I've been thinking a lot about going clipless lately, right now all I have is some platforms (and a front brake)...

The bike is a Nishiki Century and Ive been thinking about tearing it apart and replacing most everything. So I figured I'll get new pedals as well.

Here is my question...

What do I need to know, what shoes work with what pedals, what shoe/pedal combo is decent. I don't need top of the line but I dont want bottom of the barrel either.

Also, how do they work? haha I've never even looked at a set before.

Thank you!

most people here will say either eggbeaters or time atacs, myself included.
i say eggbeaters.

all pedals have their own special cleats which then match up to either road or mountain shoes.

I'd highly recommend going to a local bike shop. Clipless pedals are best demonstrated in person, with a trained sales person showing proper use and beginner tips.

Take your bike with you!

The first question you need to ask yourself is whether or not you want to be able to walk with your shoes on or not.

If you want to - MTB style. If not - road style.

Definitely go to the lbs to get your shoes. I ordered mine online and it took me a while to get used to them. They aren't the best fit.

Do a search here, you'll find a couple of threads and the usual argument over brands etc Then just go into a shop and have them demonstrate them. Pick some, use them for a week and and come back here and post about falling sideways at the lights etc in one of the many threads on that topic.

And then go back to using straps and toeclips cos they're more practical for everyday use.

spend the dough on time atacs.

they are awesome.

i wouldn't ride brakeless with anything else. (i know you aren't now, but think about the future...)

also, if you want to get shoes you can walk around in, go with mountian shoes over road shoes.

check out sidi dominators if you want to see the best, then work down from there.

you have to have clips to ride fixed or you cant skid DUHHHH

time atac and sidi dominators for the win.

it took me awhile to get my sidi's dialed in, though, fwiw. i was getting pain in the left foot and wondering why. a few tweaks on the cleat positioning, and not dialing down the velcro straps super tight fixed the problem completely though. yesterday i rode for 4 hours and felt perfecto in every regard.

time atacs are just amazing. minimal float, super burly and durable... they're the phil wood of clipless. you'll never have to worry about maintanence.

When everyone talks about how great ATAC's are, does this include aliums?

clipless pedals are, i'd say, the easiest way to achieve a performance improvement.

road pedals use large plastic cleats that are hard and uncomfortable to walk in. mountain pedals use small metal cleats - mountain shoes have tread that protect the small cleat from direct contact with the ground. these are easier to walk in. many mountain-compatible shoes also look very casual, but there are also very techy looking MTB shoes.

clipless pedals work with a spring mechanism. the cleat is bolted to your shoe. you tuck the nose of the cleat into the pedal, and then push down. the pedal - with spring mechanism - grabs on to the tail of the cleat.

time atacs are great pedals and will cost you, oh, forty or fifty dollars. i ride times on several bikes (my every day bike, my road bike for city use, and formerly my track bike).

for shoes, definitely go to a shop and try some on. you want snug, comfortable shoes. and you want shoes that look like what you want them to look like. if you want to look like a biker every time you ride, get fancy tech-y looking shoes. if you want shoes that can offer a more casual look, get casual or touring shoes.

johnny nemo's comment of clips and straps being more "practical" for every day use is really subjective. i ride about thirty miles a day, frequently more. i can't stand clips and straps, because they feel sloppy and uncomfortable. even with all the nonbike stuff i do, my clipless shoes are comfortable enough to wear. or i just throw some light sneakers into my bag. i'm more interested in being comfortable on the bike, since i put in a lot of time in the saddle.

KEOs = the jam. I've been on them for a few months now after years of eggbeaters. Doubt I'll ever look back.

HOWEVER, yes, they're a ***** to walk in.

yup.

Absolutely. I've still got a bike set up with clips/straps for short rides to go shopping, barhopping & of course stupid tricks & wheelies, which are scary as hell (for me) when clipped in.

yeah, exactly... i'd have pedals like that on a bike like that, except everything i do is all the way across the city. and new york city is a big city.

Shimano mountain pedals are good...

Eggbeaters good...

Times are good...

My current setup is Shimanos and MTB shoes from Lake that look like laid back shoes.

My dream setup is same shoes with Eggbeaters.

I also have Sidi Dominator 2s for MTB and Cross racing.

I wouldn't even ride a bike without clipless...seriously, it's that important to me.

time atac's... amazing pedal... ride them for cross country, fixed, and touring and only once have they pulled out by accident (long story short, loaded bike, bunny hopping a curb with old worn cleats). Only downside is you cant adjust the pedal when the cleat wears, so you have to buy new cleats more often then shimano's (i believe)


I ride with Sidi Eagle 6 Carbon SRS shoes... they cost some money, but im never going to buy anything but Sidis, ever again. I had some Specialized shoes which just sucked, then bought my Sidis, after wearing them for like a month straight there is no comparison. Sidis rock. Only thing i found was that they did stretch a bit (about a half size), so even though i fit them small to start off with, they are a bit big now (not really too big, i just max out the straps, everything else is fine), my next pair (yup, another $300 on bike shoes) will be dragon 2's...

and yea having to carry around extra shoes sucks, but most of the time i dont change out of my sidis, i have worked a shift at work with them on before (i work retail, so 9 hours of walking in them and they were awesome)


muzzymuz: i ride them and the carbon, and the alums are just as nice to ride i think the major difference is they weigh a bit more

I really like my Sidi Blazes, and so far nobody has mentioned two interesting clipless. Bebops, and if you're foot is bigger than a size 10 or 11 I think the Speedplay Frog is practically the same thing. Though if you're going with a road shoe then that opens up the rest of the Speedplay line which I haven't used but I hear are amazing.

So yeah there's one combo that'll work. Sidi Blaze and a Speedplay Frog

This is something that you need to think about first.
If you don't need to be able to walk or travel distance whilst in your shoes, road shoes/pedals are superior.
Otherwise pay more attention to the plethora of informative and valid MTB clipless posts.

BTW I prefer to use MKS toe clips and Toshi single straps for everyday short-distance commutes. But when I ride for a workout or distance (and some times just for fun!) I switch to SIDI Genius 5 and Look style clipless pedals.

I LOVE my Sidi+Looks!

I personally hate my egg beaters, I only keep them in case I want to do a cyclocross event. Way too much float, and the metal/metal connection feels like butter when wet (which is bad here in PDX). After 3 accidental unclips I switched to KEOs. Walking in them and putting the cover on is a slight inconvenience compared to coming unclipped. The Keos are very secure and the float feels correct (which can be adjusted based on which cleats you use), the tension is adjustable.

I have no knowledge of the Time Atac, but if I had not invested so much in my Keo/road shoes I would def consider giving them a test run at my local LBS.

I just switched over to clipless. I use the Shimano SPD Campus pedals w/ some cheap shimano MTB shoes. The reason I use the campus pedal is because there is a platform on one side and holes to mount toe clips and straps. Then on the other side there is the SPD clip. I mostly ride clipped in but for polo or something, I ride w/ the toe clips. I really like this setup. I bought MTB shoes because I can walk around in them without clicking on the ground. Plus, they are really comfortable. I will probably buy some nice road shoes eventually.

Speedplay Light Action and Sidi Genius.

I've been hearing good things about shimano, i'm myself am pondering making the jump to clipless.

Thanks alot guys. Ill have to make a trip to the LBS soon and see what I can figure out.

Careful with clipless because once you go clipless all other pedals won't feel like riding a bike anymore.

Also, if you forget to bring a change of shoes you can't play basketball. I don't play basketball but I could see how this could be a problem. Also, also, get used to people looking at you in the supermarket when you are getting groceries and your a guy walking around it shoes that go "click clack". Also, also, also, I slipped once on a wood floor and did a psuedo split in mine once, luckily I was coming from mountain biking so I had my leg armor on.

That being said, clipless rocks!