Pedal Suggestions

Definitely go with road pedals/cleats as opposed to mountain bike type. The main options would be: Look Keo series, Shimano, or Speedplay. I like the Look Keo type for overall ease of use, reliability etc. A really inexpensive option is that Exustar makes a Keo compatible set of pedals that can be purchased for around $30! I bought a pair of these for my "extra" road bike and once broken in, they have done great for the roughly 600miles I've so far put on them. They did need a little more tinkering with the adjustment initially to get them to release just right compared to the Leo Keo Max that I spent about $100 on.
I've heard a lot of good things about the Speedplay, but ultimately decided against them because it seemed that you could easily "clog" up the cleats if you needed to run through a grassy or dirty transition area before mounting.

I had Shimano Ultegra pedals and switched to Look Keo classics. They were lighter and look a hell of a lot cooler. Got mine new on eBay for $65. You could spend the extra cash on the Max series, but for me, the weight difference did not justify the extra $50+.

Good luck.

Seems to me that pedal choice is 1) a very personal decision; 2) often a subject of over thinking.

My 2 cents worth:
1) Typical road pedals/cleats (Look, Shimano SPD-SL, Time road pedals). Plus: Large cleat and pedal engagement area means less likely to develop hot spots. Minus: Big cleat hard to walk in and because of softish plastic will wear down.

2) Speedplay: Plus: Very knee friendly, lots of float. Minus: cleat can get clogged, big metal cleat tough to run in during transitions

3) MTB pedals (Shimano SPD, Time ATAC, Crank Bros eggbeaters). Plus: Absolutely bulletproof pedals, SPD cleats used on most gym spin cycles. Minus: A bit heavy for most, smaller metal cleat but still not great for running in transition.

My experience: I have been experimenting with this for years, have nearly one of all of the above pedal types, and my conclusion is that you cannot really make a mistake. For me, I currently have a set of Shimano MTB (XT) pedals on my tri bike. This allows me to use the same shoes for the gym spin bikes and my own bike. Further, these pedals hold up great to huge amounts of mileage, I have 2K+ miles on my current pair - virtually factory new. As I get closer to racing season I will change out to my Time iCLIC pedals. The cleats on these wear a bit easily and I am a bit dubious that these pedals can handle the huge mileage that the XTs can (although this is only my impression), but are uber easy to get in/out of and running on these cleats is easy (I don't leave my shoes clipped on the bike).

I would highly recommend SpeedPlay Zero's. Great float (and fully, independently adjustable heal in/out float), but most importantly, double sided pedals so you don't have to look for the pedal to clip in. I've seen more crashes in bike mount because of that than anything else.

... and don't worry too much about the cleat getting clogged up with gunk in transition... Never had a problem in my many years of using them. But they a bit more of a challenge to run in than for example Look or Shimano cleats, but not prohibitively so.

I am a fan of the Look Keo pedals. I have just replaced them (like for like) after 9 years of use. I like the wide platform and their ease of clipping into and out of, although the negatives of this type of design are that you have to get used to them before you can clip in without looking and if you run through mud (or snow) it can cause problems.

Wow, thank you all for the excellent and thorough feedback! You guys rock! I decided to go with the Look Keo MAX 2 - White and Red! Now, I hope to ride my new bike with new pedals soon..



Thanks again BTers!

Todd