spinnaker

My LBS recommended low end mountain bike pedals for my first first set of clipless pedals. There reasoning is that they are cheap and since I have never ridde clipless before, the fact that there are clips on both sides of the pedal should help me out. Is this a good move?

jlin453

I'm using a pair of Nashbar SPD pedals. I've only been riding clipless for a month and these $30 pedals are great for me. With the MTB shoes, I can walk around campus without having to change shoes.

larue

even if you weren't a newbie they are a good move. only problem with mtb style is they are often heavy, but that should be no issue for you.
My wife and I use shimano std's on all of our bikes, though my Klein does have a road std pedal it's still the same cleat style.

DogBoy

I ride SPD types on all my bikes. It just makes it easier. As far as I know, the big problem with SPDs on road-bikes are hot-spots due to the small contact patch. I have not had any problems with it even on long rides (2+ hrs), but others have. I like the SPDs though because you can get 2-sided ones pretty cheap. Otherwise I think speedplays are the only road-pedal with 2-sided entry, and they cost quite a bit more than SPD knockoffs.

spinnaker

Yes they are a bit heavy but I am 20 Lbs over weight. I'd rather drop that first.

khuon

Nothing wrong with SPDs if you don't mind some of its limitations such as lack of float and possible hotspot issues. You can solve the hotspot problems somewhat by getting shoes with extra stiff soles. Also note that SPD refers to two different things. There's SPD the hole-mounting pattern and many shoes that say they are SPD compatible really mean they are pre-drilled for SPD-style side-by-side 2-hole mounting pattern cleats. and then there's SPD the brand of pedals (this includes SPD clones which use the same cleat interface) that was pioneered by Shimano. Some other pedals with cleats that mount up using the SPD hole pattern but do not use SPD cleats include Time ATACs, Crank Brothers Eggbeaters, Ritchey Logic Pro, Speedplay Frogs and a whole slew of Wellgo-branded pedals. There are others I have not listed. Some of these, although utilising the same bolt-interface have a different cleat design and different binding mechanism that overcome the limitations of the Shimano SPD pedals. For instance, some of them offer float.

As far as double-sided road-specific pedals are concerned, the ones I know of include the Speedplay X and Zero pedals, Crank Brothers Quattro, Coombe Pro Pedal and BeBops. These mount up using either Look 3-hole or Time 4-hole patterns. These pedals are also generally more expensive than entry level SPD/SPD-clone pedals or many other entry-level MTB pedals that utilise the SPD mounting pattern.

slvoid

Another vote for spd's.
I love mine, plus they're walkable. A good stiff sole gets rid of most hotspots and spd's have 9 degrees of float so its not like you're completely locked in.

spinhappy

Just went clipless this week using Shimano shoes with the recessed cleats; I want to be able to walk around. I have bad feet and didn't want those tiny clipless pedals--afraid of hot spots and discomfort. Got Shimano pedals w/a decent sized platform and clips on both sides. Busted my arse the first day until I loosened the tension on the pedals, which made it much easier. Yeah, they were a little heavier than some others, but I'm not racing, just want something to extend my energy for longer rides and make hills more do-able. Good luck! Don't forget about the pedal tension, now...

larue

geez I just realized I typed std's instead of spd's.
for clarification there are no std's on my bike, or me.

slvoid

I was wondering why you said you and your wife were using std's on your bike...
Good to know you're clean.

spinnaker

OK another newbie question, what does SPD stand for? I know waht STD is?

khuon

Shimano Pedalling Dynamic

DieselDan

I just transitioned from SPDs to Look on my road bike. I do miss the double sided entry, but I'm getting used to them. The shop's recommendation is the same one that worked for me.

My big mistake was buying Shimano shoes and using Look pedals. They work together fine, but the walking nubs are for the lower profile SPD-SL cleat.

The Crank Brother's Egg Beater Quattro pedal is a double sided road pedal.

DinoShepherd

I use SPD's on my road bike. With racing style mountain shoes, I can't tell a difference between them and my old setup which was Shimano road racing shoes and Look pedals.

-Z

samp02

Do yourself a favor. Crankbrothers Candy SL. You will not regret.

jitteringjr

SPD's work fine for road but....

I am going to say it is not a good idea. You are going to want to upgrade before too long and then you are going to have to fork out more money for a second set of pedals. It is a good Idea for the LBS sales dude since he gets commision twice over. Not to mention possible compatibility issues with the shoes you pick out now not working with the next set of pedals depending on what you go with.

Do some reasearch and get a god set of road pedals.