I'm upgrading my geared rain bike, and I'm thinking of swapping the clip-strap pedals onto it from my fix, and getting some clipless pedals and mtb shoes for said fix. I went to a bike shop today (the one on 79th & 3rd in NYC), prepared to drop some cash if all felt right. The guy was helpful in explaining the difference in float, spd vs sidi vs eggbeaters. Only problem was that they didn't have any way for me to try them out before I bough them. I've never ridden clipless, nor do I know the difference in feel between a floading pedal and one that doesn't float. I dont want to buy something without trying it first--so are there any shops in NYC that have try-out shoes and pedals? Or is this unreasonable? Does one have to drop the money, THEN decide if you like them? Seems crazy, because you have to lock yourself in to a specific cleat system...

The thing is, using clipless pedals/shoes even once almost certainly creates visible wear. I doubt you'll find a place where you can test-ride new ones. However, you might find someplace that will let you try a used bike. Or you could try a friend's clipless system.

If all that fails, just get Time Atac pedals. I have yet to hear of anyone disliking them.

x2 on the TIMEs. +40K miles on the same pair and they're totally fine.

What size shoe do you wear? You're welcome to try my setup out.

thanks! you wear ~11.5?

really can't go wrong w the Times... they have a bunch of different ones at different price points.

can time cleats go on mtb shoes, so I can walk around on them at work/school?

yeah, they fit spd 2 bolt pattern and are about the same size as spd or eggbeater cleats, maybe a bit smallewr

I'd say you want float, and I also vote Time ATAC. Only clipless pedals I'll ride anymore, road or track.

you can try my candy's out. i wear size 12, so you should fit. i live uptown too. upper east side. give me a shout if you want to try 'em. i should be home tonight sometime between 8-11.

edit: can you ride a 59cm frame with a pretty high non-adjustable (soldered binder bolt) seatpost or a 57cm frame with an even higher seat that can be slightly adjusted?

slightly off topic, but in richardson, tx, richardson bike mart lets you try them out on this trainer. They'll use the trainer to adjust your cleats as well, if you buy the shoes and pedals from them.

you could go with look, and change the float inexpensively by changing the cleat.

if nashbar has the pedals you want, they claim you can return anything for any reason. quote the website:

thats awesome

Doesn't "upon receipt" mean that you can only send it back if you look at it and don't like it, but you're not supposed to scratch the **** out of it and then send it back? Any clipless cleat will show some wear/scratches after 1 use.

Anyway, you have to ride clipless setup for a while before being able to really make up your mind, anyway. It's quite different at first and you have to dial in the cleat position and get confident enough about the release to be able to start thinking about how much float you want etc.