I was wondering what the best pedals and shoes would be for someone who hasnt used them before?

The most basic Shimano SPDs are great – set them nice and loose and persevere. Waste of time going for half clip/ half flats in my opinion. Shimano make a great range of entry level shoes too.

What kind of riding you intend on doing will determine what shoe you get.

Racing? Pub stops? Hike-a-bike? If you give the oracle more information it will attempt to answer (in as many ways as humanly possible usually).

In regard to pedals i would go for these.

Crank Bros Mallets!

sofatester is right… £1 less at CRC.. Lidl had clippy shoes the other day but they are heavy and get mixed veiws but at £15 it might be worth a look.. Any shoe thats fits is better than a golden slipper that doesn't..

Shimano 520 pedals
Specialized Taho or Sport shoes depending on whether you want shoes that look like trainers or racing slippers

Get some Shimano M520s – they're cheap (around £20 if you look around) and work just as well as the more expensive ones.

Start out riding on some flat grass (or other soft surface) because you will almost certainly fall a couple of times before you're used to them. practice clipping in/out. and then when you're feeling comfortable with that, try stopping and then clipping out (eg in a hurry!). Then try it out on the trail.

Make sure you set them very loose to start.

I think it's safe to say that a some point you will come to a stop and forget you are clipped in and come crashing down to earth with a thump.
But don't despair, this is perfectly normal and a couple of these incidents will re-train your brain to remember you are clipped in so it doesn't happen again (well much less frequently anyway).
I guess its just part of the learning curve, stick with it and hopefully should work out OK for you.
Oh yeah, the M520's are a great starter pedal and Shimano do some very good and suprisingly inexpensive shoes to go with them.
And if you get cleats in with the pedals for less than £20 quid, that's a bonus as they can cost upwards of £15 for cleats alone!

I'm going to be counter-intuitive and say DONT set them up loose, tighten them up pretty hard, means you get a definite sharpo CLICK when you turn your foot. Or even better try them yourself and see what you like. Get M520s…..

try stopping and then clipping out (eg in a hurry!). Then try it out on the trail.

And do what I did when I first got them – be really proud of yourself for unclipping your left foot when stopping sharpley…and fall to the right to the ausement of my mates!

As people have said the M520's are good. Might be worth looking at the dhb range from wiggle for cheap-ish shoes as well

I think it's safe to say that a some point you will come to a stop and forget you are clipped in and come crashing down to earth with a thump.

Does this really happen to people? I've never done this, clipless took about 10 minutes for me to get the hang of them, and even my missus who just rides to work and back, and ventures off road ever so infrequently, has managed to live with clipless pedals without falling over after forgetting to clip out.

Do you try to get out of a car after forgetting to undo the seatbelt as well?

Yes, nick, you and your wife are living legends.

Yes, most people do fall as a result of starting out with SPDs.

Yes, my wife was similarly annoying in that she took to SPDs immediately and never fell off.

Just get the cheapest ones you can. After a couple of months you'll probbaly want to trade up for some better ones. Set the break-out as loose as you can to start with. You are bound to 'keel' over a couple of times but that's because you'll forget that you can't just step off. After a couple of rides you'll never forget again, and never go back to riding without them

C

😆 @ Clubber

Nick, you and your wife are truly AMAZING!

Seat-belts? What are they for?

I use Time Z-Freerides, they have a platform so maybe a little easier to get used to. I use them with 661 filter shoes, slightly more skate shoe styling for tarts like me 🙂 You'll give your friends some entertainment when you forget to unclip and keel over on the first few rides.

I actually think that platform spd pedals are worse for learning – at least longer term – as it's too easy to just have your foot on the platform and not actually clip in whereas using non-platform spds forces you to learn to clip in quickly. Each to their own of course – for some, that extra re-assurance might help.

After a couple of months you'll probbaly want to trade up for some better ones

Out of interest, what is so good about the more expensive SPD pedals that makes them worth an extra £60? I mean they are 50g lighter per pair, but that is next to nothing. The M520 ones appear to last for ages and keep clicking in and out fine, and turning round fine, would I really notice a sudden improvement if I bought more expensive ones?

I'm also put off the more expensive ones because they have cartridge bearings rather than loose bearings, which always seems like a bad design for pedals – the failure mode on cartridge bearing pedals usually involving the pedal coming off the axle, whereas with loose bearings it just gets a bit scritchy and you know you have to put some grease in. Is that not a problem with spd pedals?

Joe

Sorry, I wasn't trying to show off, I've genuinely never seen this happen, I've failed to un-clip because I hadn't done the bolts up on the cleats hard enough and fallen over, but I've never seen anyone forget to un-clip, and I just wondered whether it was just one of those well worn myths that just gets trotted out.

definitely not a myth 😉

Out of interest, what is so good about the more expensive SPD pedals that makes them worth an extra £60?

I have M520s on all my bikes. Even the expensive ones. They work just as well and last perfectly well (most of mine are at least a couple of years old). I usually buy a new set when I need new cleats and sell on the old ones pedals which almost covers it…

The more expensive SPDs do look nicer though 😉

time cheapo ones,end of. last bloody ages,3 years never been mainatined or owt,still great now…

I've a pair of ancient 540's that are definitely past their best before date, I've even got some 520 to replace them, never given posher pedals any thought, really.

Really, clubber? You dick 😀

used to have shimano m520 pedals but now use time atacs, would never go back to shimano after they didnt unclip in a big off and broke my ankle in two places.i've had some offs since using the times and they've never failed to release.as for shoes i find specialized are comfortable.

I think its more forgetting that you're clipped in rather than forgetting to unclip.
I.E. come to a stop pretty sharpish and think you can just take your foot off the pedal as with a flat and then realise your clipped in, then as the realisation hits that you do have to unclip yourself you're already on the deck…
Don't think its a myth at all, I've seen all my mates do it at one time or another. Part of the learning curve I reckon – clearly some people are much faster learners than others 😀