pedal questions...help

You never THINK you'll need clipless until you try it and then normal pedals will annoy the [censored] out of you.

Bite the bullet and go clipless!!

as for shoes, shoe fit is VERY personal, what I love you may hate

My suggestion is to go to every bike store you can find and try on as many shoes in your price range as possible before you decide.

I was "afraid" of clipless but a while ago I got a pair for my road bike (didn't have a mb), around six months ago I decided to buy a mountain bike, before I had it in my hands, a week or so, I bought the clipless pedals for it then got the bike (go figure). Always was told to be very careful with clipless you may fall and won't be able to unhook without help yadayadayada.
After I went with my wife's MB for a ride on a gravel road, when I was going downhill I was struggling to keep the bike under me and not the other way, my feet were flying all over the place, very dangerous.
So save those $30 for the shoes that will fit you. I have a pair of Diadoras and they are top quality, are MB shoes but I use them for both bikes (spd pedals). What I like (not necessarily your taste) are the ones that don't look like sneakers but like more "pro", the sneaker like models I've seen are less rigid (specially soles)than the others.
Hope this helps!

I do want to try clipless, just not quite yet. I do some free-ride stuff and i want to be able to remove my foot quickly.

And my LBS sucks, they hardly stock any shoes. 🙁

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by brschmid2
I do want to try clipless, just not quite yet. I do some free-ride stuff and i want to be able to remove my foot quickly.

And my LBS sucks, they hardly stock any shoes. 🙁

I am not sure if you are talking about a road bike or a mountain bike, but to a great extent the same goes for both. You can easily get the hang of turning your heel to the outside to get out of the pedals. The secret lies in adjusting the tension on the pedal properly. When it is set right, your heel will have a bit of play.

I first had Look pedals on my racing bike years ago, and recently had some Ritchey pedals put on my full suspension mountain bike. In both cases, I cannot believe I ever got by without clipless pedals. I very strongly recommend you go for the clipless pedals. To be on the safe side, do some easy riding on empty streets just to get the hang of them before you try anything more demanding.

You want toe clips but not clipless? Rat traps are far more dangerous than clipless pedals ans are also more difficult to deal with. Clipless pedals disengage with a sideway twist. Whenever you are in a tight spot or about to fall your natural instinct is to slide your foot sideways off the pedal and put it down. That reflex will normally cause the clipless pedal to release. On a rat trap your foot will stay stuck in. Its far more difficult and unnatural to slide your foot back and then put it down than to just sweep it outwards to the side.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by brschmid2

question # 2,
Can someone recommend a good toe-clip pedal for $30.00US or under, if they exist?

sorry for the n00b questions.

Can you rip them off your old bike? Have you got another bike that already has toe clips? If not, are you very very used to toe clips and that's why you want to go with toe clips? Just curious.

I have a friend in your position (I ended up getting her clipless pedals off her mtn bike when she converted to toe clips). I could never convince her to switch to clipless (but she rides without the straps tightened down on her shoes--which is less dangerous than open pedals, i suppose, but still questionable). My daughter is also afraid of clipless, so I got her mini toe-clips that are stiffer and have no strap at all to get stuck in. She loves them.

I side with the other posters on this thread--you should go for clipless if you can--it's way safer, especially if you're biking off road. But it looks like you are on a slim budget and that's what's stopping you. Well, right now there are lots of shoes on sale, some of the best deals are from close outs. I got my road shoes for only $27.

I have ride flats, toe clips and clipless. Please save the time and the effort to learn all those different pedals and go clipless. Once you are use to those little things, you wil never want to use a bike with out them. I ride XC MTB and a little road too, I use SPD compatible pedals on both.

My first pair of clipless shoes where Specialized, and I never have use other brand. You will find from budget models to top-line shoes, some times you can find very good offers at theirs site on line.

That’s my humble opinion, but I agree with Duckwah when he said “what I love you may hate”, and listen to Solanog’s recommendation about not to look the sneakers type, they are not so good for serious riding or racing cause they are more flexible and you loose some power when they bend.

Regards

Yes, this is a MTB (2k3 Kikapu) i am talking about.

I got some toe-clips now, i never planned on having them extremely tight on my foot, in case i do need to get my foot out.

anyway guys, thanks, but i am gonna use the Toe-clips for awhile, because i can ride flats too, then later this summer i plan the upgrade to Clipless. I just got back into MTB and i am not used to it at all.