Clipless Pedals - Educate a novice

[Joe_Rides]

I'm doing quite a bit of road riding at the moment and would like to try clipless pedals. I've only ever run on flats (being a mtb'er at heart) so I literally know nothing.

Naturally I've read up a little, but the selection is vast and the information is varied.

Please educate me, or better still, recommend a first-timer some shoes and some pedals.

General

I keep reading that MTB-type SPD's are preferred over road-specific ones. Is this right? Would road shoes not work on MTB pedals? Would mtb shoes work on road pedals?!

Shoes

Although I will only be riding clipless on road, I do tend to find myself getting lost and going off-piste occasionally. As such I was rather hoping to find some shoes which I can walk ok in (not for long periods). Also, I don't want to spend much money. Perhaps a touring type shoe? Any ideas?

Pedals

I own some plastic shimano dual purpose jobbies (clips one side, flat the other) which came on a bike I bought. I can try these initially, but looking at prices, new pedals aren't expensive anyway. It seems shimano M520 pedals are one of the go-to budget SPDs?

Any input appreciated.

Cheers,

Joe

 

[hamster]

There are two bolt layouts on shoes: three bolts in a triangle for road and two bolts close together for SPD.

The big question is whether you ever want to walk in your cycling shoes; if yes then go for SPDs, end of discussion. With road-specific cleats you walk around like a duck.
If no, then the big advantage of road layouts is the larger pedal area, many people find that SPD soles are a bit more flexible with the smaller pedal contact and can get foot pain after long road rides. Road pedals need a bit more practice to use in engagement, as you have to 'pick up' the pedal as you engage. SPDs are simpler and you just stamp your foot on the pedal and wiggle. Both become second nature.

As a general rule, SPDs have a bit more float than road systems. However on any it is important to get the cleat positioned in a neutral place so that the float is usable. There are road shoes with the SPD bolt layout (Giro Empire for example).

Personally I'd start with SPDs as they are more versatile, then move to road systems if you want their advantages: slimmer road shoes are better with overshoes for riding in the winter, for example. Set the SPDs with low tension and ride in quiet / gentle off road for the first few times. You will get one day when you forget and topple embarrassingly - we've all done it.

Your SPDs with plastic on one side are typically a double sided SPD with a plastic pad that engages in the SPD, probably you can unclip it and reveal a double sided SPD pedal. All the Shimano ones are brilliant: agreed that the 520 is probably the best value one. I get about 5 years out of a set, including a lot of winter riding.

 

[ajm]

Re:

For my road bike I use the A520 SPD pedals - I think their bigger platform is more comfortable for that kind of riding than the M520 (which are great value and work well off road.)

My "road" shoes are also supposedly MTB shoes, M89 I think - I certainly wouldn't want to use them on any kind of serious off-road trip but they're ideal for road or touring use where you might want to walk around a little bit occasionally.

 

[Joe_Rides]

Re:

For my road bike I use the A520 SPD pedals - I think their bigger platform is more comfortable for that kind of riding than the M520 (which are great value and work well off road.)

I saw those but was a bit put off with them being only 1 sided? Does that cause any mishaps? Certainly the prospect of a slightly bigger platform appeals to me, the M520's look a bit uncomfortable to my rookie eye.

I'm struggling more with shoes. Budget is probably £60 tops - I don't want to "invest" any more before I know for sure that I get on with clipless.

edit: Looks to be quite a few budget shoes available looking online (sports direct, decathlon etc). Might go and try some on.

 

[Joe_Rides]

Your SPDs with plastic on one side are typically a double sided SPD with a plastic pad that engages in the SPD, probably you can unclip it and reveal a double sided SPD pedal. All the Shimano ones are brilliant: agreed that the 520 is probably the best value one. I get about 5 years out of a set, including a lot of winter riding.

You were right!!!

 

[Chris D]

Re:

I use both mountain bike shoes and spd pedals (xt variety) on my road bike. But looking recently for another pair of spd pedals I discovered Boardman Pro pedals in Halfords. Exactly the same system as Shimano so therefore the one one of shoes remains interchangable between all my bikes/pedals. And they are lighter than Shimano XT pedals as well as being considerably cheaper ie £32 as compared to £65. And they function just as well.

 

[ajm]

Re: Re:

For my road bike I use the A520 SPD pedals

I saw those but was a bit put off with them being only 1 sided? Does that cause any mishaps?

No mishaps at all (although I've been using SPDs since 1993/4 so I should be used to them by now!) They are quite nicely balanced so that it's actually not really any harder to get clipped in than it is on double-sided pedals (the "right side" comes up fairly naturally when you step on them) - and being bigger, if you are in a hurry and do "miss the spot" you can still press on without much fear of your foot slipping off.

Definitely give the budget shoes a try - my second favourite pair of SPD shoes ever are a pair from Lidl, must be ten years old by now - they were all of £12!

 

[jimo746]

I use Shimano SPD pedals on both my mtb and my gravel/road bike, I use the M520 pedals on road and the "trail" pedals on my mtb.
Road SPD's are one sided, it's not a problem once you're used to that, but as mentioned above if you need to walk anywhere, at all, then you'll find it tricky in road SPD-SL shoes.mtb shoes have a heel and tread and make walking far easier.
Some cheap mtb SPD shoes and pedals is probably your best bet.

 

[Kerplunk]

Re:

Shimano M530 pedals are a very good price at moment if you're looking for a bit more of a contact area over a M520. I got a pair of Shimano PD-ED500 recently which are basically a smoother looking M530 pedal for 'touring' after getting fed up with always seeming to get the wrong side of a single side SPD when pulling away in traffic. A few brands do SPD touring shoes if you don't want a MTB shoe.

 

[Nob]

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