When I bought my new bike it came with toe clips on the pedals, I have been trying to get used to the toes clips for 3 months. One of the straps on the pedals broke on Thursday and I have been thinking of getting a set of new pedals.I have been looking into what type of pedals to get and a lot of people like SPD (Shimano Pedaling Dynamics) pedals. Basically you have a pedal like the one in the picture and you have special shoes that have cleats on the bottom. The cleats on the shoes lock into the pedals making your pedalling more efficient as essentially your feet are stuck to the pedals. To release them you have to rotate your heal outward and you can then lift your foot off the pedal.
Andy at work recommended Shimano A520 pedals which are SPD pedals. I ordered them and they came with the cleats. After I received them I went to the cycling shop to buy shoes to put the cleats in.
I needed to buy a special spanner to fit the pedals as I didn't have one that would fit. The pedals are too narrow for you to use an adjustable spanner, as I scratched my pedal stems trying this.
When I received the pedals and spanner, Andy helped me fit them. It is important to use non-ceasing grease to make sure that you can get the cleats out of your shoes and the pedals off again.
Once they were fitted it was a learning curve trying to use them, you have to think in advance of stopping to make sure that you unlock the foot that you will be landing on. I have been assured that eventually you get used to it and it comes naturally.
Since getting the pedals I have only fallen off once, this was because someone in a car tried to knock me off and I had to swerve to avoid them, as I was falling I managed to unlock my foot, but hurt my leg in the process. If you are thinking of getting these, I would think why you would need them. If you are travelling quite a long distance e.g. several miles with very few stops, I would recommend them, however, if you plan on just doing city cycling it would not be advisable as you would have to keep locking and unlocking your feet every few minutes.
You can get pedals that are normal pedals on one side and SPD's on the other side. I would probably recommend these for most people as you do not need special shoes to use them.
Think carefully before doing it. I would not go back now, but given the choice again I would probably get the double sided pedals instead.
I needed to buy a special spanner to fit the pedals as I didn't have one that would fit. The pedals are too narrow for you to use an adjustable spanner, as I scratched my pedal stems trying this.
When I received the pedals and spanner, Andy helped me fit them. It is important to use non-ceasing grease to make sure that you can get the cleats out of your shoes and the pedals off again.
Once they were fitted it was a learning curve trying to use them, you have to think in advance of stopping to make sure that you unlock the foot that you will be landing on. I have been assured that eventually you get used to it and it comes naturally.
Since getting the pedals I have only fallen off once, this was because someone in a car tried to knock me off and I had to swerve to avoid them, as I was falling I managed to unlock my foot, but hurt my leg in the process. If you are thinking of getting these, I would think why you would need them. If you are travelling quite a long distance e.g. several miles with very few stops, I would recommend them, however, if you plan on just doing city cycling it would not be advisable as you would have to keep locking and unlocking your feet every few minutes.
You can get pedals that are normal pedals on one side and SPD's on the other side. I would probably recommend these for most people as you do not need special shoes to use them.
Think carefully before doing it. I would not go back now, but given the choice again I would probably get the double sided pedals instead.
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