Pedals for a newbie

[nick1984]

afternoon all,

im looking to change pedals, the ones that come with the bike are the plastic type with the foot strap style...

I don't want to break the bank, but would like something better, I will be purchasing a pair of shoes too.

suggestions would be fantastic as I have no idea where to start looking...

thanks

Nick

[mercalia]

how much do you want to spend? and do you intend to use ordinary shoes?

[chris_suffolk]

As has been said cost is a factor. Is it a road bike, MTB, what? Do you want to be able to walk easily, or are road cleats ok? - few extra bits needed before anybody can give an intelligent answer.

[nick1984]

Ah ha, yeah sorry!

I have a road bike, I’m open to ideas. I just have a simple pair of trainers atm. Have been looking at shoes tho

[mercalia]

you need to say if you want to use road cleats ie those pedals that lock your shoes to the pedal rather than use straps

[nick1984]

Yeah I would like to upgrade to the clear style pedals.


I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my wobbly bog brush using hovercraft full of eels

[Brucey]

Yeah I would like to upgrade to the clear style pedals... .

eh...?

cheers

[pwa]

Yeah I would like to upgrade to the clear style pedals... .

eh...?

cheers

Cleat? R is next to T on the keyboard. Typo.

[nick1984]

Fat fingers

[chris_suffolk]

SPD style so that you can walk normally, or road cleats which protrude below the sole of the shoe?

Any issues with knees etc? Do you need movement (float) in the pedal attachment, or is rigid ok?

[nick1984]

Walking normally would be good, don’t have issues with knees atm I don’t think I need movement in the pedals, at the mo I have to keep adjusting my feet back as they keep slipping out of line

[chris_suffolk]

Before moving to road pedals, I used Shimano PD-M520 pedals with SPD shoes. Never had an issue with them, and double sided so nice and easy to clip into. Only down-side is you can't use normal shoes if you just want a quick trip to the shops.

Shoes will cost quite a bit more than the pedals, and in my experience you're best using a LBS rather than on-line as fit is important and varies alot.

[CyclingGuy]

I would always recommend buying shoes at your LBS as fit is so important - get them wrong and you'll be at least uncomfortable for miles or even worse in pain.

When trying them on make sure you're wearing the same socks as you would to cycle in, and go for a looser fit than you would for everyday shoes as your feet will swell during cycling and I can speak from experience when I say having a loss of circulation due to too tight a shoe is no fun.

Even if you can't get along with cleated pedals, if you go for an SPD shoe, you can still use them with normal pedals, and if you're unsure as to how you will get on with them there are some pedals that have a cleat one side and flat the other to give you the best of both worlds, and some have a clever 'pop-up' cleat grip that allow you to use either a flat shoe or cleated shoe on either side, such as these below.

Shimano single sided pedal - https://amzn.to/2rLGADP
Shimano 'pop-up' pedal - https://amzn.to/2GpGaHx

Shoes and pedals are very easy to get right, but are incredibly important as they are the interface between you and your steed. Beware of going too cheap as it could cost you in the long run. I would say that if you're on a budget shoes are more important than the pedals because of the fit, and can still be used with conventional pedals until you can afford the upgrade to the pedals.

HTH

Neil

[Brucey]

I'd vote for trying SPDs too.

cheers

[mattsccm]

Double sided MTB type SPD. Many people never move to road pedals as walking around is a pain. A stiff racey type MTB shoe is as good as a road shoe from a stiffness/efficiency point of view yet a soft trainer type can be as comfy as a trainer. You may end up with two pairs of shoes eventually but the pedals won't need to change.