Commuter Clipless Pedals

[htid]

Hi all,

I currently have a Whyte Cambridge with the pedals that came with it. I've been thinking of getting clipless pedals as most people seem to recommend them. I'll be using them for commuting 10 miles each way daily, but there's often traffic and so I'd have to clip in and out quite often. I'm thinking double sided ones would be best so I don't have to flip them over when clipping back in, but other than that I have no idea about pedals, I don't even know how you clip in and out. Are there ones that are easier than others to clip in and out of? Some of the reviews of these suggest they're easier, but they aren't double sided as far as I can see: http://www.wiggle.com/look-keo-2-max-carbon-pedals/

So I'm looking for suggestions of what to get. Weight is an issue as I'm carrying the bike up and down 3 flights of stairs so I don't mind paying extra for lighter ones. Budget is about £100 if necessary and £120 if the extra £20 is really really worth it. Cleats etc. are on top of that...that number is just for the pedals.

Thanks for any information!

 

[vickster]

I'd avoid Keo's (and any other SPD SL style) as you won't be able to walk in the shoes easily

Go for SPDs, M520s are small and light and double sided, keep the tension low, easy to clip in and out. They cost £20 and should come with cleats.

http://www.wiggle.com/shimano-pd-m520-pedals/

You really don't need to spend that much - if you want to save 100g go for the M540 (they are only 100g heavier than the KEOs and £80 cheaper)

http://www.wiggle.com/shimano-pd-m540-pedals/

£100 will cover pedals and some decent water resistant shoes

Very good choice of bike

 

[ianrauk]

If you are walking up and down stairs with a bike, then MTB pedals and shoes are the way to go.

 

[Rouge79]

SPD Cleats and pedals with a pair of DHB MTB Shoes

 

[gelfy666]

ive shimano m530 ive found these to be good as theyve got a pedal platform as well

 

[Kies]

Check out Shimano M324 dual pedals. I use them with normal trainers for commuting and clipless on recreational rides

 

[helston90]

Another vote for SPDs pedals and shoes- the pedals are double sided which (I find) aids clipping back as you just throw your foot at them, and the shoes you can walk in, perfect commuter set up.

 

[StuAff]

And yet another one for SPDs. I have Shimano A530s on the Portland and Dahon (like the M324s, flat one side, SPD the other).

 

[I like Skol]

I have been riding MTB SPDs for around 20 yrs and thought I would get some with a platform surround for commuting. Wish I hadn't bothered. M520s are the best and can be had for ONLY £17.50 delivered at the moment. I've swapped my semi-platform ones for an older variant of the 520 I had knocking about. The M520s come with cleats.

 

[buggi]

SPDs all the way mate... Commuters favourite. You can "road" type MTB shoes now, you don't have to have ugly MTB shoes.

 

[vickster]

The road style ones don't have recessed cleats necessarily...I bought and returned some r088s when I realised they would be almost as lethal for walking as spd. Look at specialized tahoes or similar and some waterproof overshoes if wet weather commuting

 

[Roadrider48]

I use both types and don't have a problem walking in either.

 

[htid]

Thanks for all the responses. I've decided it's probably best to get some with one side clipless and the other side...'normal'. Since I'm commuting and will be needing to take my feet on and off the pedals quite often, I think that makes more sense. I've read quite a lot of people saying when you start with clipless, you're bound to fall off - I don't want that to happen when I'm on my commute in busy traffic, especially given all the recent accidents. I know they're not related to this (or at least I don't think so), but it's still worried me. I also know of a friend of a friend who was wearing clipless on his commute, forgot about them and feel off then lost the use of both of his legs due to an accident - it's really put me off!

So I'm thinking I'll get MTB shoes (as I'm currently using flimsy trainers) and clip in on straight fast sections, then clip out when I'm in slower traffic areas. I'm assuming that if I have the MTB shoes on, I can't just get dual sided pedals and not clip in as I guess they'll clip in automatically when you put your feet on them?

 

[Mike_P]

Just tried some myself (M520s). Found, having size 10 shoes, I did not have to clip both feet in when situations were busy and could still pedal fine so I left my left foot clipped on and my right foot free until reaching less busy locations. Falling over is part of getting use to them, I did in my back yard merely trying them out! The cleats supplied with them are the single release version which,whilst I could detach my left foot okay, seemed problematic with my right foot being seemingly less flexible so I got a set of multiple release cleats (SM-SH56) and fitted one to the right shoe leaving the single release ones on the left shoe. The shoes are the Aldi ones which look like Brown trainers.

 

[Mike_P]

Just ordered some PD-T400s as the M520s are not road legal (the highway code requires pedals to have reflectors).