Clipless

One important thing to think about are your knees. Each brand is different in terms of allowed rotation(side to side). Some prefer lots of freedom there (i.e. Speedplay) while others like the adjustment to be limited or even zero. Some pedals also allow you to modify this.

Almost all brands are decent for clicking in and out--many even allow you to adjust the tension of the binding mechanism.

On weight....you can spend a lot getting lighter pedals. While anything that rotates on the bike is a good place to reduce weight (wheels, pedals, chain, shoes), lightness usually comes with possible reliability problems. The lighter pedals are usually rated for a certain weight and may fail much earlier than a sturdier pedal.

I personally use "look style" clippless pedals. The main reason I went with look is because the used pair of cycling shoes that I initially bought on ebay had look cleats on them. The only other types of pedals I have heard anything about is SPD style. I gave my brother a pair of cheap (came with the bike) spd pedals and he had some troubles with them. His main problem was that he would sometimes think he was clipped into them and end up no being clipped. This could have been because of the cheapness of the pedals and not due to the cleat style, but I have also heard a guy at work have the same type of problems. In general Look only deals in "look style", Time has its own style, and shimano had different styles including its own depend on the year. The down fall of the look style is that they are difficult to walk in off the bike (until you get used to them) and they may be a little heaver than the other styles because of the larger clip to keep in the cleat. The positives (I have heard) is a larger pedal platform.

I don't know enough to recommend any of them, but I get along OK with the look style I have.

One other thing.....depending on the distance you are doing, you may just want to stay with toe clips and running shoes. For very short races, I have heard that the efficiency you gain with the clipless pedals may not be enough to counter the loss in transition times to change shoes 2x.

Edited by clightle 2003-10-17 7:10 AM

I started out with Look pedal and now I am using speedplay's. I got a bad pair when I first started using them, but speedplay took care of them and I have had no problems since. They are very comfortable and I like the float or range of motion that they give me.


Still Tri'n
Michael

I use the Shimano SPD pedals, and that's all I have ever used. I have them on all 3 of my bikes. I like the fact that you can make them tight, loose, move them forwards, backwards and side to side. I have had no problems with them and most people I cycle with use them. The only other pedals I have found as common as the Shimanos are the Look pedals. Just be sure to get the road pedals instead of mtn bike, dirt shedding pedals, there is a huge weight difference!

Good luck, and don't ever forget to unclip when you plan to stop. That is the one mistake most people make when first trying to use clip pedals!

I really like the speedplay pedals. Lots of float to save those knees. Really easy to get into and out of. They are two sided pedals. I first started using them on my mtn bike (Frogs) and stayed with them on my road bike. They cost $100 and up for the pedals but really worth it. Hope this helps. Good luck.

I went with the Look, on recomendation from a few blokes at work. I also spent the money any was properly fitted for the bike, as anyone whom has look pedals with the wrong fram will tell you its easy to get "un-stuck" initially ( bad new if its a a set of traffic lights when training !). Practice is all it comes down to, how much you want to pay, and if you "walk out of the pedal" or walk ot of the shoe