Which clipless pedals?

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Guiddy

Guiddy

New Member
Location
Northampton
GrasB said:
Clipless is referring to the type of CLEAT used not the pedal. This little bit of abstraction appears to be way to much for simple minds :rolleyes:

The reason the pedals are clipless is because they are for use with clipless cleats.
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That is actually totally incorrect! Sorry!
 
OP
OP
Guiddy

Guiddy

New Member
Location
Northampton
It's alright, passes the time during a quiet day at work.:biggrin:
I worry though that in the dire economic situation this country faces that a thread on clipless pedals can evoke such passion!:blush:
 
monkeypony

monkeypony

Active Member
mickle said:
body.jpg
Like this yeah. Clipless. Without clips. I think I'm getting it.
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No, those are 'flats' :smile:
 
H

henshaw11

Well-Known Member
Location
Walton-On-Thames
not wrong, but commonly called 'flats' particularly amongst mtbers, at any rate...

520s are a good choice - cheap n cheerful, usually a little over 20 quid. 540's are arguably slightly better looking - and I think the sealing might be a little better. Yer pays yer money, etc..
 
R

revolutionjonny

New Member
Hi everyone, new member to the forum here :-)

Was thinking of switching over to clip pedals with cleats, but a mate of mine said they can cause knee trouble due to repetitive motion, whereas 'free' pedals are easier on the knee joints.....?

Does anyone else have experience of clips n cleats causing problems?

I have to proceed with caution on this, as I have recently taken up cycling to replace running, as I have a cartlidge problem in one knee, and TBH, cycling is much more fun! :-)
 
adscrim

adscrim

Veteran
Location
Perth
I've been using clipless pedals of varying type for nearly 20 year ands haven't had any knee problems. I think the important thing is gettting the cleats and your bike position right. Also, some pedals/cleats offer float so you have some movement available. I use look keo pedals on my road bike with red look cleats which provide me nine degrees of float.
 
Gerry Attrick

Gerry Attrick

Lincolnshire Mountain Rescue Consultant
Location
Lincolnshire (Halfway up England on the right)
Hi Jonny and welcome to the forum.

Pedals for use with cleats are termed "clipless" pedals. It sounds a bit of a paradox but the term was coined when they first became popular to distinguish them from the old style pedals with clips and straps.

Anyway to answer your question, it is true that using clipless with little or no lateral free movement can cause serious damage to your knees and ankles, but there are several systems which allow ample movement. Specifically for road bikes, Look Keo and Speedplay spring to mind. With Keo's you can buy cleats to suit which give no lateral movement, 4 1/2 degrees or 9 degrees. Speedplay also have plenty of free movement.

If you ride a hybrid or MB, then Shimano SPD are worth considering although they don't have a huge amount of lateral movement. You can use SPD's on a road bike of course or Shimano make RB specific cleats and pedals too called SPD SL. I have no experience of those but I'm sure someone else will advise.

Once you get used to clipless and have gone through the stages of falling over at traffic lights (we all do it) you will never go back to flat pedals.

Good luck.
 
mickle

mickle

innit
Location
53.933606, -1.076131
It's not so much the lack of float but cleat misalignment which causes knee problems. Float simply removes the need for pin-point accuracy when installing cleats in shoes.
 
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