Clipless Pedal Question

Vélo

I'm getting a pair of clipless pedals for the 1st time.

What are the easiest for getting in and out of or are they all pretty much the same?

Canis Lupus

First time clipless here as of last week. I got Keo Look pedals. Piece of piss to get in and out. In is obvious getting out you literally just turn your foot to the side.

The only thing is you have to unclip a second before you think you do. It's a balance thing. You'll understand when you try them.

Morgan

Road or MTB?

I have Look Keo on the road, Time ATAC and Eggbeaters on the mtb - they're all fine to get out of. Most clipless pedals have adjustable release anyway so you can make them as loose or as tight as you like.

Vélo

Sorry I should have said road pedals.

I'm leaning towards the Look Keo Carbon.

I've been thinking about some of the Shimano one's also

TinyExplosions

Aquinas73 wrote: »

Sorry I should have said road pedals.

I'm leaning towards the Look Keo Carbon.

I've been thinking about some of the Shimano one's also

I started with Shimano SPD's, and they are dead easy to get in and out of, as I had mine set very loose I did find that sometimes when cranking hard you'd accidentally disengage, but as I said, that was down to how loose I had them.

I've moved up to SPD-SL's on the new road bike, and they are a different beast altogether! Once clipped in, they are solid, and improve the power you can get through to the pedal. The downside is that they are harder to get in and out of -you have to be a lot more precise than with the SPDs (with those you can just mash your foot down, and it'll engage), so they can take a bit more getting used to.

If you're just going around town, and will be starting and stopping at lights and that I'd heartily say get SPD, if you're going longer distances and won't be unclipping much, or if you won't be walking much, go SPD-SL (or Look, they are very similar)

One other thing to think about is with the SPD you can get shoes that have the cleat recessed, making it easy to walk in them, with the SL's, the cleat sticks out quite a long way, so walking is... 'interesting' to say the least

Hope this helps!

Quigs Snr

The look pedals are light, cheap and easy to use. I have them on all of my road bikes and never had a problem with them.

Even the Keo Classics and sprints are decent if you don't want to spend big bucks.

penexpers

I have the Look Keo Classics and find the much easier to get in and out of than the old SPD's I had. You can also get cleat covers for the Keo cleats which greatly aids walking

Chips Lovell

If you're worried about getting in and out of them, you should maybe consider the Keo Classics or Keo Sprints. The release tension spring range is set a bit higher on the Keo Carbons.

Vélo

Thanks for the advice.

I'm going with the classics to start with

liamtinney

Aquinas73 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice.

I'm going with the classics to start with

The KEO Elle are made for women they have a lower spring tension which is still ajustable they are a good option if you have any worries about getting your feet out, we have being selling loads of them to men when we explain the difference, the are the same quality as the KEO sprints

cantalach

Aquinas73 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice.

I'm going with the classics to start with

Speedplay Zero pedals have the very significant advantage of being double-sided. This makes them easier for beginners to get used to because you can clip in without looking down to check that the pedal is oriented the right way. They are the opposite of most pedal designs in that the pedal is the male part and the cleat is the female part. This makes the cleats easier to walk on than those for Keo or SPD-SL pedals because they have an almost flat surface.

On the downside, Speedplay Zero cleats can't be positioned back as far as some other cleat designs. This can be a problem for those who like to have the ball of their foot well forward of the pedal axle (to unload the calf muscles as much as possible). There is an alternative cleat for Zeros that addresses this problem but this is not typically stocked by bike shops and has to be specially ordered.

Zeros are available in a variety of different materials and ProTour logos with something for every budget. They're well worth a look in my opinion, though it's only fair to say that I use Shimano SPD-SLs - for no real reason other than that's what was on my first proper bike and I'm used to them.