PepeM

I was also a bit scared when I tried them for the first time. Tried at home hanging to a wall and had a really hard time clipping in and even harder clipping out, which got me very worried. When I had sort of figured it out I decided to venture outside and try, fully prepared to end up on my arse. Well, it turns out it was way easier once I was moving and up to this day I've never had a fall. I have SPDs.

makeitso5005

Pretty much you just need to ask yourself with the primary and secondary purpose is of your riding. If it involves utilitarian uses (errands, transportation to where you'll stay in your shoes for a while, basically anything where you'd rely on the shoes as waking shoes) or also own a mountain bike SPD's or crank brother egg beaters are the way to go. However, if your uses involve the road bike being purely recreational where you're going to ride loops around meetup locations for more than 2 hours then a road specific platform likely is the better choice. However, considering your budget ($125) you're likely going to fairly limited in the road selection you have access to without buying used.

With that being said I've done everything from grocery shopping to century rides in SPD's. There's nothing wrong with the SPD system except that it lacks the wider platform of a road specific system and less adjustment available for the cleat and usually the shoes and heavier. If you don't get hotspots in your feet and aren't super sensitive to cleat adjustment you could be very happy with SPD's. I've never thought I needed to change the bike to a road pedal system even though I've had those in the past.

UnfilteredDregs

SPD is a great all purpose system with a lot of good shoes to choose from. If you're hesitant about learning the whole clip in/out process they have a cleat which releases in multiple directions the SH-56. You can learn with those fairly easily and then move on to the SH-51 when you really want to be locked in.

RogueRadio

LOOK KEO all the way. Start off your clipless experience right.

Also, +1 to Homebrew. Don't worry about brand or anything for your first pair of cycling shoes. Just get something that is comfortable and in your price range. But do yourself a favor and dont buy mountain bike shoes. Dont get into that habit early. They have a lot more float, meaning your feet will move a lot more in the cleat than a road pedal, and they are a lot heavier. Just do Look Keo, and a comfortable road shoe. It will take you a few hours maximum to master clip in and clip out. I promise. Its scary at first, but a few practice runs and you will be a pro

dr_lha

I don't get why people like these double use SPD pedals so much. Seem like the worst of both worlds to me. For the record I rode 3 miles tonight on my 6800 pedals using them as platforms, and they are perfectly comfortable.

C9H13N 

The first clipless pedals I ever used were Look Keos. When I got them I set the release tension to minimum and spent a couple hours riding around a parking lot practicing clipping and unclipping. After that using them was totally natural. I've never fallen because of the pedals or failed to unclip when I need to. Now (<1 year later) I have the release tension almost at max and I can't imagine ever going back to non-clipless pedals.

JmanEspresso

I personally went the mtn pedal route. Figured since Im not racing, I didnt need the slight extra stiffness the road shoes usually offer, and the ability to get off the bike and walk into the store or cafe without a problem, to me, was the selling point. I got a pair of Fizik shoes, and they're sharp lookin if you ask me. Pedal wise.. i didnt know what I know now when I bought them, I chose Crank Bro' Candy 3 pedals. They really nice pedals, but they're heavy compared to road pedals. Love the look though.


Would I switch to road pedals and shoes now? Im certainly not in a rush to do so, Id spend the money on other stuff first. But if I had some extra money lieing around that I wanted to spend on cycling in some form or another, sure, why not. I think Id like to try Speedplay pedals myself, actually.

San Pedro

I'm happy with the plain old SPD-SL pedals, which are reasonably priced.

Mountain Mitch

Ok, you want to be trendy and cool. I get it. But, no, it is not more efficient and you will fall down and walk funny. And I live 3500 feet up a mountain by the way (note the handle).

Maconi

Do you want to be able to walk around in your bike shoes? If so, go with SPD (Mountain Bike shoes). If not, go with SPD SL (Road Shoes). You'll have some weight weenies try to convince you that you can walk around in SPD SL shoes, but there's no reason not to have a proper rubber sole on your shoe if you're not racing IMO.

As far as pedal brands, stick with Shimano. Look/Time/Speedplay/Crank Bros/etc. all have their pros and cons, but Shimano are solid (especially for someone just starting off).

If you want the ultimate beginner combo, go with Shimano Click'R shoes/pedals.

SHIMANO CLICK'R - TECHNOLOGIES - CYCLING FOOTWEAR AND PEDALS - LIFESTYLE GEAR - SHIMANO

makeitso5005

Worst? If your use profile requires you to walk around for more than 10 minutes (or even less) in the shoes you have on SPD's can be a much better option. You ride of 3 miles is basically nothing, you could probably of done that ride in flip flops and just some bolts in the pedal holes without any issues; it's just a terrible justification. SPD's are used in enduro stage races or endurance races like Leadville 100 with no problem, I don't get the logic behind why SPD's are considered bad for road or distance. Usually the system is slightly heavier and a smaller platform but if you don't have issues with that and part of your usage requires walking around for more than a few minutes SPD's are a good consideration over any of the road systems as it does have benefits of being able to walk with no problem, multi-use if you also mountain bike, can have pedals for flats and cleats or dual sided entry (I know Speedplay has pedal covers and dual sided entry as well), more durable/less maintenance cleat system and I don't need to care what kind of surface I walk on and possibly more casual looking shoe (if that matters). But worst? I doubt it.

79pmooney

Don't be afraid of not un-clipping. It only matters when you are not moving. It will happen. Realize you just made a fool of yourself, relax and just fall over. Don't let go of the handlebars. Try to do a bit of a roll. You won't get hurt outside a bruise or two on your ego. I have done it many times over the 40 years I have ridden toeclips with straps pulled tight and clipless when I forgot. The time you will get hurt is when you are afraid.

Ben

Long Tom

Oh no you are not!

Let's be clear on one thing here. You goin' DOWN! You'll almost certainly do some variant of the spasming-tip-over at least once. Yeah.... it'll suck. Try to stay off YouTube, will ya? Just do a simple brain-fart tipover at a stoplight and be done with it.

Anyway, I started with Look KEO and they were fine. Get real road bike shoes though, preferably good ones.

Jeremy_S

I don't get the "not more efficient and you will fall down" comment. To me, finally switching after nothing but mtb and flats for 20 years, I went to clipless and road shoes on my first road bike. I clipped in and out a few times in the living room and hit the road. I have yet to fall, and to me it's much more efficient when climbing. I'll never go to a flat on a road bike and I've gotten used to them enough I may put xt's on my mtb and start riding clipless there too. I can fully believe I'd be able to clean a couple of the brutal ascents that are short but ridiculously steep I always stall out on with flats. And if not, clipping out is so muscle memory I kick my heel out now to get off my flats hahaha.

redfooj

how is it that you people fall down so damn much?

approach a stop, swing your leg, clip out....

makes me feel like superman or something having stayed upright

dr_lha

You seem to have misunderstood my point. I'm not saying SPDs are bad. On the contrary, I rode 2500 miles on SPDs last year.

What I don't like are the pedals that have SPD on one side, and platform on the other. You lose the double sided nature of SPDs, and the platforms are pretty awful. So when I said "the worst of both worlds" I mean, taking away the benefits of good platforms or SPDs. Many seem to like them, I wonder how many miles they put on using these when they would be better off with regular SPDs? Do then really use their bikes so often in flip-flops to make having a crappy pedal when doing a Century worth it? I doubt it.

In fact that the best thing about SPD is that the shoes can be so casual and easy to walk in, it makes using them on causal rides easy. Why would I want to wear flip-flops when I can clip in?

CafeVelo

OP mentioned he's got $125 to work with. In my area that doesnt get you much. A shoe worth having costs at least $150, at least for me (wide sizes are only made in some models) and then you still need pedals. People keep recommending keos, which would be fine if they didnt blow the budget.

RISKDR1

I have been using clippless for many years and find the spd's to be easy to deal with getting in and out compared to others. You can also buy shoes that are walking friendly giving no wear on the cleat from walking around.

69chevy

Ummm.

Being able to push down and pull up isn't more efficient?

Keeping proper foot position to maximize the leverage of your foot isn't more efficient?

Beach Comber

I use the A530 on one bike which gets used on anything from neighborhood excursions with the kids to riding LBI fully loaded with beach gear and food. Its convenient to switch sides depending on the ride. But your point is well taken. When my last 3-bolt shoe finally is ready for the trash, I'll probably switch the most used road bike's pedals to M530 - which is dual entry SPD with a larger support platform.

roccobike

I used SPDs and rode with MTB shoes for about 2 years. Then it happened, knee pain. I know I'm not the only one that has had this problem. The 2 bolt, Shimano SPD pedals that are common on MTBs don't have the amount of float that LOOK and 3 bolt SPDs have. I read up on the issue here on these forums and the group here was very helpful. I had an old set of LOOK pedals that I scavenged from an old bike I flipped. I tried those and have used LOOK ever since. It took about a month for the knee pain to completely subside, but it did and I've ridden for several years now on LOOKs with no problems.
If you're starting out with clipless, be careful. If you begin to have knee pain after a ride, usually a longer 50 miles or so, then you need to consider alternate pedals. Or you could just start out with pedals that have more float like the LOOK or the 3 bolt SPDs. I'm not sure about other pedals as I've never tried them. Oh yeah, I continue to use the old SPDs on MTBs with the flat on one side and clipless on the other.

dr_lha

Be warned, I have a pair of those M530 and the platform doesn't really do much in terms of foot support, in my experience. I actually ended up preferring to ride on M520s, much to my surprise.

TheBlast82

lmao... Awesome comment.

I don't need the greatest and latest though... So $125 isn't reasonable?

Thanks for all the feedback people.

Lazyass

Then you could have got Speedplay Frog MTB pedals. I've retired my road shoes. The more I wear my MTB shoes the more the idea of a shoe with no walkable tread seems stupid. I have double sided Shimano MTB pedals and VP SPD road pedals. The miniscule amount of extra weight makes zero difference. And before someone chimes in about a "small contact point", I measured and the contact point of my SPD's are actually slightly wider than my Speedplay road pedals (since the tread of the shoe rests on the sides of the pedal) and only 1mm shorter lengthwise. Unless you're a professional racer and just walk from your team bus, to your bike and back again then road shoes are kind of pointless. But everyone wants to look like the pro's, so you all can have your "clunk, clunk, clunk" because I'm done with it

dr_lha

Depends how and where you buy. My first clipless pedals cost $25 online (Shimano PD-M520) and I got a pair of SPD compatible shoes on sale for $40.

I just got a pair of Shimano RO88 road shoes for $70 off Amazon. Add Shimano PD-R550 pedals to that and you're pretty close to $125.

Of course online shopping for shoes is not something I recommend unless you know they have a good return policy (like Zappos for example).