I am considering purchasing some clipless pedals. The main type of riding i do is dh and enduro. I think i need some as ive started to enter a few races! I have no idea about clip in pedals, so my question is, what pedal would be suitable for about £50/60 mark? Can these pedals still grip a normal shoe? Are there any shoes which are reccomended to go with these types of pedals. Im pretty clueless in this respect to be honest. Any advice would be great.

Can these pedals still grip a normal shoe?

sort of, nowhere near as good as any flat pedal, you’ll find your feet slip off pretty quick.

so my question is, what pedal would be suitable for about £50/60 mark?

Shimano M530, or XT trail if you want to spend a bit more.

Are there any shoes which are reccomended to go with these types of pedals

Shimano AM45s if you can stomach the styling.

I have no idea about clip in pedals, so my question is, what pedal would be suitable for about £50/60 mark?

Just get the M530 for £19.

What Jamie said, or the 520, the cage doesn’t really do much.

Shoes, any that fit properly. Just about anyone can buy any brand of trainers and they’ll give a little or can be done up tightly to fit. SPD shoes are almost rigid, the wrong size or brand is cripplingly painfull. Shimano are nice and average to slightly narrow, Specialized are slightly wider, bontranger are wide. Other brands look/fit differently as well, anything euro or italian like SIDI or Northwave will tend to be narrow, but it’s not consitent, some brands pinch in different places so even if theyre wide enough they may pinch elsewhere. It’s really a personal preferance. I’ve some of the shimano AM shoes, TBH they’re the worst SPD shoes I’ve ever owned, they’re horrible, heavy, flexy, the padding absorbs water (although the rubbery finsh does shed it initialy), just get some propper ‘disco slippers’.

There’s **** all grip when not clipped in. You can unclip rest your foot on them when slowing down before stoping, but that’s about the limit. There have been some attempts to make flat pedal style clip in pedals with big platforms and pins (atomlab for one) but they’ve never caught on as while riding you’d have no idea which side was facing upwards. There are some pedals with a cage arround them (shimano 530, crank brothers mallet or candy, shimano DX, time Z-freeride) but they’ve all been a bit pants, it’s more for protecting the pedal from roacks than something to stand on and they make cliping in/out harder as the pedal interferes with the tread on the shoe.

Shimano M647 for enduro, seems like most top riders use them.

Shimano M647pedals if AMs your riding style, I’ve used lots of different pedals and this are keepers the cage is usefull when things get proper technical, if you’ve got a decent budget try mavic alpine XL shoes there a lot lighter than the shimano AM45s have both and the mavic are my first choice when weathers not to bad, as the shimanos do keep your feet drier for longer, both great shoes tho,

you can get a sort of all round shoe like the am45 mentioned above if you can only have one pair. they seem pretty popular with the gnar-core. otherwise spesh disco slippers are good, in that they have a stiff sole, generally have decent tread for loose stuff, but don’t grip rock ‘too’ well.
when looking at any shoes assume anything that looks like mesh IS mesh and therefore a water entry point.
i use a mix of spesh and shimano shoes/boots. spesh with mesh for when it warms up a bit ( with or without goretex socks depending upon conditions ), and shimano mt90 or mt91 boots for winter.
the spesh provide noticeably better support and power transfer, both through the sole stiffness, and the method of fastening ( velcro straps rather than laces ).
the shimano boots provide more protection, obviously, both from the elements and from rocks and crap hitting ankles, and behave like walking boots when on foot. i tend to take these if i go abroad riding cos they’re just solid.
i use time pedals – z-freerides for mtb, but time atac aliums are very good too ( and cheap ), and i use these on other bikes. the freerides provide more support and are also useful for those ‘i’m not sure about this’, low speed, un-clipped riding ( aka ‘mincing’ ). they work well with the shimano boots for this.
i don’t find them difficult to clip in to at all. they clear easily ( including ice/snow ) and provide some ‘float’. they have all the benefits of egg beaters but without the bi-weekly strip-down maintenance regime. 😉
never used shimano pedals but looking now those 530s linked above look very good value.
you quickly get used to getting in and out of them.

Do a few easier rides when you first get them as they will feel different (although now I can’t abide flats as I always feel as if I’m falling off).

You *will* forget you’re clipped in and fall sideways at first. Happens to all of us 😀

EDIT: my method was to choose to always unclip with the same leg and unclip early. As you get used to them you’ll do this less.