Recommended pedals/shoes for road bike

[Ghost91]

Can anyone recommended some decent pedals /shoes for my road bike?

My rather cheap and rubbish toe pedal clips have now broken and I'd like some SPD style pedals as I'm starting to get in to cycling more.

I don't want to spend a fortune so a decent budget option would be great.

Thanks!

[Fugazi]

M520 double sided pedals for about £15 if you shop around online and M064 Shimano shoes for about £40 or less if you shop around, these are more like a road bike shoe than a trainer style mountain bike shoe, but still have a recess for the cleat so walking around is easy.

[Ghost91]

Thanks, certainly a lot cheaper than the pedals leisure lakes tried to sell me yesterday and the reviews seem really good too.

Where I'm not quite up on all the 'stuff' that goes with road biking, I chose not to buy some from the shop and try and do a bit of research first to save spending a fortune.

It's not an all singing all dancing bike and I don't do hundreds of miles which is why I don't want to spend too much at the moment - having said that, the bikes proving to be fantastic for the money, can't wait to get some new pedals & shoes sorted!

[Fugazi]

You'll see those pedals on everything, all my bikes have them, even my brother in law's £4000 bike has them. Some people don't get on with them though and prefer the bigger road-style cleats like the SPD-SL, but for a first foray into riding with cleats it's a good step. Plus at £15 they're almost disposable.

Those shoes are fine and were what I bought when I first started out road cycling. Mine have held up for a few thousand miles of commuting in all weathers, the new pair I bought last year in anticipation of the current ones wearing out are still unused in the box. If you can I'd try on some Shimano shoes before ordering as they do come up slightly small and you might need the next size up.

[Roger Irrelevant]

Fugazi said:

Plus at £15 they're almost disposable.

Except of course you probably won't need to dispose of them as they pretty much last forever! I've had the same pair on my commuter bike for years, they're seriously battered from the occasional crash but they still work as well as they ever did, great bit of kit.

[Barchettaman]

Shimano A530 platform/SPD pedals, lovely things, plus you can ride the bike with normal shoes too.

[wemorgan]

Apart from breaking 'the rules' what are the negatives about MTB SPD on a road bike?
I've SPD-SL on mine and don't get along with them. I only ride for pleasure on rural roads bit still at every junction I find myself faffing.
I'm tempted to revert to dual sided MTB SPD. I can't see what I'm going to lose.

Edited by wemorgan on Monday 14th September 13:46

Edited by wemorgan on Monday 14th September 15:02

[Gren]

Smaller contact points of spds will work less well with flexible soles. People also talk of 'hot spots' because of this.

My xc race shoes are plenty stiff so I don't have any of these issues personally

[bakerstreet]

If you are starting out, then SPDs are the way forward. Double sided is much easier to clip in and out of. You will eventually do it with out looking.

With SPD-SLs, most of the time you clip in first time, but on one occasion, you will miss and have to rotate the peddle. Sods law dictates that this will only happen as you are pulling out into a busy junction!

I have SPDs on my Brompton and my CX bike. However, I do obey by the rules and have SPD-SL on my road bike. However, if I decided to commute on my road bike again, I would switch back to SPDs.

[jimmyVX]

Very much in the same boat, I bought these last week and after a couple of rides I must say im very happy with them, definitely a good first option:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-r065-ro... - That said I would say the M064 as recommended above is probably a better option, walking anywhere in these is a nightmare. However the R065 does give the option of a change to SPD SL in the future if required.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-m530-sp...

Edited by jimmyVX on Monday 14th September 16:37

[BlueNGT]

Love SPD, have ridden the for years on my MTB and Road bike. Going Speedplay pedals on my new Road build for double sided approach again.

I bought new shoes this year too, tried lots and lots of different shoes...Sidi, Mavic, Shimano, Giro and eventually found Specialized shoes were really comfortable for me. The Specialized were nowhere near the most expensive but they were by far the most comfortable....I really wanted a pair of Sidi, my eyes said yes but my feet said no!!!

You will most likely need to try and few different brands to find which fit your foot best.

[Ghost91]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

I've ordered some of the M520's, which should be here tomorrow

Off to decathlon and possibly local bike shop tomorrow to try on some shoes to get the right size

Hopefully the weather picks up for the rest of the week so I can get out and try them out without getting drenched!

[LordHaveMurci]

Rode MTB for years, after quite a long break I have bought a road Bike & gone with SL's, much prefer std SPD's!
Sadly I bought R078 shoes so would need to buy shoes & pedals if I switched, just have to get used to it + it means you have to ride the hills rather than get off & push!

[Kermit power]

Pedals are one thing, but don't take anyone's advice on shoes, or at least on the fit thereof.

I've spent God only knows how long trying to get my bikes working properly for me, but it wasn't until I had a proper bike fit yesterday (which ended up taking 4.5 hours!) that I discovered that my shoes don't fit properly, even though they feel perfectly comfortable standing up!

The positioning of your feet is on SPDs is so much more unforgiving that at the very least I'd go to a shop who know what they're doing and can run through several pairs with you.

[bakerstreet]

Kermit power said:

Pedals are one thing, but don't take anyone's advice on shoes, or at least on the fit thereof.

I've spent God only knows how long trying to get my bikes working properly for me, but it wasn't until I had a proper bike fit yesterday (which ended up taking 4.5 hours!) that I discovered that my shoes don't fit properly, even though they feel perfectly comfortable standing up!

The positioning of your feet is on SPDs is so much more unforgiving that at the very least I'd go to a shop who know what they're doing and can run through several pairs with you.

Good point on the shoes. I tried buying shoes online and it was a complete failure. Ended up resorting to Evans and the local branch of Cycle Surgery. Also bought some shoes that the online retailer refused to refund, so had to sell them on Ebay

[Kermit power]

bakerstreet said:

Good point on the shoes. I tried buying shoes online and it was a complete failure. Ended up resorting to Evans and the local branch of Cycle Surgery. Also bought some shoes that the online retailer refused to refund, so had to sell them on Ebay

I seem to have freak feet!

The chap measured me up on measuring devices from, iirc, Lake and Bontrager. On the first, I came out as 40 on my left foot and 41 on my right, on the second as 41d and 42d. We then tried loads of shoes, and trying to fit even into 42s was like Cinderella's ugly stepsisters trying to put on the slipper!

My second and third toes are the same length as my big toe, which means even a typical wide fit shoe isn't wide enough! This means I'm seemingly stuck with 43 or even 44, which means that even with the cleats slammed all the way back, they really need to be further back. I'm going to have to keep looking for the ideal shoe...