Clipless Pedal Question
 

So I've got my new bike picked out and on its way and I need some shoes and pedals. I've got the shoes picked out but I'm torn between two pedals. I tried the shoes at one of my LBS and have the size right so I can order online. Pedals I'm not sure about. I'm torn between these.

http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-PD-670...7935030&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-PD-570...8198147&sr=1-4

I know ultegra is the better version but for a relative beginner is it going to make that much difference. I'll be a on a trek 1.5 and I've seen the ultegra's at my shop. As far as I can the tell the 105's are really no different. Is this just clever marketing my shimano to get more money out of people?

I use SPD ( "fred" ) pedals, so I can't say much from experience. But the main difference probably comes down to a small amount of weight. If you've spent thousands of dollars to have a 15 pound bike, well, you'd probably be using other pedals anyway, but I think that's what's going on. 105 stuff tends to be pretty good.

My LBS told me that 105's are essentially the same.

To tell you the truth, I would do R-540. Cheaper and more than enough to start out.

Probikekit.com

The 105s are $57 including free shipping

I think I picked up my Ultegras new from PBK delivered for something like $68. The 105s were going for around $100 locally.

I found SPDs a pain in the neck for the first 1000 miles. I have a lot of stops and starts and it was hard to clip in from stops. The pedal would always flip around.

Now after 4000 miles they are a piece of cake. Probably just in time to need replacement.

Oh, and people are probably going to give you crap about trying shoes on at your LBS and ordering online.

Good find but unfortunately they're out of stock. The site I'm getting my shoes from has them for $10 more so its not a big deal.

I can appreciate their position but unfortunately I'm not going spend double just to support a Scheels in my town. If it were my LBS of choice it might be different but I don't have any hard feelings for a store like that.

570's

Go with the 105's. You won't notice the difference between them and the Ultegras. Also, if you are just starting out, you will probably fall over a couple of times and scuff your pedals. No point in spending the extra money on the Ultegras IMO.

I have ridden both (105 on my bike and Ultegra on a tandem I piloted) and can't tell the difference.

105's will do fine. You won't really feel a difference between them and the ultegra. The weight savings isn't much.

They're the same thing with different finishes. Literally.

I'm sure the 105s will be fine enough. I'd go with them unless you've got the extra money to spare (which could possibly be spent on something else for your bike).

I was thinking it was just a finish difference so I'll definitely be going with the 105's and banking the leftovers for future upgrades. Thanks for you input everyone.

So if you don't want to support the store don't go to the Store. But you're being unreasonable using the store with no intent of buying from them.

What do you do for a living? Whatever it is, I doubt you would care for people using your time, talents, and resources with no intent of compensating you for it.

What if I give my LBS plenty of other business, like tools/accessories/tubes/parts? Would you still think it's inappropriate?

Actually in my line of work spending countless hours planning projects and quotes sometimes results in a client taking the project to a competitor due to pricing. I think my local shops make plenty of money marking up parts and pieces that we have to have by 200-300%. If you want to spend double the money and be loyal go ahead and knock yourself out it is your money but dont preach that crap to the masses no one is listening in this economy.

Give them something for their time.

:popcorn

I got 105's on a 1.5 and love em. It's better to spend more money on the shoes than the pedals.

Whatever the economy is, don't use a service if you aren't at least considering purchasing their products. Your clients start with you because they at least have a possibility of giving you the sale. If you knew for sure that a client was not going to get you any money, you wouldn't continue to plan projects for them. You can call it preaching if you want, but an ******* is an *******.

Take your example. If a customer or potential customer asks you to bid on a project, and they have no intent of using your company, and only wish to take your ideas in your response to the RFP to do the project themselves, would you think that was ok?

And I buy lots of things on line, that's not the point. What I don't do, and what, IMHO, is clearly wrong, and unfair is use a store's time and inventory with no intent of buying from them.

In my opinion, it's still not a good idea to try on shoes unless you at least have some intention on buying them there. However, if you have a long standing relationship with the shop, they might not mind. Then again, they might just give you a discount on the shoes if they know you that well.

I know a company pending a lawsuit over exactly that. They designed an office building for a company and that company then took the plans and designs to shop them out to other vendors. It's a Chinese company with its first office in the US, and the people apparently forgot about copyrights (even though it's on the bottom of every page in the design). They can get other vendors, but they need to use their designs or pay an independent architect to make their own design. Oops.

As a beginner, I think you'll be better off with the 105's. Essentially the same pedals, but these will do the job until you think you need to upgrade.

I think you're using the term LBS way too loosely here. I don't even come close to considering Scheels a LBS. I'm buying my bike from one of two actual LBS. Those two shops actually benefit my community and if they had the shoes I wanted I would happily buy them from one of those places but they don't. I have no hard feelings about screwing over a giant department store that sends their profits elsewhere. I have a long standing relationship with my LBS in a multitude of sports and would never screw them over but I'm not going to settle for what the carry if its not what I want in some cases. Don't be ridiculous.

Food for thought. Let's say that everyone thought like you. That means that everyone would go to the big box store to try on shoes and then buy them elsewhere online for less. The big box store would never sell any of their shoes and would subsequently decide to stop carrying them altogether because they make no profit. Where would you try your shoes on then?

So be thankful there are people out there who think like Merlin. They're supporting the stores enough to make it worth their while to have shoes available for you to try on for free.

They do it all the time its called sales! So you think it would be cool for this guy to buy the shoes at $200 only to go home and find them online for $100? I research everything and if that puts a salesman at risk of "wasting time" only to have me buy elsewhere that's just the nature of the business. Like I said its your money do what you want with it. Hey have you ever test drove the same car at multiple dealerships?

Not even close to the same thing. In that case, the price is haggled after the test drive. For what it's worth, I got annoyed at a dealership that wouldn't negotiate (just kept adding a year to the loan length on MSRP) so I went to another dealership. I didn't even want to test drive the car a second time, but they felt it would keep me in good spirits for negotiating (they actually said that) so I humored them.