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I've recently "got into" clipless pedals (I have Shimano 520s). While I really enjoy using them on fast, easy stuff, they still scare me to death on anything more technical. While I realise that I just need more practice, I've also seen the hybrid Shimano PD A530 and the M324. In the search for the best of both worlds, I have some questions:
*Are these SPD/flat combos any good for MTB (I don't do anything particularly aggressive - my flats are Shimano MX30s)
*Are there any other, better ones I should be looking at?
*Can someone motivate me to do some work? It doesn't seem right trying to work in August (I used to be a teacher...)
Any constructive comments gratefully received 😉
Cheers!
no. even platform spds are shit when your unclipped.
ride flats all the time or ride clipped in all the time
what jambo said 🙂
i should add, i ride flats for everything. including the road bike.
I used to mix and match and quite happy on clips but happier on flats and don't really notice much drop in efficiency.
I gave up very quickly on the flat/SPD combos because you sometimes don't know that a foot's clipped in. You lift a foot off the pedal for something, put it back on. Meanwhile, the pedal has rotated and - click - you're locked in without knowing. I had more near-offs this way than I did with full SPDs.
I use the shimano DX pedals (M647) which have the spd mechanism on both sides with a big resin cage surrounding. I quite like the cage in terms of extra support when clipped in (they work great with the mp66 shoes) and they are ridable when not clipped in too, not as good as a flat pedal though.
For my commuter i have Shimano PD A530 and the flat side of them would be useless for mtb - there is virtually no grip your feet would be sliding all the time if wet or muddy. Really only use that side if i am using the bike and have to wear normal shoes rather than spds
Thanks! This all sounds like sound advice and has confirmed a few of the suspicions I had about these pedals.
I don't - at the moment - want to stick to purely one sort of pedal, especially as I simply can't do technical stuff clipless, so will probably try to up the ante bit by bit, while swapping to flats if I want to do some of the rougher stuff.
Cheers!
I have the Shimano ones like DXs with a plastic cage on my commuter, but I always ride clipped in - they're just sometimes a little easier to get away quick on when you unclip for gates or traffic lights. Best of all they were in my parts drawer when I built the bike up!
IMHO they give you the worst of both worlds, rather than the best.
One thing to remember about riding spds is that if you stack it you're very unlikely to stay clipped in. And if they're set loose enough, you can dab your foot pretty easily without thinking about it if you need to.