Road pedals
Author
Discussion

j4ckos mate

Original Poster:

3,432 posts

199 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
quotequote all
Hi, can anyone recommend me some road pedals, not clip ons, seen far too many people fall off.

Ive bought a pedal spanner off ebay to remove the ones that are on (wellgo), they is some sort of clicking going on so i thought id re grease the bearsing in the ones i have, but for the sake of messing about i might as well get some new ones.
upto about £25.00 thanks in advance



Mr Will

13,719 posts

235 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
quotequote all
Get clip ons. There is a reason that just about everyone uses them and you'll only fall off once...

Batfink

1,032 posts

287 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
quotequote all
I dont think you are going to see a massive difference between one set of £25 pedals to another. Get the colour that matches your bike..

Dont ignore clip ins though. They are pricey to start as you need the shoes but they are a leap ahead when it comes to efficient pedaling. The problem with falling off is they are clamping too hard out the packet. When you have an unplanned stop they then can be tricky to remove your foot. Slacken them off and its all fine and you can get off the bike with a minor twist of the shoe. Wet days are so much better with them as you cannot slip off the pedal. I fell off mine once , adjusted and have never done that again for three years. I even ran them on my fixed gear bike without fuss and thats more interesting getting clipped in.

Edited by Batfink on Tuesday 10th June 10:24

TwistingMyMelon

6,509 posts

234 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
quotequote all
Clip ons, I would be about 30% slower on flat and 50% slower up steep hills without them I reckon.

If you are worried about falling off, get egg beaters and off road shoes, no chance of being clipped in and off once they have worn in


Disco You

3,748 posts

209 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
quotequote all
j4ckos mate said:
Hi, can anyone recommend me some road pedals, not clip ons, seen far too many people fall off.
Don't be a spanner, get "clip ons".

Kermit power

29,622 posts

242 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
quotequote all
TwistingMyMelon said:
Clip ons, I would be about 30% slower on flat and 50% slower up steep hills without them I reckon.

If you are worried about falling off, get egg beaters and off road shoes, no chance of being clipped in and off once they have worn in
Another vote for off road shoes here, although SPD SLs in my case.

If you're planning on walking in your cycling shoes at all, even for short distances, you'll find MTB ones much more comfortable, as they have a much smaller, recessed cleat on the shoe.

CoolC

4,500 posts

243 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
quotequote all
Kermit power said:
TwistingMyMelon said:
Clip ons, I would be about 30% slower on flat and 50% slower up steep hills without them I reckon.

If you are worried about falling off, get egg beaters and off road shoes, no chance of being clipped in and off once they have worn in
Another vote for off road shoes here, although SPD SLs in my case.

If you're planning on walking in your cycling shoes at all, even for short distances, you'll find MTB ones much more comfortable, as they have a much smaller, recessed cleat on the shoe.
^^THIS^^

I took ages to convince myself to convert over to clipped in shoes/pedals, but once I did regretted not doing it earlier.

Cheap as chips shoes and Cheap as chips pedals and you've only just gone over you're original budget (this is PH afterall biggrin )

TwistingMyMelon

6,509 posts

234 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
quotequote all
I forgot about walking in them, walking in SPD-SLs and road shoes is a PITA off road shoes are fine and you forget you have cleats on!

bakerstreet

5,042 posts

194 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
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As others have said, go for Shimano SPDs (£17 from Ribble and Planet X) and if your budget is tight, go for some SPD shoes from Sports Direct for £20 smile

There is no way I would go back to flats after three years with SPDs and SPD-SLs.

nammynake

2,658 posts

202 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
quotequote all
TwistingMyMelon said:
Clip ons, I would be about 30% slower on flat and 50% slower up steep hills without them I reckon.
OP - don't expect any speed increases. Personally I much prefer the feel of clipped in pedals, and they can help because you can pull the pedals as well as just pushing, but any speed increase is going to be marginal.

Jayfish

6,795 posts

232 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
quotequote all
When your foot slips off your flat pedal and it gouges you down to the shin bone you'll wish you'd listened and gone clipless wink

Kermit power

29,622 posts

242 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
quotequote all
TwistingMyMelon said:
I forgot about walking in them, walking in SPD-SLs and road shoes is a PITA off road shoes are fine and you forget you have cleats on!
Ah, yes, thanks. I got my SPDs and my SPD SLs the wrong way round!

Go for SPDs.

ewenm

28,506 posts

274 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
quotequote all
Another vote for SPDs - I've got them on my road and MTB. Easy to clip in/out (especially on the loose settings while learning), easy to walk in the shoes, loads of choice of pedals and shoes.

If you really can't bring yourself to use the right tools for the job then whatever pedals your LBS has going cheap.

Disco You

3,748 posts

209 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
quotequote all
Kermit power said:
Another vote for off road shoes here, although SPD SLs in my case.
SPD-SL is a road system.

Kermit power

29,622 posts

242 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
quotequote all
Disco You said:
Kermit power said:
Another vote for off road shoes here, although SPD SLs in my case.
SPD-SL is a road system.
I know, hence the post to say I'd got the names the wrong way round.

TheLemming

4,319 posts

294 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
quotequote all
Whether SPD or SPD SL, or look keo, time, etc etc go clipless.

I was scared of them for ages, tried once, it went wrong.

Im now annoyed nobody sat me down and explained I should stick with it, there's a reason everyone uses them.

Its soooooo much better. In every way.

Honestly the only thing to remember is starting unclipping well in advance and it soon becomes second nature. Its either worth a gain in speed, because you can put the power down, or a reduction in effort.

Either way it makes life easier.

The injuries I've had from flats (rolling a foot off and dropping nuts first on the saddle was not fun) far outweigh anything I've seen from the occasional low speed lie down from failure to unclip.

TheLemming

4,319 posts

294 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
quotequote all
Whether SPD or SPD SL, or look keo, time, etc etc go clipless.

I was scared of them for ages, tried once, it went wrong.

Im now annoyed nobody sat me down and explained I should stick with it, there's a reason everyone uses them.

Its soooooo much better. In every way.

Honestly the only thing to remember is starting unclipping well in advance and it soon becomes second nature. Its either worth a gain in speed, because you can put the power down, or a reduction in effort.

Either way it makes life easier.

The injuries I've had from flats (rolling a foot off and dropping nuts first on the saddle was not fun) far outweigh anything I've seen from the occasional low speed lie down from failure to unclip.

SixtySpeedTwin

321 posts

181 months

Thursday 12th June 2014
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if your unsure get some Shimano M324 Combination Pedals which are flat one side and SPD (mountain bike) on the other, plus they are bang on budget at £24.49 at wiggle. This has the advantage that you can pop down the shops/pub in trainers. Ive got these on my mtb and they are great.
Then get some MTB shoes at your leisure so you can clip in or use the flat side if your not feeling too confident. Aldi/Lidl do cheap as chips shoes every now and again.

pedal link
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-m324-combination-p...

Justin S

3,658 posts

290 months

Thursday 12th June 2014
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Use these ones. Larger footplate, so you can get away from the lights without clipping in. Cheap as chips. Double sided to give you a better chance to get clipped in. Adjustable tension, so you can get used to them being set light. Ability to use dual exit cleats if you really are worried.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-m530-sp...

Great pedals, have them on my all mountain bike, which I abused in Spain recently and really cant find a downside and would be a good confidence boost to riding a road bike with them. Just be aware, that if you decide to use a 'road' cycling shoe, that a lot of the newer ones are not using 2bolt cleats like SPD's , but buying leisure shoes ( meaning you can walk on tiled floors without looking like you are suffering the craps) opens a wider shoe availability.
When leaning to use them, always oil the spring mechanism on the pedals and loosen the release tension allen bolt. Then, lean against a wall and practise locating the shoe / cleat and clip in and out for a few minutes. Do this before leaving the house. Most people have had slow motion rollovers at a set of lights, so also practise track standing.

snowdude2910

754 posts

193 months

Friday 13th June 2014
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2 questions, why are they called clipless pedals when you clip into them? and what's the benefit of tightening them up? The shop wound mine off when I got them and I've never felt the need to tighten them back up again as I've got used to them. Back on topic though another vote for muddyfox mtb shoes with spd's not quite like walking in proper shoes but not far off.