Question on Pedals and Shoes

[jrenaut]

@TwoWheelsDC 21709 wrote:

Which pedals did you get? I just pulled the Shimano A530s off my road bike…I also have a set on my commuter and I may just keep running both systems since SPDs are so much more walkable.

Shimano A530s is exactly what I got. I rode home from the shop in my regular shoes on the flat side and it was fine, so I feel good about the pedals.

[jrenaut]

Okay, that ride home was awesome. No problem with the shoes, though I think once I’ve ridden with them a little i’m going to need to tweak some things. I came down the long straightaway at Hains Point along the water and concentrated on pulling up as I was pushing down. I think it added 5mph to the speed I usually hit along that stretch.

Am I correct in assuming that the downside of loosening the tension to make it easier to clip/unclip is that your foot isn’t held in quite as tight? It took about 4 miles of total riding to start noticing that my left foot is locked in more tightly. That’s the foot I keep locked in all the time, so I think the guy at the shop left it tighter.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@jrenaut 21845 wrote:

Am I correct in assuming that the downside of loosening the tension to make it easier to clip/unclip is that your foot isn’t held in quite as tight? It took about 4 miles of total riding to start noticing that my left foot is locked in more tightly. That’s the foot I keep locked in all the time, so I think the guy at the shop left it tighter.

I’ve never come unclipped, even when I first started out and had the tension cranked almost all the way down. However, when I got a new bike, I had the shop put a new set of pedals on it, thus leaving the old pedals on the old bike. I rode the new bike for a while, without readjusting the pedal tension, before using the old bike again and couldn’t believe how un-secure I felt on the old pedals. I barely had to move my foot to unclip. It was then that I realized that I much prefer a tighter clip-in/clip-out. With the new SPD-SLs that I got, the tension seems pretty low and I barely have to press my foot down to clip in once I have my foot in the correct spot…definitely need to crank up the tension.

[Tim Kelley]

@jrenaut 21845 wrote:

I came down the long straightaway at Hains Point along the water and concentrated on pulling up as I was pushing down. I think it added 5mph to the speed I usually hit along that stretch.

A technique tip a friend gave me once–try not to think about pulling “up” but rather try to envision yourself pedaling perfect circles (or flat ovals if that’s easier to imagine). You can try pedaling with only one leg to get a feel for where there are gaps in your upstroke.

[jrenaut]

@Tim Kelley 21848 wrote:

A technique tip a friend gave me once–try not to think about pulling “up” but rather try to envision yourself pedaling perfect circles (or flat ovals if that’s easier to imagine). You can try pedaling with only one leg to get a feel for where there are gaps in your upstroke.

Makes sense. I’ll try that next time.

[Bilsko]

Liz – a bit late to this thread, but I’m in the process of getting a new set of pedals/cleats so I figured I’d see what everyone on the forum had to say

I’ve been riding on Look Delta’s on my road bike for several years now and have been pleased. Its a commuter bike so I do a decent/moderate amount of walking on the cleats. (Some on brick stones, dirt-rocks, and sidewalk)
I’ve found that I burn through a set once every 8 months or so (sometimes 6, sometimes 10) I tend to run them pretty ragged though, so you may want to err on the shorter side. Both of these cleats are end of life. First one is left side:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]1240[/ATTACH]
Second is the right, the foot I drop:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]1239[/ATTACH]
The white section of the front tab – I think Pete mentioned it a couple posts back – is a decent indicator of just how much (or little) life the cleat has

Delta cleats are getting harder and harder to come by since Look made the switch to Keo so I’ve been giving thought to switching. How has your experience been with the Look’s so far? I assume you’re on one of the Keo models – which one?

[eminva]

@Bilsko 23299 wrote:

Delta cleats are getting harder and harder to come by since Look made the switch to Keo so I’ve been giving thought to switching. How has your experience been with the Look’s so far? I assume you’re on one of the Keo models – which one?

Thanks for the info and for the photos — very helpful. I will just plan to replace them every six to ten months (and be pleasantly surprised if I get more life). I got the cleat covers that Dirt mentioned. I put them on in the garage at work for the walk to my office (which is a little longer than you might think because the garage is in a different building).

I have the Keo Classic and so far, so good. Clipping in took some adjustment switching from SPD to Look, but I think I’m getting the hang of it. Otherwise, I very much like them.

On a side note, I had my first ever failure-to-clip-out-in-time fall on Thursday. Unrelated to the pedals. I was coming to a near stop and at the last second decided to go left rather than straight. Boom. Only my son saw me and no harm done, other than being the proud owner of a scraped knee. And my son got to hear me use vocabulary he’d only ever heard in Boy Scouts.

Liz

[Bilsko]

Thanks for the update. I decided to go with a pair of the Keo Max after all. Found a good deal online from planet cyclery through eBay. $100. One of the shops wanted 180 for them! I’m all for supporting my LBS – and have thrown plenty of money their way over the past few years, but a 80% markup is a bit much.

[SteveTheTech]

@GuyContinental 21027 wrote:

That said, there is a HUGE difference between a stiff shoe and a floppy shoe. I’ve had great luck and lots and lots of miles with the Specialized Comp Carbon series (both MTB and Road) and they aren’t ridiculously expensive ($150)

Truer words have not been spoken. The difference is amazing. I don’t know that I could go back. I miss the practicality of my MTB sneakers but the transfer in the carbon soled shoes is awesome.

@eminva 21542 wrote:

When I had my fitting with Clovis, the one thing I complained of was foot pain, so he had me switch from my old, flexible soled MTB shoes/SPD pedals to a road bike shoe with a stiff sole and Look pedals.

Do any of you have experience with this? What do you do to preserve the life of road bike cleats?

My wife had the same exact issue when getting Clovis to fit her. Great fitter, awesome after sale support there, I cannot speak highly enough about their operation

She left there with the same setup. Although it didn’t work as well for her. She hit the dirt several times before she was able to mount her pretty new Ruby. Needless to say she swapped out the Looks for her platforms with SPDs and MTB shoes again. It works for her, she can now balance and is quite happy.

I stole her old pedals and had the exact problem you had with getting into the damned things. Especially when trying to take off in a social race situation, or up a hill. For the fun of it I swapped out the Looks for the old double sided SPDs with my new road shoes…that was by far the worst decision I have made on a bicycle. Hitting the mark with the tiny little cleat and nothing to guide me in was a disaster. At one point I hit a speed bump while not clipped in to either pedal (after half a mile of trying) and fell off the saddle. They are going back into the box and into storage. I’ll learn to love the Looks or swap to Frogs at some point.

Those cleat covers work wonders. I keep them in my back pocket, I was actually able to run about a 1/2 mile in my road shoes with the on. I had to actually sand a small portion of the rubber down on the edges as it was starting to peel a little. They seem to really improve the balance of standing in them. At least on dry concrete…I cannot imagine anything helping the traction on wet granite.

[Bilsko]

@SteveTheTech 23825 wrote:

For the fun of it I swapped out the Looks for the old double sided SPDs with my new road shoes…that was by far the worst decision I have made on a bicycle. Hitting the mark with the tiny little cleat and nothing to guide me in was a disaster. At one point I hit a speed bump while not clipped in to either pedal (after half a mile of trying) and fell off the saddle. They are going back into the box and into storage. I’ll learn to love the Looks or swap to Frogs at some point.

Those cleat covers work wonders. I keep them in my back pocket, I was actually able to run about a 1/2 mile in my road shoes with the on. I had to actually sand a small portion of the rubber down on the edges as it was starting to peel a little. They seem to really improve the balance of standing in them. At least on dry concrete…I cannot imagine anything helping the traction on wet granite.

I got my Look Keos in the mail yesterday and installed them last night. I went for a quick ride around the block as the sun was setting and (despite almost getting run over) didn’t have too much trouble getting clipped in.
This morning on my ride to work, I did have trouble taking off with cars behind me at a couple of lights. I’m changing to the KEOs from a much older set of Look Delta-model pedals and it seems to be a bit tougher to get clipped in.

Yours is the second recommendation I’ve read for the cleat covers, so I’m going to spring for those soon too.

[JorgeGortex]

@jabberwocky 14784 wrote:

I run Time MTB pedals on all my bikes (aside from the downhill and dirt jumpers, which run flats). I’ve previously run Shimano SPDs; I prefer Times, but the Shimanos are ok too. Pedals are kinda personal. Everyone has their preferences. The truth is that they are all good, it just depends on what you want.

Me too. I have Time ATAC mtb pedals on my mt. bike, road, and commuter. I find them pretty easy to get into and out of. They hold up well, and in the few times that I’ve biffed (on my mtb) my feet have popped right out as if on cue (bike slid out on an off camber, leaf covered, slope) as I went down. Mtb shoes and pedals may be a bit heavier on a road bike, but it makes walking a lot easier. Plus you never have to find the right shoes etc. Just grab and go.

JorgeGortex

[JustinW]

Reviving this thread to seek recommendations for shoes, specifically shoes for wide-footed sorts like me. Any brands reliably comfy for wide feet?

[rcannon100]

Same answer as always.

What do you want to use it for?

Me, I am a commuter. I want shoes I can walk into the office or into a store with. I recently bought Pearl Izumi X-Alp Seek IV Bike Shoes amd have tremendously liked them. No, they are not a full walking shoe; but they are good enuf if you are not doing that much walking. No they are not a stiff bike shoe you would use for centuries; i don ride centuries. This is a good hybrid that lets me do enough walking around to cheat it. And yes, they are a bit wide. One thing, they are lace shoes. The laces tuck into a little pocket in the tongue of the shoe so they do disappear but otherwise you wood knot opt for laces on a bike shoo.

[DaveK]

@JustinW 25420 wrote:

Reviving this thread to seek recommendations for shoes, specifically shoes for wide-footed sorts like me. Any brands reliably comfy for wide feet?

Shimano road shoes generally run wider in the toe box than other brands, but you can get Sidis in wide (they call it Mega) as well.

[TwoWheelsDC]

FWIW, I’ve got a pair of LG road shoes and they fit pretty narrow…I had to go a size up from my very roomy Specialized mountain shoes and they are still snug in the width department. So yeah, LG probably isn’t the brand for you, but Specialized might work.

[Author]

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