Thinking of going from SPD-SL to SPD

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Dogtrousers

Kilometre nibbler
Like many above I've never used anything other than regular 2 bolt SPD as clipless pedals.

What kind of pedals? I'd go for Shimano M520 or M540. If the over-used term "bomb proof" can be applied to any cycling components, then it's these. M540s are a little more expensive a bit lighter and generally a bit better, supposedly the bearings are better but I never noticed any difference. Key to me is the M540s look a bit nicer, they're less stubby looking. These things are important ;)

Shoes are very much up to you. I wear multi-sport shoes with laces that look just like trainers off the bike, but I don't think that's what you're after. I don't have any issues with "slipperiness" and I'm also large and clumsy.
 

markemark

Veteran
I’ve had more grazed shins or ankles from slipping off flats than I have had incidents with SPD. Personally I like the “connected” feel of using SPD, but each to their own.

That's never happened to me. It's like clipless fails - happens to some but not others. I bought good flats with grips. I had them for many years. Went to SPD for around 3 years. Went back to flats. May average speed over those periods.....no difference.

The connectedness, can't argue with that. How you feel is important. But in terms of what they really actually do? In 99.9% of riding I suggest makes no real difference. Possible a few seconds of high intensity acceleration there's a benefit, but in the bulk of riding I don't think it makes any difference. If you have good grip pedals and know where to put your feet, it's all good.
 

Dogtrousers

Kilometre nibbler
Another good thing about 2 bolt SPDs is the shoes are fine with flats as well. So you could have flats on one bike and SPD on another and the same shoes (as I do with my Brompton). Or you could swap over to flats all round, or SPD all round. I don't think the same is true of SPD-SL
 

Dan Lotus

Senior Member
I use both, but on different bikes, though on the gravel bike I'll often swap pedals.

When I first started, and for a fair while after I only used SPD, but much prefer the larger contact area of the Look setup I use now, which I've been on for probably around 15 years now.

I did used to believe that as long as your shoe had a rock hard carbon sole, the size of the pedal surely couldn't make any difference, but in my own experience, on long rides, I do get a bit of sole discomfort with the smaller SPD cleat - potentially if you used one of the SPD pedals with a surrounding cage that might avoid that issue I suppose.

If I had a stop start commute in traffic, and with traffic lights, and or any reasonable amount of walking involved, I would deffo go for SPD.
 
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Dogtrousers

Kilometre nibbler
I had some A-520s which I bought for the eminently sensible reason that I liked the look of them and for some reason they made me think of Dan Dare's spaceship the Anastasia.

I didn't notice any real difference with the bigger platform, but I did find the single-sidedness a minor annoyance.
 
When I put my winter bike to commuting use 4 or 5 years ago, I had spd-sl's on it for a few months before switching to MTB SPDs. Performance wise I can't see a difference, and the walkability benefits make it a non factor. They are actually multi release spd's and in the longer term I seem to have developed stronger and more balanced pedalling.
 

roubaixtuesday

self serving virtue signaller
That's never happened to me. It's like clipless fails - happens to some but not others. I bought good flats with grips. I had them for many years. Went to SPD for around 3 years. Went back to flats. May average speed over those periods.....no difference.

The connectedness, can't argue with that. How you feel is important. But in terms of what they really actually do? In 99.9% of riding I suggest makes no real difference. Possible a few seconds of high intensity acceleration there's a benefit, but in the bulk of riding I don't think it makes any difference. If you have good grip pedals and know where to put your feet, it's all good.

I agree the advantages are overstated (like much other bike tech - hydraulics, electronic shifting etc).

I like SPD-SL and have them on my nice bike. I think they help when honking up serious hills, and generally feel good and secure.

All my other bikes I have the dual sided flat and SPD. Touring or utility rides I use the flats, commuting or MTB I prefer the SPDs.

I realise this is overly complicated!
 

scragend

Senior Member
I've never used SLs so can't compare but I use SPDs on all my bikes, with pedals that are SPD on one side and flat on the other. I don't really use the flat side unless I'm on a particularly tricky stretch where I might need to put my foot down quickly.

When I go touring the only shoes I take are my SPDs - I walk round in them, wear them in the evenings etc., and then clip into the bike with them again on the next ride.

Never been a problem, although perhaps best not to stand in any mud and bung up the recess!
 

Drago

Legendary Member
It is oft said in professional training circles - and I was such a person for quite some time - that people tend to have clipless "moments" because their fundamental skills and coordination are lacking, and not because of ant inherent issue with "getting used" to such devices.

An experienced and skilled rider won't have them (I never did).
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
SPDs for me on all of my bikes. Double-sided for the luxury of not having to mess about flipping them over.

I tried one set of flats which had gripper pins and hated them. I would plonk my feet on the pedals, head off up a steep hill, then realise my feet were not quite pointing in the right direction. I couldn't turn them as I would with my SPDs - the pins stopped that. I had to lift a foot, turn it, put it back on the pedal, nope, still wrong, lift, turn, grind to a halt on 20% slope, topple sideways... But at least my feet weren't stuck on the pedals when I fell off! :whistle:

As for flats without pins... My childhood bikes had pedals like that and I had numerous experiences of my feet slipping off them.

I only ever had unclipping problems when I first used clipless pedals. Within a couple of rides unclipping had become instinctive. Practise somewhere safe like a grassy field so if you do fall you have a soft landing!

As suggested above - decrease the release tensions to make unclipping easier. I find about halfway ideal. Too loose and the cleats rattle about in the pedals, or unclip accidentally. Too tight and unclipping is difficult.

NB!!!
Another warning - those pedals are double-sided so when lowering the release tensions make sure that you do it on both sides of both pedals! I missed doing one side of a new pedal once and only discovered that I couldn't unclip when attempting an emergency dismount on an ultra-steep ramp. Fortunately, I toppled over to the side that HAD unclipped... :whistle:
 
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I tried one set of flats which had gripper pins and hated them. I would plonk my feet on the pedals, head off up a steep hill, then realise my feet were not quite pointing in the right direction. I couldn't turn them as I would with my SPDs - the pins stopped that. I had to lift a foot, turn it, put it back on the pedal, nope, still wrong, lift, turn, grind to a halt on 20% slope, topple sideways... But at least my feet weren't stuck on the pedals when I fell off! :whistle:

As for flats without pins... My childhood bikes had pedals like that and I had numerous experiences of my feet slipping off them.



NB!!!
I hate flat pedals for that reason. Clipless all the way.

Re unclipping, IME it has nothing to do with the release tension, but with technique. People have "Clipless moments" because they try to pull upwards from the pedal as they rotate their foot. That is the very thing the mechanism is designed to prevent. Just keep your foot flat on the pedal as you rotate and it doesn't matter how high the release tension is, it will just slip out.
 
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