allow you to walk pretty well. Also, SPD pedals can be had relatively inexpensively. I think that using SPD would be a good place to start. Once you get used to clipless, then you can try other things.

Here is a caution. Nearly everyone has an embarrassing crash with clipless pedals initially. What happens is you go into a stop, you forget to unclip. So here you are stopped and still fastened to your pedals. You manage to get your foot out but by then your weight has shifted to the wrong side and you are slowly tipping over the wrong way.

One way to prevent this, is to practice clipping in and clipping out on a short tool up ride. But you will probably forget to do it anyway.

It may be that I was already used to toe clips or that I was mentally prepared for it, but I did not have this problem when switching to clipless.

It was worse with toe-clips and straps. If you were wearing normal shoes you could probably yank a foot out even with the straps cinched tight, but if you were wearing cleated shoes with slots and you didn't remember to loosen the strap you would be out of luck. I remember one time when I forgot to loosen the straps. I was doing a track-stand at a red light, started to lose my balance, and tried to pull a foot out. Since the straps were cinched tight and I was wearing cleats, my foot didn't budge. And since I was at a stand-still and already losing my balance, there was no way to reach down with one hand to loosen the strap. I just braced myself for what I knew was coming, and fell right over :(

Fortunately the only serious bruising was to my pride. Not long after that I bought a pair of TIME clipless pedals and shoes. It was pretty nice to not have to deal with the straps anymore, and I was always able to get my foot loose if I started to fall over, but you're right that clipless pedals still take practice to make sure you can get out of them in a hurry when you need to.

Sean

Good for you. I did have this problem, even though I tried for a week to "train my brain" to remember it was priority one. My fall was in a park where the bike path crossed the road and the road had yield signs for the cars to stop. I'm coming up to the intersection and see Gramps coming up and realize he isn't going to stop. Hard on the brakes, I stop in time to watch him motor slowly by, only to slowly realize I hadn't unclipped. A slow-slow-slow tilt and BAM! on the ground. A nice strawberry on the elbow and palm, but unhurt and rode home laughing at my stupidity. Moral - You just can't train danger scenarios enough. Now, after 5K miles with clips, I have learned to unclip defensively.

OP, what shoes do you want to wear?

I have absolutely no opinion on the shoes whatsoever!

Now that I reread your original post, I think it'll narrow down really quickly to SPD-compatible shoes like the others have been talking about. This doesn't necessarily mean Shimano SPD, but just any two-bolt system like Crank Brothers, Time, and some others (I think Bebop and Speedplay will be able to work, too).

Shoe-wise, this means you can pick anything. Even stiff-soled MTB shoes will give you almost all the benefits of dedicated road shoes.

So, that leaves pedals. Some people like dual-purpose pedals with a clip on one side and platform on the other, but others don't; the naysayers don't like how they still have to flip the pedal the right way to use whichever side they need. Then there are big platforms with clips on both sides, like Crank Brothers Mallets, a couple models from both Shimano and Time, etc. I like these because they're easy to pedal whether I'm clipped in or not and whether I'm wearing bike shoes or not.

Then again, I've ridden short distances on my road pedals in regular shoes...