I need to pick up a 2nd pair of pedals fo ruse on my SS steel ride. I saw a good deal on shimano SPD's with the pedal platforms and wonder if they are weird to use? I have only used the basic Shimano SPD type. The idea that I canride with out clips sounds good as the bike is not my primary ride but a fun bike

I had SPD platforms on my 4300 for a while. The way I rode, I hated it. I don't even know why I did it, because I don't even have the shoes for them. If you have the shoes, then it's worth it, but I spent all my time trying to flip the platform upright when taking off and it drove me nuts.

That said, I'll probably put them on a road bike when I get one since I plan to go with clippy shoes and would also like to be able to ride without them

If you're talking about the dual sided SPD pedals, I can give some input on two. I used to ride PD-M530s on my MTB, and did try them out in regular shoes. Not too great, pretty slippery, and the platforms definitely feel like they're made to support an SPD shoe. I recently took those pedals and put them on my commuter, and picked up a pair of PD-M424s for my MTB. Tried those out with regular shoes too, and they're definitely better. They feel almost like regular platforms.

Keep in mind that any dual entry SPD pedal you get will have the mechanism poking you in the foot when you put weight on the pedal, as the mechanism can't be fully recessed since it has to engage the cleat recessed into the shoe. Methinks that's why you see a lot of single sided SPD pedals with platforms on the other side.