What Pedals

Hi All,

I joined the club a couple of months ago and have been on several Sunday rides, which I've really enjoyed. I've noticed that I seem to be the about the only person using Shimano SPD pedals. Most other people are using another type (maybe called Look ?). I'd like to ask people's opinions on the relative pros and cons of SPD versus other types of pedal. Are SPD's not much good ? Are others better ?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Ian

I've been using speedplay for 13 years and wouldn't go for any other pedal. These are the lollypop ones used by Cancellara and Niboli plus a few other pro riders (not that I'm a pro mind you)

Pros - up to 20 degree float (your foot moves on the pedal) so no springs to fight against and very good on your knees.

Very light,

Easy to maintain

Cons
Float takes a bit of time to get used to
they do need maintenance so a grease gun is a must
Quite a big plate if you've only got the 3 hole drilling on your shoe
Bloody expensive

Carl

Yep, I use the lollypop jobbies, Speedplay they're called.
I have in the past used SPD's and to be honest I found them a little easier to get in and out of than the Speedplay's but the Speedplay's are a lot more 'tuneable.' You can dial the float in and out to allow your feet to go 'heel in' or 'heel out' or you can adjust them for no float. They also give much greater ground clearance than SPD's so you can really crank into those corners.
Oh, and if your a tart like me you can get them in a colour to match your bike, niiiiice!!

Always match pedals to your bike! Lol I started with spds and have moved to speedplay zeros after 18 months of riding, I ride without the float as my pedalling action is pretty straight and seems to suit, I like how they feel when I'm out the saddle climbing or sprinting and as James says, better clearance - have clipped them on the tarmac twice whilst cornering and any other pedal I swear I'd have increased by tally of unceremonious dismounts. Other advantage is they're double sided.

Nothing wrong with spds, they're entry level cleats (of course you can pay extra and get them in carbon but its the same mechanism), I'd rate look keos the same though I've never ridden them.

For my two penneth I use Time RXS pedals, 2 sets of Carbons & 1 of the First's.

I have used these pedals for 6-7 years and are virtually maintenance free.

Very knee friendly which I require, probably not quite as much angular float as the Speedplays but they do have built in lateral movement as well.

Cleats require no covers to walk on, can be a bit fiddly to click in at times but I do think I now need to replace the cleats as they are still the originals.

Never had to adjust the tension, used straight out of the box, on all 3 bikes. Very positve click to engage and as yet I have never accidentally pulled my foot out.

I always thought 'Look' were the industry standard....clearly i'm wrong

I think you just get what you fancy and what funds will allow. I have Look pedals on my bikes and Look cleats on 2 pairs of shoes, so i have full interchangeability (just had to look that word up)

I like SPDs and use single sided SPDs (for example Shimano PD-A600)on my road bike.If you want to try a single sided SPD I have a pair of lightweight ones here you can have as they were an emergency purchase but in reality they are a bit "budget" for permanent installation so they are just gathering dust now.

Reasons:

1. I have a single system across all my bikes on or off road, same cleats in all my shoes and can wear any shoes with any bike etc.

2. I like the recessed cleats which mean you can walk about in your bike shoes without damaging the cleat or sounding like a rhythm-less tap dancer.

I am very much a novice rider so others above have a lot more experience of chronic or long term problems with knees and stuff. I have not experienced any so far.

Hi Ian,

I have always used Look. Cureently have a 4 year old pair of Carbon Keo's and they havebeen great. 3 types of cleat to suit the degree of float. Red, Black and Grey. I have considered Speedplay's and after reading this may consider looking and trying them out. Been Cycling for 20 odd years and had Look pedals for 80% of that.

So i suppose it comes down to 1. Budget 2. Personal Choice

Hope that helps confuse you some more!

Regards

Mark

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the replies, which are really helpful. I think I'm going to stick with SPDs for the time being, as I have them fitted to two road bikes and one mountain bike. I like the sound of the Speedplay pedals but the cost of fitting them to three bikes is a bit prohibitive at the moment. Many thanks to Mike for the offer of the single sided SPDs. However, since I'm primarily a social rider, I don't think that going around corners so fast that my pedals scrape on the ground is likely to be much of a problem for me!

Thanks again all,

Ian

Bit late in the debate, apologies:

I used spd double sided pedals with the metal cleats for 10 years of triathlon. The beauty was the ease of clipping in and out; the ability to use cycle shoes with a rebate for the cleat, allowing the wearer to still run safely through transitions; and the durability of the metal, as opposed to plastic cleats. I went to Look deltas when I hung up the wetsuit, and even had a go at Look Keo, but much prefer the Delta (for load spread). Keos are good lightweight and all that, but I still can't work out why look tried to improve something that wasn't broke?

Your not alone. I only use SPD pedals !

Primarily because I also ride an MTB and didn't want to be doubling up on shoes.

Mike

I started way back with clips and straps but moved to Look Deltas in the late 1980s. In recent years, having stopped racing, I experimented with double sided pedals for my cyclo-cross bike. I didn't get on with SPDs as I simply couldn't get my muddy foot out a couple of times. The Crank Bros egg beaters were a bit too soft and indistinct for me as there wasn't a reassuring click when I, um, clicked in. On a recommend from another experienced rider I opted for Ritchie V4s which are very similar to SPDs. This got around my personal discomfort at ever putting that which will not be named on a Campag crank. Because I don't race, the V4 with SPD-type cleat goes on the bottom of my Sidi cyclo-cross shoes nicely and I can turn up at races etc and walk around without slipping up or wearing my cleats out.

However...

Last year I made the mistake of sprinting in my V4s. They weren't tight enough and I made a big red mark down the tarmac. So, for 'real' cycling I'd stick with a decent single sided road pedal. Look have listened to comments from others like Dave G and have recently introduced the Look Keo2 Max pedal which has a broader contact surface for the foot. I'm lucky in that I've ended up with more than one pair of cycling shoes (all Sidis and all the same size) so I can have different pedals on different bikes, but at the moment I'm only using the V4s. If I get fit enough to ride the Mega Meon I'll replace my V4s with my Keos.