Can anyone give real life advice in what road pedals to go for?

Have but up a really nice Scott addict, team issue frame, full ultegra, ksyrium elite wheels and I don’t feel my m520 spd, do the bike justice.

Looking around the choice is crazy, spd sl, speed play, look, mavic.

Shod I stick with the shimano or are there specific reasons for going with another system?

Choose which ones you like. Personally I prefer Time, but others like different ones.

Ultegra pedals are really good. And will go nice with your groupset obvs.

If you don’t want to buy new shoes Shimano A600 are an spd road pedal that match Ultegra colours pretty well, can get a pair for arond £45.

Speedplay good for bad knees. I quite like em but less fit and forget than others.

As above mate, stick with the Shimano if you like them. I’ve got a Trek Madone 5.9, full Ultegra etc……and have a set of Shimano A530 pedals on that cost thirty quid. Weight wise they are 300g and I couldn’t tell any difference if they were twice that if I’m honest. A couple of weight weenies who I go out with on a Tuesday think I’m spoiling the bike but a) I like the pedals and b) it’s my bike 😆

I use Exustar which are basically Look Keos for less money

Have already bought new shoes so am just trying to decide on pedals.
Just wanted to check there was no reason to choose one system over another.

When the kids are asleep I’ll be going shopping!

Which shoes have you bought mate? I bought new early this year and they can only take SPD’s, and not SL’s, Look, Time etc.

Pair of northwave and they are road specific.
Went into condor and got fitted. Glad I paid the extra because they were the only brand that are wide enough for my clown feet!

Personally I found Look pedals have too much retention pressure, too much for my knackered knees anyway.

Decided I needed proper road shoe’s and pedals earlier in the year, in the end I went with some R540’s, they do thejob well and didn’t cost a lot, way more comfortable than MTB SPD’s more support for your foot. Slightly different technique for clipping in and the bulkier plastic cleats are harder to walk on and wear much faster, but on balance I much prefer riding with SPD SL’s now….

started with speedplay (bad knees) but now that’s all fixed i can get
away from them to look.
speedplay do require a lot of tlc (both cleat and pedal need lube
especially after wet rides)

Shimano road pedals are as excellent as their MTB ones. As above, cleats are a pain to walk in and wear out quicker, but that’s the case with most other brands too. Speedplay are a bit different, with a bit more float – useful for dodgy knees.

There’s not a massive amount of difference in function between the different levels for the shimano pedals (I have the cheapest ones and some of the nice carbon ultegra ones) apart from weight (and durability I guess).

The new 105 carbon ones look pretty good.

2nd the 105 Shimano jobs. Really good pedals and pretty cheap too.

I’ve got Look Keos – had them on for over 5 years with no maintenance and about 3 changes of cleats. The ones I have a bit of float (4.5 degrees), but you can get them with no float and others with a lot of float (9 degrees float).

keo max 2 …. grey cleats and loving it 🙂

I’ve ridden KEO’s since they came out. All my bikes and the kids have them. If starting again, i’d go for Shimano spd-sl. Especially for beginners.

They are a little easier to clip into, they last forever and the cleats wear more slowly than look. My left-hand cleat lasts less than six months.

shimano r550 are good IME – cheaper than 105 etc but have metal baseplates unlike the ones below them. Often sell for under 30 quid if you look around

Been Useing the basic keo for ages and the refuse to fail but knee issues are making me think of trying speed play

the R540 are great, you could spend over a hundred quid more and lose 50g just cos they say dura-ace on them ?

or the 550 that have the metal plate as scaredypants says, which is probably a better call

If you don’t have dodgy knees like me, go for one of the Shimano pedals – reliable, fairly lightweight and good value for money.

Personally I like Time Xpressos for their positive clip in action and lots of float.

I’d be interested in trying Speedplays but I’m wary of getting mud and dirt into the moving parts that attach to the shoe.

Do any Speedplay users have a problem or am I worrying too much?

I have Crank Brother Candys on my Scott Addict….

A) all my existing shoes work with it
B) it floats just how I like it
C) I’m really a mountain biker on a road bike! First it’s “Look” then it’s “full Lycra” (*shudder*)

D) it’s much less efficient

🙂

No pedals are better or worse than any other, its all personal preference, so unless you are able to test ride them all then you may as well choose based on brand preference/aesthetics. You soon get used to clipping in – before long you won’t even be thinking about it. Float is something that might be of interest to you, or stiffness. I’ve got Look Keo and they have loads of float and are easy to get in and out of. Sometimes I feel i’d like a bit more stiffness/attachment as I sometimes feel I could slip out of the pedals when out of the saddle attacking (i.e. struggling) up a steep hill. So if you like to get out of the saddle a lot then maybe Keo’s might be a bit soft for you.

Actually if you’ve got an MTB then you might as well choose the same system. On my MTB I’ve got Time and i’ve also got Time on my wet weather/pub hack bike (Roadrat), and to be honest i’m struggling to see what benefit/advantage the proper roadie style of cleat gives you. MTB cleats are definitely better when you’re off the bike as you’re not walking like you’re on sheet ice. In fact my Time MTB pedals have loads of float – as much as my Keo’s and I don’t feel like I have the same issue when pedalling out of the saddle.

You can get yourself set up with Keo’s dirt cheap – I think mine were £30 off eBay brand new, so you could try them and ditch them if you don’t like.

Newer shimano spd sl are a little wider than old and very versatile because they work quite well with normal shoes.

In 20 years road riding I’ve used just about every clipless setup you could imagine apart from Keywin. This would be my advice:

Start off with a set of Shimano. They have a solid interface, have some float, and the cleats are by far the most robust of the road systems.

Look are useful if you like Shimano but need a bit more float – 9 degrees with the red cleats. The float is also a little bit easier than Shimano. The cleats are less robust than Shimano, though, they have a tendency to squeak.

Speedplay are very popular with people who have knee problems, and fitters who need to to adjust cleats a lot. They require lots of maintenance. And the cleats cost a lot. The pedal bodies also wear, so TCO is much higher.

I also have the Keo pedals from Look. Had Time before that as all my offroad bikes use Time but one of the pedals snapped in half after a year of use. As has been said you alter float on the Keos by having different cleats but I would say the cleats are the system’s achilles heal as they wear out fairly quickly, especially if you live in a city where you have to clip in and out often.

I’ve got some speedplays. Started with Time Xpresso, but had to send them back under warranty when the bearings went prematurely.

Then got some Ultegra and they were nice but they have a funny kind of float. You foot pivots from the front of the cleat maybe? Anyhow I just couldn’t get the cleats set up right which was a shame.

So now I’m on Speedplay. They have adjustable float and I like them a lot – like mtb spd’s but less wobbly. Not sure if they require lots of maintenance? You need to pump some grease into them occasionally by removing a screw on the pedal body. Not a big job. Cleats do cost more but you can get some pretty good covers (“Keep on Kovers” I think) which can be kept on whilst you ride. Makes it pretty easy to walk around in them and a bit less precarious than other styles of pedal cleat.

During the week on the commuter, I normally use Shimano mtb spds. In fact they’re seized into the crank, so I don’t have much choice on that one unless I want to buy a new crank….

Keos are OK but the cheap ones wear quite a lot on the top surfaces, get the ones with the metal pressure plates, they may cost more but they work better and last much longer.

Speedplay…great pedals and double sided as a bonus

Another one v happy with Look Keos – had mine c 8 years no maintenance – maybe 3 sets of cleats but they’re only £12 on Wiggle.
Be prepared to learn to walk like a constipated penguin at the cafe stop tho’. And avoid shiny floors in public unless you want to embarrass yourself 🙂