Cliples Pedals?

I think 1 set of cleats come with new pedals you buy,
fittings are not universal, there are several standards/combinations,
"Lance freakin' Armstrong" helped to develope the Shimano SPD-SL standard,

Congrats on getting a new bike! Yes, you definitely want to get clipless pedals, since they will make a big difference in how fast, far, and efficiently you can ride.

I'd recommend heading to your local bike shop with your bike and telling them you need to get set up with clipless pedals. They'll let you try on shoes, and give you some advice on which types of clipless pedals to get (there are several kinds). They'll also do all of the installation of the pedals on the bike, and the cleats on the shoes. This is helpful if, like me, you're not all that handy with bike equipment!

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by jordansamuels [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Congrats on getting a new bike! Yes, you definitely want to get clipless pedals, since they will make a big difference in how fast, far, and efficiently you can ride.

I'd recommend heading to your local bike shop with your bike and telling them you need to get set up with clipless pedals. They'll let you try on shoes, and give you some advice on which types of clipless pedals to get (there are several kinds). They'll also do all of the installation of the pedals on the bike, and the cleats on the shoes. This is helpful if, like me, you're not all that handy with bike equipment!

Getting the pedals on the bike and the cleats on the shoes is easy - they just screw on. However, getting the cleats in exactly the right position for your physiology/biomechanics is a bit of an art (from my perspective) so best to take the bike to the LBS so that they can get your properly fitted.

You probably already saw this, but in case you didn't below is a link to a thread discussing the merits of various pedals systems:

cyclingforums.comclipless road pedals first timerOpen ↗

I also installed clipless pedals on my bikes and the cleats on my shoes. It's really easy to do, don't forget to put a thin coat of grease on the threads of the new pedals before you intall them so they'll be easy to remove should you need to.

After I put the cleats on my shoes I went over to my lbs, they watched me ride, and made some slight adjustments to the cleat positioning on the shoes.

That was about 8 years ago and everything's working great so far....

For cleat adjustments the last word is yours, after you get close to an ideal position - with help from someone experienced - feel free to make the final adjustments yourself: few milimeters to the right/left, few milimiters pointing in/out, few milimiters foward/backwards.
The simple reason is that everybody's legs and feet are different,

Another advise is to not get psyched about them, after each fine adjustments let a couple of days time before you decide if you are comfortable on them,

For your 2nd. pair of cleats (yes they wore out from your mileage ridden) set up would be much easier after this 1st learning time.

Thanks folks. I think I'm going to get a few hundred more miles under my belt before I go clipless. I think that will give me a better feel for how my joints are going to tolerate this whole thing.