Bike advice - Road Racer Pedals ?

[bilabonic]

Hi all

Looking to get myself a decent road bike and have a budget of about £600/£700. All the ones i have been browsing do not have any pedals, my current Claud hybrid just has standard pedals.

What is the score with clipless pedals/shoes as i have never used them ? Are they beneficial ??

Can anyone recommend a shoe/pedal combo ?

The bikes i have been looking at are 08 models which usually retail at £1100 and have Shimano Ultegra equipement.

Cheers

 

[Deleted member 6259]

I use SPD/Clipless pedals mate and there a god sent the most beneficial thing is you can both push and pull whilst your pedaling rather then just push like with standard pedals.Also your feet wont slip off either.There are 2 main types of pedals theres road pedals and off road pedals.I use shimano xtr off road pedals but have used a few different ones in the past including crank brothers egg beaters and preferred the shimano ones.I have never used road clipless pedals before but i know there shoes are not designed for walking in and tend to be alot stiffer then offroad shoes so would properly recommend getting a set of off road shoes/pedals. Depends on what sort of price you are going to spend but look at the shimano PD M520 spd pedals there great value for money and a good pedal and as for shoes its really down to your taste. Have a look on chain reaction or wiggle and I'm sure you will find a pair you like. I got a pait of shoes for free once when i bought a bike so try haggerling abit and see if they will chuck a set/pair in for free.

Hope this helps mate.

 

[Munkey]

SPD's for me as well. They also help in building cadence as you get to apply power at the back end of the stroke.

 

[MH]

I use SPD's Shimano M647, but these will be no good for road. Any set of Look or Shimano's uncaged versions will be fine.

 

[bilabonic]

Will the 540/520 spd be easier to clip in/out off. I know they are heavier.

Just do not know how i will get on with road ones as i have never used them before and don't fancy falling off clipped in.

Also knowing me i will forget i am clipped in when coming to stop and fall flat.............lol

 

[MH]

540's will be fine m80, you will feel nervous the 1st ride but after that they will feel part of you and you will NEVER be able to ride flats again.

The Shimano pedals a really easy to get out of anyway, a slight twist and they will pop out. You can adjust the spring tension also so they are easier or harder to get out.
You also get the cleats for the pedals also.

I have the Shimano M182 SPD shoes also

 

[fireistheword]

LOOK KEOs: The reds provide 9.5 degrees of freedom which is a good transition from the clipless pedals.

I like them, but they are not suited to tromping through mud.

 

[Deleted member 6259]

Just do not know how i will get on with road ones as i have never used them before and don't fancy falling off clipped in.

Also knowing me i will forget i am clipped in when coming to stop and fall flat.............lol

You'll not be the only one thats done it lol but like MH says once you get used to riding with them its hard to go back to flats.

 

[bilabonic]

LOOK KEOs: The reds provide 9.5 degrees of freedom which is a good transition from the clipless pedals.

I like them, but they are not suited to tromping through mud.

Seen a load of look pedals, with the look keo easy with 4.5 deg, what is the degree value mean ?

I take it the the easy ones are EASY to get into/out of and they are much ighter.

By the way the bike i had is a FELT F55 with full Dura Ace kit, put my normal cheapo plastic hybrid pedals on for a blast and CAN NOT believe the difference in speed/control.

Very happy..

Cheers guys

 

[MH]

The degrees is the amount of float in the pedal.

So 4.5 degrees is the amount of "free" twist you have before you disengage. Shimano have 9 degrees as far as I can remember. Which I find better as there is less chance of them popping out an kneeing yourself in the chin...lol