I recently purchased a Specialized Secteur Sport from a listing on craigs list. I would like to put clipless pedals on it but have no clue what type of pedals to get.

My understanding is that some cleats don't allow for easy walking but since so far my riding has mostly been around town for exercise, I would like something that I can walk in as well.

What pedal and shoe combination would be good for a new rider?

If you want to walk around in them a lot go for some SPD shoes/pedals (as distinct from SPD-SL).

SPDs (or mountain bike shoes) have a recessed cleat so you can walk around normally.

What pedal and shoe combination would be good for a new rider?

Hey, If you want to walk in them get mountain bike shoes, and mountain bike pedals, both are durable and will last forever, and you can walk in them like shoes. https://www.bikeradar.com/gear/catego...-pedals-32358/
https://www.specialized.com/ca/en/bc/...jsp?spid=64228 That is exactly what I currently have and use.

If this is your first ever bike with clipless then I highly recommend a mountain shoe. It will give you more tread to walk around in. But will be stiff enough to aid your power transfer and still accept an spd style cleat. I ride with some guys that use road pedals and just use them as there every day pedal and they look very uncomfortable.

As far as what pedals you get thats up to you. I would speak with your local bike shop. ask them what they recomend. what they ride (or what the local weekenders ride) ask pros and cons. and see what you can come up with.

I personally with never be a fan of spd style cleats but others love them so its a personal thing. I will preach crankbro cleats but there again. I love them others hate them. They are great for people just learning or people that love lots of float and dont mind zero adjustability. So its a personal thing and also how deep your pockets are.

I would at suggest get a double sided pedal and a mountain shoe and practice clipping in and out and get used to the feel, nothing is more of an ego bruiser than falling off because you forgot to clip out at a stop.

Good luck
Sean Scott

SPDs are good.

But the metal cleat is usually level with the shoe tread, so the cleat will click on concrete or tile floors, and could scratch tile or wood floors.

^^^Still they are much easier to walk with then a standard road shoe/cleat...

Thanks everyone, it looks like the SPD is the way to go and thanks for the links CATS.

@ Sean: I looked at the Crank Bros website and saw the "eggbeaters" Are those the pedals you like? And if I get those does the cleat recess into the shoe allowing for walking?

I've got bikes with both SPD and Eggbeaters....of the two systems I prefer the Eggbeaters. (And yes, the cleats for those will recess into an MTB shoe).

Thanks dcvelo. I'll be at the LBS looking a few pedals this weekend. Thanks everyone.

@ dcvelo : Crank Brothers also has a style of eggbeaters they call Candy. It seems they have a small platform surrounding the clip in mechanism. Any advantage/disadvantage to that? Does it use the same cleat? Their website isn't too clear about that. Thanks in advance.

All of crankbrothers pedals should use the same cleat.

have a look at Speedplay Frogs. They have a recessed cleat as well.

Hey vicsmart I actually have the candy. I bought my candys shortly before they made the switch to the new aluminum cage. So I cant speak of how the new ones feel or ride. The advantage of the candys over the eggbeaters is that if you need to just move up a little without clipping in or ride for a bit without clipping in it gives your foot a bigger platform to sit on. / aim for.

I have pearl izumi quest mtb shoe. and from what I have found the cleat (with spacer installed) fits just a hair under the tread. So if im walking on flat hard surfaces its not a problem. but gravel and such I can hear/ feel the cleat being struck and its kinda annoying especially areas where marbles are washed up on smooth road. Try to find some shoes that fit comfortably with the most tread on the bottom to give you the maxim amount of area. My shoes are not fun to walk in and I hastily chose them when I got them. Find something else Im thinking of replacing mine this xmas my feet cringe every time I have to stuff them into my cycling shoes. sigh, the curse of having wide feet.

One more bit of advice. When I was getting my candys I went with the SI's instead of the cl. si means that it has a stainless spindle and upgraded spring and blah blah blah. The main thing was that the si spindle was less prone to breaking than the cl. wich is a chromoly spindle. It has a higher failure rate reporting. I believe what crankbros is now calling the candy1 is the old cl and the 2 is the SI.

Best luck.
Sean Scott

Thanks everyone!

Sean, good stuff to know..........thanks! As for my feet, I'm lucky in that I rarely have found a shoe that isn't comfortable (just a normal size 11, neither narrow or wide)

:-)