Any thoughts? preferably cheaper than £50 as I’m poor and need to get shoes too. And I’ll be new to them so ones that are easy to get used to… Any advice welcome

i would say get Time, but if money is a real issue
shimano m520

i doubt you will find anything anywhere near as good for anywhere near the price.

edit,

just found these
time alliums

for the little extra i would get the alliums

Shimano 520’s are cheap and perfectly functional. 540’s are a little bit better for a bit more cash.

Time – reliable, lots of floats (for bad knee’s) & great in the mud come winter.
Get the cheap shimano to try it out, and buy Times once you’ve ridden through (suffered) a winter with the shimano’s.

Shimano M424. Basically a M520 with a nylon cage. Allows for rapid clip in and out as the cage helps you to ‘flatten’ the pedal to get the engagement angle right. If you’re not 100% clipped in it still allows you to pedal. Non-cage pedals may ‘skate’ and roll over if clipping in in a hurry. I’ve had many an over-extended knee from doing that previously with the tiny metal spds.
At less than 30 quid they’re cheap. The nylon cage is very strong and helps protect the pedal from ground-strikes.
I use mine for all types of riding (pair on my hybrid, pair on my Mega) and back the adjuster off all the way out and three clicks in.

540’s, better and lighter than 520’s plus they bolt on with an allen key rather than pedal spanner.

M540’s all the way. Much better than the 520’s and they’re cheap as chips in fleabay new.

Time.

520s. cheap, reliable and work as well as the more expensive ones. when they wear out, for little more than the cost of a set of cleats you can get new ones.

540 are virtually the same as the xtr ones but much cheaper.

sorry for the slight hijack but can any other pedals use time cleats? as i have some from when i used to use the aliums, decent pedals but shimao are easier to clip in imo

520s can be had for 20 quid with cleats or 14 quid without on ebay

Time. Buy cheap, buy many times. Buy Time, buy once. They really are bombproof, and well worth the money.

I have a set of very dead Times…

Never had Time but I’ve found Shimano bombproof…rarely had to do anything with my Shimano pedals and they have all lasted years. 520 are superb for the money…only got XT ones because I picked them up cheap secondhand

You can often get Crank Bros pedals cheap, especially secondhand.

I’ve been using them for years.

yup i just got some shimano 520…… you can adjust the pedal too if you finf it hard to push your foot down to clip in….mine are brand new..quite stiff so had to loosen it so i could clip in…never had ‘clip -ins’ before its all new to me …….im just wondering what to do when i come to traffic lights… cant put me ruddy feet down…lol.= is it compulsory to rest on a car wing mirror then…. 😉

+1 for Time. I’ve used SPD and Crank Bros and much prefer Time. You will pay a little more for them but it’s worth it IMO.

Edit to add: Just checked and you can get Time Roc ATAC for £50, I’ve been using my current set for about 4 years now and they’re just showing signs of needing a service. If you prefer a platform too you can get the Time Control Z for about £50 also, I have a set of these on my commuter/pub bike.

My personal preference is for Time pedals (Aliums are within budget).

If you go for Shimano, the 520s are hard to beat for value.

CaptainFlashheart –
Member
Time. Buy cheap, buy many times. Buy Time, buy once. They really are bombproof, and well worth the money.

No way! Had one set of 520’s for 8 years or so & still going strong!

Shimano M424. Basically a M520 with a nylon cage.

Nope, more like a 515.

New SLX & XT pedals look great, along the lines of the XTRs, if you don’t mind waiting a bit.

Cheers for the help! I’ll have a look at the ones you’ve posted. Seems to be the way that the ones you want are always ‘just’ within reach of what you were prepared to spend! Any brands I should stay well away from?

.

im just wondering what to do when i come to traffic lights… cant put me ruddy feet down…lol.= is it compulsory to rest on a car wing mirror then…

Errr, I’d learn to use your pedals before going near a road.

As for the OP, M520s or 540s get my vote. 424s have far worse mud shedding abilities, and IMO the cage does nothing useful, just fouls your shoe when clipping in/out.

I started on basic shimano, but didn’t like that I was often not absolutely certain I’d fully clipped in, especially in winter when they’re all crudded up. Switched to Time and certainly wouldn’t now go back to shimano, the engagement is a definite ‘clunk’ there’s no mistake over. The time Z freeride things are a bit rubbish tho, so I generally use flats for playing or if I’m expecting a jumpy techy ride.

M520’s are fine, but the bearings are not sealed. M540 with the sealed bearings last a much longer.

Cheers

Matt

I’m a bit surprised at the lack of love for crank bros. I much prefer them to times. They hold your foot as well as any and also easier to release. I’d say much better for a clipless learner.

I used egg beaters for a while and liked them a lot but more maintenance required and decided to stick with Shimano – never had problems with M520s or M540s but the older M515s were heavy and not too great in mud.