New Pedals Dilemma

gaffmaster

I did the Ring of Kerry last month, and the fool that I am, I forgot my shoes. After a period of muttering profanities at myself, I decided to fork out for a pair of shoes - the ones I had forgotten are getting a bit tattered anyway. Being a member of a captive market with a limited budget, I bought a pair of these in the local bike shop in Killarney. They're a cut above what I have already in terms of lightness, stiffness and comfort.

I have SPD pedals on my road bike, so I got SPD cleats too.

Now...

I'm used to dedicated SPD shoes with a rubber sole that guides the cleat into the pedal. Living in Dublin means having to stop at a lot of traffic lights, and I am finding the new shoes slip off the pedal a lot when trying to pull away due to the exposed unguided SPD cleat and the hard plastic sole of the shoe, so I have not used the new shoes much at all.

I am debating whether to buy road pedals such as these while they are on sale. Or, should I attempt to sell my 'only used thrice' shoes and buy better dedicated SPD shoes and continue with my current pedal set-up. I have also considered option C, these cleat guides, but I have read negative reviews and they seem a bit pricey for what they are. They are also out of stock in most places.

To aid my decision, I am asking if you ride with SPD-SL or similar and what are the advantages of the road system over SPDs? I enjoy being able to walk around, but if the benefits of the SL system outweigh this luxury I may be convinced. Also, what are the differences with the different coloured cleats? I should probably mention here that I usually clip out by rolling my ankle IN as I have difficulty rolling my ankle OUT - such are my body mechanics - is it possible to clip out of the SPD-SL system with an inward twist?

Thanks for reading, and for any light you can shed.

awec

You get used to the slipping. Well, not used to it, I mean you get better at clipping in.

I think the different colours indicate the angle you need to spin your twist to unclip.

I've never tried twisting inward, not sure it works.

colm_gti

I used SPD-SL's and I clip out by twisting heel in, as does my mate, I started doing it when I figured the extra outward rotation was putting strain on my injured knee.

The different coloured cleats indicate the level of float, I think red have the highest degree of float, black have no float and yellow are in between.

dermo1990

I'v only switched to spd-sl a few days ago from spd. Walking wise, they're relatively easy to walk very short distances in, they're comfortable enough for about 50-100m since the cleat does have some grip, definitely less comfortable for walking in than spd.

I mainly made the switch to spd-sl as my knees were getting sore when I would be out for a spin, now the knee pain barely exists, probably due to the float the cleat has. The only thing about spd-sl is they take a bit of getting used to, mainly with clipping in.

Koobcam

I would give Speedplay pedals a try. They are double-sided (unlike look, shimano etc) which makes them a bit easier to get in to after stopping at lights. They also have more rotation, so they're in theory better on the knees, though I guess this also depends on other factors (pushing gears that are too big, etc). The one downside is that they are expensive (about €115 for the cheapest option, cleats cost about €40), but definitely worth considering. Last two winners of the TDF use them...

DirkVoodoo

gaffmaster wrote: »

I did the Ring of Kerry last month, and the fool that I am, I forgot my shoes. After a period of muttering profanities at myself, I decided to fork out for a pair of shoes - the ones I had forgotten are getting a bit tattered anyway. Being a member of a captive market with a limited budget, I bought a pair of these in the local bike shop in Killarney. They're a cut above what I have already in terms of lightness, stiffness and comfort.

I have SPD pedals on my road bike, so I got SPD cleats too.

Now...

I'm used to dedicated SPD shoes with a rubber sole that guides the cleat into the pedal. Living in Dublin means having to stop at a lot of traffic lights, and I am finding the new shoes slip off the pedal a lot when trying to pull away due to the exposed unguided SPD cleat and the hard plastic sole of the shoe, so I have not used the new shoes much at all.

I am debating whether to buy road pedals such as these while they are on sale. Or, should I attempt to sell my 'only used thrice' shoes and buy better dedicated SPD shoes and continue with my current pedal set-up. I have also considered option C, these cleat guides, but I have read negative reviews and they seem a bit pricey for what they are. They are also out of stock in most places.

To aid my decision, I am asking if you ride with SPD-SL or similar and what are the advantages of the road system over SPDs? I enjoy being able to walk around, but if the benefits of the SL system outweigh this luxury I may be convinced. Also, what are the differences with the different coloured cleats? I should probably mention here that I usually clip out by rolling my ankle IN as I have difficulty rolling my ankle OUT - such are my body mechanics - is it possible to clip out of the SPD-SL system with an inward twist?

Thanks for reading, and for any light you can shed.

Do you cycle much in town? SPD
Do you like to be able to walk around a lot off the bike? SPD
You can get multi release cleats for SPD.
SPDs are quite secure.

The advantages of SPD-SL are a larger platform, more secure retention (lateral rotation, it's hard enough to pull your foot straight out of an SPD pedal) and also the shoes tend to have much stiffer soles (supposedly better for preventing hot spots, power transfer and other stuff that may or may not be true).

The simple fact is that many people cycle quite far and quite fast with SPDs, they won't make you a worse cyclist. If you need to walk a bit and/or stop freqeuntly at lights, I'd go SPD.

gaffmaster

Thanks for the replies. Some good insights there.

I decided to go for the SPD-SL pedals to try them out. If I never try them I'll never know.

So if they don't suit me, I'll sell them and the shoes and invest what I get on a nice pair of SPD touring shoes.

Cheers.

JMcL

For what it's worth, I have the same shoes with SPD cleats and I must say I don't seem to really notice slipping that much (or am used to it at this stage). That said, I do find them a PITA (or probably more accurately foot) to hobble about on off the bike so they only tend to get used when I'm on the bike for longer spins where I don't intend stopping. To that end I've a cheapo 2nd pair with soles so the cleats are recessed which I use for the daily commute

Dinging

Have experience in using both SPD's and more recently the SPD - SL's. Once you get used to the SPD - SL's clipping in and out will be fine. Same as you I need to clip in and not out and its fine and its not a problem. You do feel more secure and at "one" with the bike. Once advantage of the SPD - SL's is that I can walk on the wooden floors at home but with the SPD's I was always afraid of marking the floor or at least the my wife was.

See http://www.bikestore.ie/shimano-sm-sh11-spd-sl-cleats-with-6-degrees-of-float.html for the SPD - SL's at €19.99 and free postage, you'll be doing well to find them cheaper.

Dinging.