Pedals - Musing on a Trip to the Darkside

[marinyork]

After some thought I've decided that MacBludgeon should be dissuaded from using clipless pedals. He has overtaken me in the year standings on cyclogs and does quite enough miles as it is. We don't need him realising the hamster in him and spinning round like a maniac, he'll be doing 1000+ miles a month.

 

[Radius]

He wont get any faster, don't worry...

 

[MacB]

He wont get any faster, don't worry...

Oh mate, I am so going to own you for that one.........sometime

 

[NickM]

...my kids have been doing Chuck Norris lines a lot recently...

"One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic."

Shimano SPDs have become horribly overpriced of late. Being reluctant to fork out £55 for my usual M540s I bought a pair of the Wellgo equivalent recently. They are fine - rather better bearings than the M520s, I reckon, and 100% compatible with my usual Shimano SH51 cleats.

My commuter uses these, and they have been excellent - rain or shine, year in, year out (and they can be pedalled in trainers at a pinch).

You may like to try Shimano SH56 "Multi release" cleats, which in an emergency will let your foot out by yanking upwards, as well as by the normal heel-twisting movement.

 

[HJ]

thanks, they look to be the next pedal to buy, having looked again at the shimano site I find the A520 would have been entirely unsuitable. Single sided, yes, but not properly flat the other side, so no good for normal shoes.

I was riding with normal shoes today and didn't have a problem, you can ride them cleated side up for a short while if you need to, then flip them over when it is safe to do so.

 

[marxist_fixie]

Eggbeaters...pure and simple

 

[killiekosmos]

I've got the A520s which are not so good with ordinarly shoes. The A530s look much better.

 

[MacB]

Little more help please I have the Wellgo pedals but am still looking at shoes, unfortunately this has led me to look at the available systems again. So my concerns and questions are:-

SPD style - I'm worried about float and knee issues.

Speedplay - the Frogs are a temptation due the float aspect, but would be no use if I need to ride in flat shoes

Crank Brothers - the Mallet and Acid ranges seem to offer a decent platform and a high float clip-in system. I'm still trying to find some detail on how easy they are to ride in normal shoes.

As I haven't opened the Wellgo pedals yet I can still send back and get Speedplay or Crank Brothers. I really would prefer a pedal that can be used with flat shoes as well....any ideas?

 

[Cubist]

The Specialized Tahos have the "body geometry" footbed. The insole slopes to relive pressure on your knees, and work with the float of the pedals. There's also a raised area under the ball of your foot called a Tarsal Button or some such nonsense, but it is said to eliminate hotspots. They are a wide fit. They look like ordinary trainers. They are nice and stiff. They are comparatively cheap at somewhere between £55 and £60. They aren't waterproof, so you'll need overshoes in winter.

Oh, and return the pedals and get some eggbeaters.

 

[MacB]

The Specialized Tahos have the "body geometry" footbed. The insole slopes to relive pressure on your knees, and work with the float of the pedals. There's also a raised area under the ball of your foot called a Tarsal Button or some such nonsense, but it is said to eliminate hotspots. They are a wide fit. They look like ordinary trainers. They are nice and stiff. They are comparatively cheap at somewhere between £55 and £60. They aren't waterproof, so you'll need overshoes in winter.

Oh, and return the pedals and get some eggbeaters.

thanks will look at Tahos, by Eggbeaters is that the plain Crank Brothers pedal, ie no platform? If so they would be fine for the weekend bike but maybe not the pub bike. not sure though, if I'm going down the route of the tiny little thing I prefer the look of the Frogs to the whisks. also I thought the Speedplay models were the best for float.

 

[NickM]

I use (expensive) Sidi mountain bike shoes with ratcheting fastenings and Shimano SPD pedals with SH51 cleats. The cleats are set up "neutral" (i.e. orientated pretty much fore-and-aft, and pretty much in the middle of the fore/aft position range). Over many years I have had no knee or other problems.

Feet do eventually ache a bit if I ratchet the shoes' fastenings up too tight, but that is not a pedal/cleat issue.

 

[MacB]

So many choices, now leaning towards the frogs combined with the Spesh Taho shoe. Bung them on the weekend and commuter bikes and just leave flat pedals on the pub bike. Any problems and I can always put some flat pedals back on a bike.

So, 2 x frogs, £125 if cromo and £170 if steel, Tahoes about £55

or 2 x eaggbeaters, £90 to £170 depending on model, I'm ignoring the Ti version at £351

Frogs v Eggbeaters, I like the idea of the latter but see a lot of negative reviews re build quality and longevity for the Crank Brothers pedals. This seems to be borne out by the proliferation of their pedal rebuild kits.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Frogs and Eggbeaters and all other clipless chichi ephemera = used by those with more money than sense nowt wrong wi'Shimano - spesh do great shoes and wiggles own brand ?dhb? look good value and are popular amongst my non label conscious mates

 

[4F]

cough cough m520 cough cough

 

[threebikesmcginty]

If you want cheap and reliable I agree with FFFF - I've M520s on two of my bikes. Double sided, easy to clip in and out, less than £20 from SJS last pair I bought - them egg beaters look good for beating eggs!