Been using spds on my road bike for ages but have long been thinking it might be an idea to use proper road shoes and pedals.

Anyone got any advice on which are best? Got slightly dodgy knees if that means anything…

Speedplay were always good for lots of float (good for knees). I noticed Wiggins was wearing speedplay cleats when he was sat in that thrown after the TT so you would be instantly hip and cool!

Don’t think there is a best.

I use Shimano SPD-SL; some float, so careful setting up your cleats, yellow bits on the cleats so they don’t wear out fast.

Top tip; don’t buy the most expensive pedals in a range, because they get a bit of a battering. I use 105s in the Shimano range.

Speedplay Zero Cromo, Stainless or Ti whichever your budget can stretch to.

They are light, give more cornering clearance, double sided, and I don’t get sore knees with them. Oh and I had them before Wiggins made them cool 😆

Gordymac

I’ve run Shimano for the past three years.
They’ve been ok, but when the cleats die & they’re getting close, I’ll swap to either Look or ideally Speedplay.

Shimano SL’s are easier to engage than Look KEOs. The Look cleats are made of cheese, fortunately I only tend to replace the left foot (think about it). Time have metal cleats and lots of float. Not tried speedplay, but engagement is meant to be very easy.

I’m not sure I really understand the reasons why float is a good thing for knees to be honest. Proper set up is a good thing for biomechanics, float just seems to adjust for poor set up. Try some Looks with grey or red cleats, get the right set up and then switch to black fixed cleats.

And I absolutely agree about pedals getting a bashing!

I’m not sure I really understand the reasons why float is a good thing for knees to be honest.

Depends on your biomechanics. When I was riding a lot I got a real problem with my right knee. After months of different experts looking at it the problem was narrowed down to an issue with a very tight left glute that was slightly twisting my pelvis during the pedal stroke which was throwing my knee. It’s often proper complicated tracking down the real problem and often nothing at all to do with the knee. Long and the short of it is that for some folks with not perfect biomechanics the perfect cleat angle is different at different places on the pedal stroke and float makes that possible. There are some riders who prefer zero float – Jalabert was a rider who only used the black/grey zero float look cleats I think because he was blessed with almost perfect biomechanics.

Look Keo Classic

A proper set of road clipless pedals makes a big difference (I have found) to your ride.. so much so, that I hate using SPD’s on my road bikes now.

TBH there’s not much difference between Shimano and Look clipless systems, I’ve used both interchangeably for years. Agree with the post earlier saying just buy a cheap or mid-priced set, as you really don’t seem to get much performance benefit from the more expensive pedals.

Have not used Speedplays but they’re marketing themselves heavily and sponsoring several pro teams in 2013… could be good, but then there’s nothing wrong with the large/wide pedal interface that you get from Shimano or Look.

I currently use Shimano Ultegra. Approx £60.

Look.

Speedplay zero’s

Speedplay Zeros here.

I use Keos, but would go back to SPD-SLs if starting again now – pedals last longer, cleats last far longer, easier to get in/out. Only downside is marginally heavier pedals.

I have Look Keo Easy pedals and the grey cleats. The cleats will wear very fast if you walk in them at all and as i use mine for my commute i have a pair of cleat covers that are rubber and fit over them. They make walking easier and less slippy plus the only cost £8 or so so are cheap when they do wear out. The Keo easy’s were cheap to buy and came with cleats. The cleats seem to be wearing slowly from the pedal and they have coloured bits on them that indicate when to replace them. It will take a bit more pactice to get in them than SPD’s as its a slightly different way of doing it as they are single sided ( i assume this is also the case for the SPD-R’s)

so the consensus is Look, no, Shimano, no, Speedplay…. 😀

reading with interest as Im a recent road bike owner, currently riding with SH520 MTB SPDs and Diadora Chili MTB shoes (having gone to flats off road), much to the horror of my roadie mates. Considering going to a road-specific set-up, but can’t quite figure out why anyone would want an SPD road shoe, when usually they can have the MTB version of the same shoe, with tread blocks that recesses the cleat making walking easy? What is the benefit of a larger platform if the sole of the shoe is sufficiently stiff, or can people feel the cleat thru even the stiffest carbon racing shoe sole?

Time (RXS) for me. Only other road pedals I’ve tried were 105s and they were OK too, but I prefer the Times.

prefer Time, to Look, or spds the only three i have used

ADDENDUM TO ROAD PEDALS – WHICH ARE BEST?

I got some Exustar ‘licensed by Look’ Keos from amazon because I didn’t want to spend too much on my first road set. Got some DHB R1.0s at the same time and there is a big difference over the Spesh Tahoes and Candys I was using before.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exustar-Look-Compatible-Racing-Pedals/dp/B005Q59H80/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344283529&sr=8-1

dodgy knees here and I get on well with Time RXS

Spd-sl here. I have the worst knees known to mankind and if you set them up properly they are very comfortable, easy to clip and unclip and good value for money.

I’ve been OK on Time and Shimano in the past but prefer Speedplay Zeros (cro-mo version is fine). You do have to grease them fairly regularly (5 minute job with a grease gun) and wear cafe covers on soft ground/gravel else the reverse type cleats pack with crap. Other than those minor points everything else is a positive (weight, ease of use, adjustability, knee-friendliness)

I’m a firm believer that you need a damn good reason to run anything that isn’t Shimano. I’ve not found this excuse do fun 105 pedals. They’re great.

I started with Shimano Ultegra and then got a chance to use Look Keos for a while. The latter were OK, but I found the cleats wore out way to quickly, at which point engagement became an absolute faff. After a year or so, I went back to the Shimanos.

For the price of postage, you can borrow my Look Keos (they’re the Carbon ones). You’d have to factor in the cost of a set of cleats though.

As regards you knees and float, Look do three different cleats, all offering a different amount of float. I think the black ones have the most??

I think the black ones have the most??

least – in fact zero float.

Ah – it was a guess 🙂 I had the grey which are the “middle” set.

As a rookie roadie who ran XTR Trail pedals for a month, I fitted some 105’s and got some carbon SL’shoes, feels much better on the road, less float (good or bad) but set up correctly they feel a lot better.

Look Keo Classic

+1

I recently moved to Shimano R540 from SPDs and some Spesh shoes which fit me really nicely. Granted the old cleats and shoes were well worn but the difference was phenomenal. I was fleeced by a LBS for mine, but you can get them for £27 from Evans. Worth a punt?

Having never had to service a Shimano pedal in my life I see no reason to look elsewhere.

Time RXS, or First as they are called now have been great for me.
The Cleats do not wear anywhere near as bad as other brands.

I have Time RXS but have terrible problems getting clipped into them. Might just be me.

Only tried Look on the road. Very happy with them so may never change. Ride crank bros offroad.

with tread blocks that recesses the cleat making walking easy?

Because (particularly on the road) I choose my equipment for riding, not for the 0.01% of time I may spend walking? Jeans and a t-shirt would be better for those occasions, but I’ll still ride in cycling kit!

Doesn’t matter how stiff an MTB shoe is, road shoes feel better.

SPD-SL for me – on a Campag equipped bike 🙂

Why? Right float for me, work well, secure, not too slippy when you do walk in them and reasonably priced.

Don’t fall for the ‘more float is better for dodgy knees’ thing either. It is sometime, not always though.

My perfect road pedal…

… Eggies – 4 points of engagement 😆

Although at the moment the eggies are on the XC hardtail, so road bike gets some spare candies.

Was thinking seriously about proper road pedals, but the shoe cost has put me off. I have some carbon soled Sidi Eagles as it is. Spending more on shoes seems crazy, especially as Sidi seemed to have doubled in price over the recession 🙁

Other (better IMO) shoes are available…

Open to ideas…

Despite having quite wide feet, I have taken to the Sidi mtb shoes since having a pair of Dominators. Previously had Shimano ones, but they came apart at the widest part of the foot.

Tried Spesh BG ones (thinking they’d be good for wide feet), but they didn’t pass the “shop fit” test

I have Time RXS but have terrible problems getting clipped into them. Might just be me.

I’m using time rxs carbons and don’t have any issues clipping in. I’m changing them to speedplay zero though as I fancy a change and the speedplays are far prettier.

So I’ll be selling a set of time rxs carbons and two sets of cleats at the end of this month.

I dont have a wealth of experience to contribute…..only had a road bike for the last few weeks, the shop kitted me out with Shimano pedals and Specialized shoes….been great so far, the engage/disengage is adjustable with an allen key and i’ve not had any embarrassing incidents so far….cost wasnt too bad, the pedals were £30 and the shoes £50.

Gary – I could be interested in those pedals, and local too !! if you could drop me a line with some photos when you are ready to shift them that would be ideal