I’m awaiting delivery of a marin lombard on the nhs bike scheme. There’s not a lot I’m planning to change on it, other than the pedals, which appear to be standard issue cheap resin things. Seeing as I’ll be using it purely for commuting (trans pennine trail, basically fire road) I’m not sure whether to bother with clipless pedals and specific shoes, or just bung some decent flats on it. Any suggestions?

Why on earth wouldn’t you want clipless pedals on it?

well i wouldn’t want a road bike on a fire road.. but anyway, if you don’t want to take 2 pairs of shoes, at least put some clips/straps on those flats

Basically aracer, money. I got shut of all my specific shoes, etc, when I sold my specialized tarmac. Not sure I want to shell out again for something that may not make much difference to a ten miles a day commute.

I use a pair of V8s on my roadrat, wear my normal trainers riding to work.

jeffcapeshop – the marin’s not that much of a roadbike really. I think they originally tried marketing it as a cross bike, but to be honest, it’s more of a heavy duty commuter / do it all bike. honourablegeorge – that’s more or less what I was planning.

Flats on a road bike: no

Flats on a hybrid commuter: yes why not, saves taking an extra pair of shoes

that lombard isn’t really a ‘real’ road bike, it’s more of a high-speed commuter with drop-bars.

flat pedals make total sense to me.

off to work? – there’s the bike, no gimpy shoes needed.

off the pub? – theres’ the bike, no gimpy shoes needed.

poppin’-off-the-the-shop-anyone-want-anything? – there’s the bike, no gimpy shoes needed.

So you don’t run clipless on your MTB? Get some old-fashioned toe clips – flats are horrible on a road bike IMHO.

I’ve seen some candy 2’s which would look quite saucy on it, but on top of that, I’d be paying about another sixty or seventy quid for shoes. Just not sure it’s justifiable. awhiles’ post pretty much sums it up for me.

I ran beartraps on my Tricross for a year or so, because of these reasons-

ahwiles – Member

off to work? – there’s the bike, no gimpy shoes needed.

off the pub? – theres’ the bike, no gimpy shoes needed.

poppin’-off-the-the-shop-anyone-want-anything? – there’s the bike, no gimpy shoes needed.

and if I bailed off in the woods it was easier than being clipped in.

Flats are fine on a road bike for a commute, I mostly use cheap Wellgo things (939s or 964s) for about a tenner. They’re also perfectly OK for a sportive or an Audax. On the rare occasions I take it off road I stick a pair of V12s on.

Never needed SPDs or toeclips.

barnsleymitch – Member

honourablegeorge – that’s more or less what I was planning

Works fine for me. And I just bought a pair of Endura Strike overshoes to stick over my trainers for wet days.

it’s more of a heavy duty commuter / do it all bike.

ah ok, well then yeah, if it’s going to be used to go to the shops etc, flats, clips and straps are the way to go imo

toe clips? really? horrific inventions that shoulda died out the second spds came out

I use flats on my road bike. I hate having my feet attached to the bike. I’m not entering any races after all, especially with the panniers on.

Just because its got drop bars it doesn’t need different pedals. Its just a different handlebar shape, it really doesn’t matter.

Yeah why not – I am also getting CX top leavers fitted to my road bike.

spds are great, but they require shoes he doesn’t have, and means carrying extra shoes if you plan to do anything else at the end of your journey.

I’ve got some atomlab quickstep pedals on the bike that does the quick pub/shop type rides. It’s basically a flat pedal with a clipless centre. The difference to the Crank bros Mallet is the clip bit is flat when not in use so perfectly comfy with normal shoes but can do clipped in shoes when needed. They are on a fixed wheel bike and have some proper steep hills around and its nice to be clipped on for control on the descents.

Only snag is I’m not sure you’ll find the quickstep now as they are a discontinued model and build quality is not the best. Something else out there might do the same job though.

spds are great, but they require shoes he doesn’t have, and means carrying extra shoes if you plan to do anything else at the end of your journey.

I have never really understood this re. commuting. Why not just leave you work shoes at work rather than carry them to and fro every day?

ask the hen of wisdom.

(flats)

Why not just try it and see?

I’ve done it. It was fine even for longer rides.

Only thing to watch is clearance on corners. Bigger pedals can catch earlier which wakes you up a bit…

Only thing to watch is clearance on corners. Bigger pedals can catch earlier which wakes you up a bit…

agreed – my earlier advice with the atomlabs should have come with this warning – a fixed wheel and a large platform pedal can lead to embarrassing complications!

I don’t see that it’s right or wrong to use flats on your road bike. Use whatever suits you. I have flats on my road bike, the same as I have flats on my mountain bike. I prefer them.

I ride my road bike for convenience and it’s a good way of getting fitter for when I ride my mountain bike. I would assume using SPD pedals would train slightly different muscles and technique to using flats, which kind of defeats the object of using it as a means of getting fitter for the mountain bike.

Id never used spds till recently, got some shimano shoes and pedals that have spd on one side and are like a bear trap on the other for much cheapness, just to try it out, and so Its good for normal shoes for the pub/shop run.

zilog6128 – Member

I have never really understood this re. commuting. Why not just leave you work shoes at work rather than carry them to and fro every day?

Because then your shoes are stuck at work? I don’t have “work shoes”.

Barnsleymitch, i think these pedals are your answer:

Normal shoes on one side, SPD shoes on the other if you ever fancy buying another set of shoes.

I wouldn’t be without my SPDs personally.

Edit: Sweepy beat me to it.

Because then your shoes are stuck at work? I don’t have “work shoes”.

My work shoes, (perfectly happy for them to be stuck at work tbh):
http://www.sportsdirect.com/karrimor-summit-walking-shoe-mens-183197?colcode=18319705
Although I only paid £16 in the sale, so they didn’t exactly break the bank. Definitely worth it to be able to use SPDs on my commute.