slightly baffled by clipless pedals!

[charly h]

Hello everyone

I want to buy a pair of clipless pedals, but I'm not really sure what to go for, and I'm getting confused! Can I use any sort of shoes with any pedals, is the cleat the bit that needs to be compatible? Or do I have to be locked into one particluar system? For example, is it possible to buy shimano shoes with Look pedals, if I get Look cleats??? I'm looking at 2nd hand ebay stuff, my main priorities being that they're cheap and doublesided, just cos I think the doublesided bit would make learning easier. Also I want them easy to get in/out of. I want it all basically!
I'm riding a racer in an urban setting FYI ...
Any ideas welcomed ... cheers!

 

[boudreaux]

Hello everyone

I want to buy a pair of clipless pedals, but I'm not really sure what to go for, and I'm getting confused! Can I use any sort of shoes with any pedals, is the cleat the bit that needs to be compatible? Or do I have to be locked into one particluar system? For example, is it possible to buy shimano shoes with Look pedals, if I get Look cleats??? I'm looking at 2nd hand ebay stuff, my main priorities being that they're cheap and doublesided, just cos I think the doublesided bit would make learning easier. Also I want them easy to get in/out of. I want it all basically!
I'm riding a racer in an urban setting FYI ...
Any ideas welcomed ... cheers!

3 parts to clipless: pedals,cleats shoes. Shoes may be drilled for multiple cleat types. The cleat obviously has to match both the shoe drilling and pedal. All types are not intercompatible...Double sided generally means MTB stuff. Shimano SPD and complatible knockoffs are generally the most widely available in double sided.....I'd suggest looking at Nashbar catalogue and going with shoes,cleats and pedals advertized as using the same or compatible systems. Buy on sale and hook it up with a coupon and you may well beat used ebay prices... Shoe sizing is an issue as there is not alot of standardization among brands and fit between brands of the same 'size' can vary alot.

 

[Cod]

Hello everyone

I want to buy a pair of clipless pedals, but I'm not really sure what to go for, and I'm getting confused! Can I use any sort of shoes with any pedals, is the cleat the bit that needs to be compatible? Or do I have to be locked into one particluar system? For example, is it possible to buy shimano shoes with Look pedals, if I get Look cleats??? I'm looking at 2nd hand ebay stuff, my main priorities being that they're cheap and doublesided, just cos I think the doublesided bit would make learning easier. Also I want them easy to get in/out of. I want it all basically!
I'm riding a racer in an urban setting FYI ...
Any ideas welcomed ... cheers!

I've found that SPD cleats, pedals and compatible shoes are more widely available and cheaper than other options. I also feel safer in an urban environment using an SPD setup rather than Look: SPDs are easier to get out of and are more suitable for emergency stops in traffic. Your foot will also have more grip on the road if you need to get out of a tight situation.
On the other hand you get a lot more pull going uphill from Look cleats than SPD, so if you do a lot of pedalling in hilly terrain it might be worthwhile invesigating Look pedals and cleats. I use an MTB around town with SPD cleats, and on my road bike I use separate shoes, cleats with genuine Look pedals: I never cycle in urban traffic with Look cleats.

 

[charly h]

Thanks for your advice, it's useful to know - I am thinking I'll probably go with spd for now and some shoes with grip, as like you say, they do seem cheaper on ebay and stuff ... maybe I'll see how I go and upgrade when I'm used to it - the thing I like about Look style ones is that they look really cool, design is everything !

Thanks to you all though!

I've found that SPD cleats, pedals and compatible shoes are more widely available and cheaper than other options. I also feel safer in an urban environment using an SPD setup rather than Look: SPDs are easier to get out of and are more suitable for emergency stops in traffic. Your foot will also have more grip on the road if you need to get out of a tight situation.
On the other hand you get a lot more pull going uphill from Look cleats than SPD, so if you do a lot of pedalling in hilly terrain it might be worthwhile invesigating Look pedals and cleats. I use an MTB around town with SPD cleats, and on my road bike I use separate shoes, cleats with genuine Look pedals: I never cycle in urban traffic with Look cleats.

 

[blueweed]

I use look KEOs and do a fair bit of urban riding, I thought they were fine. As with any urban riding, you have to keep your eyes open versus traffic and the slippery KEO cleats will hold the road well if the rider is alert enough. Nevertheless if you get KEOs, I would advise you take along a pair of cleat covers for walking around (stairs/uphill etc). Feels like a higher possibility of accidents while walking without cleat covers are higher than cycling with the cleats alone. Get red cleats for more float if you have bad knees, you also need less tuning on your bike shoes to get the perfect cleat placement. Make sure the shoes you get have 3 screws to fit Look cleats.

For double sided pedals, crank brothers quattro is your best bet, it is very easy to get in and out. I used them for awhile(2 weeks) thinking exactly as you that 2 sided is a good starting point. This is true enough, not only did 2 sided really helped learning but it also built my confidence. You never have to be slipping while trying to get into one sided pedals when moving off. Look takes abit of practice and you tend to look down and see if you would 'hook' on the pedal. However, I gave up crank bros in the end, road biking just dont feel that right with them. The quattros cum roadbike just looks bleh...

 

[txags92]

I use Shimano (SPD-SL compatible) shoes with Look pedals and cleats. One thing to think about with SPD pedals in that the mechanism in the pedal itself has a tendency to collect dirt and can get jammed. It is alot less forgiving if you have to put your foot down on the side of the road and come up with a cleat covered in dirt. The Look pedals tend to be more tolerant of having some dirt and grit in them. They are a bit more difficult to get in and out of, but after the first time you fall over in them, you remember to start unclipping earlier.

 

[Handz]

Dont think I would buy the shoes off e-bay. They need to fit properly, you are better at the LBS. You probably wont save all that much on e-bay and you can get the LBS to set everthing up for you(and you can go back) and thats probably worth the savings

 

[yamagold]

Dont think I would buy the shoes off e-bay. They need to fit properly, you are better at the LBS. You probably wont save all that much on e-bay and you can get the LBS to set everthing up for you(and you can go back) and thats probably worth the savings

Absolutely correct. You need to get a good fit. A very good fit wherein your foot cant move around the shoes. If you get a size too big then youll likely be setting up your cleats more forward and may have difficulties in having an efficient pedalling stroke.
I have only used TIME RXS Pedals and they are very easly to clip in/out. Also in an emergency they just clip out easily from the instinct of your foot stroke being removed from the pedal.