Clipless pedal advice
 

I have a couple of newbie clipless questions The Shoes I bought are Shamino SPD style. From what little I have heard and read. My choice is a Shimano PD-M520 since they will clip on either side. As far what comes with what and what all I need I have no idea. My shoes came with 2 small flat plates. Are these the cleats or are they just a plate that is used in the mounting if the cleat. Does cleats come with the pedals? If I order pedals would I have everything I need? Reason being I see a couple sets of these pedals on e-bay and the ad says cleats not included. Thanks for the info.

Steve

Cleats come with pedals, at least if you buy new pedals, they should definitely be included... If you buy pedals without them, you can get them separately, no idea though how much extra cost that might be...

the plates are probably adapters. You get cleats with the pedals.

first, what shoes did you buy? Can you return 'em if you decide you want something else? What are your short and medium term goals/plans? Are you looking to do long, say, 3 hour rides or are you happy with less than two hours? Do you have any knee issues?

ebay... you're probably looking at used pedals, which means the cleats are probably still being used by the seller or they were simply too beat up to sell with the pedal.

The cleats cost me $20 at Performance. They come with instructions that can easily be followed(pics for me ;) ). You can buy cleats that release if you turn your heel either way(in or out), or cleats that only release if you move your heel out. If the plate has four threaded screw holes in it, it goes inside the shoe under you rinsole. The hole pattern should match the two slots on the bottom of the shoe sole. If you have any problems, ask the place where you bought the shoes to help you.

I bought Shimano SH-MA80. I did not ask about the return policy on the shoes. My plans on riding is just ride not really any set goals. Yesterday was just about 30 mins. (first day with new bike) I plan on riding perhaps 2 to 4 days a week. Hopefully loose weight and build up to were I can do a 50 miler later in the year. No knee issues so far. I do a lot of spinning 4 days a week on the life cycle at the gym. I also bought my wife a Schwinn Recumbiant today so I will do a lot of spinning on that. Dont really know if the recumbiant will help my cycling. I use to ride alot about 10 years ago ocassionally I had knee problems from lack of spinning. (The bike was geared for racing 11-18 gears I think. It was an old 12 speed Peugeot also had toe clips) The bike was not geared for my riding. My new triple should be a lot easier on me. Rigt now I am happy with 2 hours or less but I plan on doing more as my endurance improves.

I will just buy the pedals new. For now I am planning using the toe clips untill I get real comfortible with the bike. Here is a link to the shoes. I hope they will work OK.
http://www.touringcyclist.com/clothing/model_14620.html

based on everything you just said, the Shimano PD-M520 will do just fine. If you wanted to spend less and get a house brand, they'd work too. Just note that you should loosen the tension on the pedals until you're used to 'em -and- you should have your local shop do that cuz if the tension screw comes out, the pedal's broken.

Are you going to stay with your current shoes? If you are- I use the candy c's for my road bike. I have SIDI shoes and they work well together. I don't have anthing to compare them to except some shimano SPD's that came with my bike. I like the candy's much better. They have more of a platform and are MUCH easier to enter/exit-for me this is a safety issue. They are also pretty light and I have seen them on special for around $50-$60. Good luck.

Yea you are not stuck to Shimano pedals if you don't want to be. Most if not all MTB pedals use a cleat that is compatible with the SPD bolt pattern and there are also some house brand road pedals made to use the SPD cleats. As others have said a new pair of pedals will come with cleats.