Fraggle wrote:
............
Is there any point in NOT getting the shimano M515 pedals (seen em for
£20 or so on the interweb) I quite fancy the smoothness of the A515
single sided road pedal, but as a clipless noob I see the benefit of a
clip on each side

I tried single-sided road SPDs. Put it this way, I stayed a noob! I
never did master the dreadful things despite sticking with them for over a
year.

Can someone suggest a source of cheapish road shoes? I could spend
£50, but if I could get away with last years style for £30 I would be
happy For buying shoes I would prefer to go to a LBS suggestions for a
Newcastle shop with a good range would be good.

I wont be walking anyway on the shoes, so the increased stiffness of
'proper' road shoes, over MTB shoes, seems sensible (or am I wrong?)

That's right, although some of the MTB shoes also have stiff soles. But
proper roadie shoes don't have recesses for the cleats - which defeats a
main advantage of the SPD system - so also consider Look pedals. I prefer
these to SPD. They have larger cleats, a more positive clip-in action and
more float (free rotation). They feel so much more powerful, secure and
comfortable. They are ok in urban traffic once used to them. You can
walk in them if necessary, although not comfortably. Rubber cleat covers
help with safety and prevent wear.

Any advantage of different fasteners? expensive ones all seem to have
2 or 3 pull over ?Velcro? fasteners, where as very cheap ones seem to
have laces. thoughts?

Unlike velcro, laces can get caught in the chain and can't be adjusted on
the move. Velcro can eventually wear out though (loose its stickiness)
and is difficult to replace. Ratchet mechanisms might be the best
solution (I haven't tried them yet).

~PB