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Girlfriend bought me a nice pair of road shoes for my Birthday and now I need some new pedals. I was previously using touring SPD pedals and have never used SPD-SL pedals before. I would just go for a set of Shimano R500 but they are sold out everywhere.
Is Shimano the way to go or should I be looking at something else?
Cheers
Decathlon sell some BTwin Look copies, stainless steel scratch plate and everything. Definitely worth the £35 I think they cost
Personal preference, I always went for Look Keo, can be had at Decathlon for £30.
I’ve got Shimano ones - I think they’re roughly the 105 level equivalent. I don’t find them that brilliant - ok when clipped in and clip out fine - but when pulling away from lights it can be a fiddle to get clipped in. The plastic cleats seem to wear out really quickly too. The pedals have been reliable though - must have had them at least 7 or 8 years now and they’ve needed no maintenance.
The only other road spds I had were Time ones and they were composite and also fiddly to clip onto - after a couple
of months one snapped off the front.
If I were going to try something different I’d try the best Look pedals you can afford - or maybe give those decathlon ones mentioned above a go.
Cheers Guys! ordered a set of look pedals.
I have Shimano 105, I like them and the fact you can easily service he cup and cone bearings mean they should last forever. I found the walking pad but on the cleat wore out quite quickly but doesn't really matter and doesn't affect pedal engagement. Not as easy to clip into as Mtb pedals but how often do you do it on a road ride?
Too late now, I was going to suggest Shimano 105 as the cleats seem to be made out of slightly harder plastic than look and last substantially longer. But function wise I never noticed much difference between them.
Reminds me, I need to put new cleats on my shoes!
I don't think I've known anyone comment on the bearing life in either brand, they both seem to last forever.
I've got looks but the bearings are rubbish compared with m520s. If I was starting again I'd go for Shimano SPD SL.
Did you do a man look for the R500's.
Found some in 3 seconds!
Did you do a man look for the R500’s.
Found some in 3 seconds!
Where?
I've had Looks on three bikes and got sick to death of the creaky flipping cleats, changed to Ultegra now and fingers crossed everything is quiet.
https://www.dolan-bikes.com/shimano-pd-rs500-spd-sl-black-pedals/
Look are okay but the bearings and cleats won't last as long as Shimano. Reckon on 3x Look cleats to 1 set of Shimano.
Well too late now 🤷🏻♂️ Haha. I’m only about 1500-2000km a year on the road bike so if I get a year out of a set of cleats/bearings it won’t be too bad.
Had look for decades but current quality is appalling.
Hunt about and you can get Ultegra SPD-sl for that dosh.
I have Look pedals. You soon understand why they have that name. It will take until next summer before you can clip in without looking down.