Look or SPD pedals?

I've been riding Look pedals for several years now. Time to get new
shoes. The shoes I have been using never were right for me. They make my
feet numb. After 30 miles, it becomes a bad problem.

So maybe it's time to change pedals at the same time. Is there a reason
to choose one over the other?

I see there now exist sandals with SPD cleats. That seems like an
attractive idea. I don't ride for speed. My aim is endurance. I am
planning to take the NYC century ride this year:

http://www.transalt.org/calendar/century/

I took it last year, and my feet hurt very badly.

Thanks for your help, folks.

I was an active participant in this newsgroup many years ago. In fact, I
was here before the big newsgroup reorganization. In 1985, it was called
net.bicycles.

Tom Reingold
Noo Joizy

I like SPDs because you can get shoes in which the cleat is completely
recessed, so that you can walk naturally and with very good traction.
In fact right now I'm wearing a pair of SPD shoes at work, and they are
designed to look pretty much like normal running shoes.

The only downside I've heard of is that the smaller platform of an SPD
pedal may create an uncomfortable hot spot on the bottom of your foot.
I haven't experienced this, then again I haven't done much 50 miles
on SPDs in a day.

I also have look pedals+road shoes which I like a lot, but I only own
them because they were my first pair and I got them dirt cheap used. I
think I'll go for an SPD road pedal when I (eventually) need to replace
these, just for the added convenience of walkability.

One nice thing about SPDs is there are a lot of decent knockoffs which
are very cheap. For example, you can get SPD pedals from Nashbar for
about $20, and from what I've heard they are quite good for on-road
use.

Dan Lenski

In article ,
Tom Reingold wrote:
So maybe it's time to change pedals at the same time. Is there a reason
to choose one over the other?

Not much performance difference beteen Look and Shimano road pedals.
The main difference between those and Shimano MTB pedals is that you
MTB shoes have recessed cleat slots to make walking easier. Some MTB
shoes also have flexy soles so you can walk comfortably for long periods
of time, though at the expense of some on-the-bike comfort and performance.

On Thu, 21 Jul 2005 16:30:48 -0400, Tom Reingold
wrote:

I've been riding Look pedals for several years now. Time to get new
shoes. The shoes I have been using never were right for me. They make my
feet numb. After 30 miles, it becomes a bad problem.

So maybe it's time to change pedals at the same time. Is there a reason
to choose one over the other?

I see there now exist sandals with SPD cleats. That seems like an
attractive idea. I don't ride for speed. My aim is endurance. I am
planning to take the NYC century ride this year:

http://www.transalt.org/calendar/century/

I took it last year, and my feet hurt very badly.

Thanks for your help, folks.

I was an active participant in this newsgroup many years ago. In fact, I
was here before the big newsgroup reorganization. In 1985, it was called
net.bicycles.

Tom Reingold
Noo Joizy

Supposedly the Looks have a tendency to squeek, the Shimano SPD-SL
road pedals that I have, don't squeek at all.

Others have mentioned the recessed benefits of SPD.

I went from Pearl Izumi road shoes, that only came in whole sizes to
Sidi Genius 4s which come in half sizes, also in narrow and wide. The
Sidis are really comfortable, but not cheap.
Consider joining Team Performance and also look for one of their 20%
off online coupons. I got mine marked down from $229 to $170 -20% -
10%[towards future purchase] = appr $122



Life is Good!
Jeff

Supposedly the Looks have a tendency to squeek, the Shimano SPD-SL
road pedals that I have, don't squeek at all.

I concur, Look pedals are a misnomer. They should have been called
Listen.

I also switched to SPD-SL with good and quieter results. Cleats were
also designed to walk on, albeit not very far.

Chris

Tom Reingold wrote:
I've been riding Look pedals for several years now. Time to get new
shoes. The shoes I have been using never were right for me. They make my
feet numb. After 30 miles, it becomes a bad problem. (snip)

I see there now exist sandals with SPD cleats. That seems like an
attractive idea.

The straps on sandals look too much like toe straps to me, although I
rode in a weekly group ride where a regular or two used SPD sandals and
liked them.

Quick guess, your shoes are sized too narrow for you. Did you start
riding with leather shoes, bought tight so they would stretch to fit?
I've learned at long last that the toe area can be nice and loose,
while the top (ankle) strap is adjusted to stabilize the foot and keep
the toes from jamming forward. Getting over the old myth that cycling
shoes have to fit tight to "transmit power".

I usually run the two toe-area straps on my Sidis (Genius III, IV)
loose; the other day I snugged them up for some reason (??) and shortly
thereafter, guess what...? Comfort returned with a loosening. I've
ridden a few long days recently, including a Century, and some of my
rides are at (well past) the limits of my ability (old racers club),
never a rubbing (blister) problem at all, BTW.

I like the "clicker" Sidi top strap, as it makes it easy to do a quick,
controlled tightening as the shoe loosens up during a ride. But the
brand is not important compared to the fit. Shoes are ex$spsive in the
FLBS but worth it to get something you can enjoy riding in.

From my very limited sampling, there aren't any "perfect" shoes/cleat
systems/pedals. Just more reason to get the shoe that fits first. Happy
hunting. --TP

Chris Nelson wrote:
Supposedly the Looks have a tendency to squeek, the Shimano SPD-SL
road pedals that I have, don't squeek at all.


I concur, Look pedals are a misnomer. They should have been called
Listen.

I also switched to SPD-SL with good and quieter results. Cleats were
also designed to walk on, albeit not very far.

Chris

There are new look cleats with white areas impregnated with teflon or
similar designed to eliminate the squeaking. Otherwise the occasional
squirt of furniture polish onto the cleats keeps them nice & quiet.

Stan Cox

Tom Reingold wrote:
I've been riding Look pedals for several years now. Time to get new
shoes. The shoes I have been using never were right for me. They make my
feet numb. After 30 miles, it becomes a bad problem.

So maybe it's time to change pedals at the same time. Is there a reason
to choose one over the other?

I see there now exist sandals with SPD cleats. That seems like an
attractive idea. I don't ride for speed. My aim is endurance. I am
planning to take the NYC century ride this year:

http://www.transalt.org/calendar/century/

I took it last year, and my feet hurt very badly.

I don't find Look cleats very practical. I've used SPD for several years
both on & off road, including "ultra" rides of up to 400km. Shoes can be
a problem. It took me a while to find some that went the distance. I've
had best luck with Sidi -- I use the treaded MTB shoe for road & off
road since it's walkable. They're also one of the few makers that has my
size (52).

As for sandals, no one makes them big enough for me, but I bought a pair
of Exustar brand from Nashbar (currently on sale for $35) for my wife
last year and she absolutely loves them. She says they are very
comfortable, and they are much lighter than the Shimano or Lake sandals.
Time will tell if they are as durable, but for $30 (I had a coupon),
what's the risk?

FWIW, I've used the Nashbar SPD pedals on several bikes for years.
They're re-branded Wellgo. Some of them are compatible with Shimano SPD
pedals/cleats, some not. The ones that take the "98A" cleat seem to be
true clones.

On 2005-07-21, Tom Reingold wrote:
I've been riding Look pedals for several years now. Time to get new
shoes. The shoes I have been using never were right for me. They make my
feet numb. After 30 miles, it becomes a bad problem.

So maybe it's time to change pedals at the same time. Is there a reason
to choose one over the other?

I see there now exist sandals with SPD cleats. That seems like an
attractive idea. I don't ride for speed. My aim is endurance. I am
planning to take the NYC century ride this year:


I now have 5500 miles on the Lake sandals. No problems at all. The
recessed footbed protects and secures your feet suprisingly well. The
plates in the soles seem to be getting a flexy now though. Hopefully,
get pass the 7500 mile mark on these sandals before summer is over.
$65.00 for 2 years and that many miles seems like a fair price to me.

http://www.transalt.org/calendar/century/

I took it last year, and my feet hurt very badly.

Thanks for your help, folks.

I was an active participant in this newsgroup many years ago. In fact, I
was here before the big newsgroup reorganization. In 1985, it was called
net.bicycles.

Tom Reingold
Noo Joizy

Tom Reingold wrote:

I've been riding Look pedals for several years now. Time to get new shoes.

I had used Look cleats since about 1992. This year I switched to SPDs,
and I'm glad I did. The main drawbacks to the Look cleats are
difficulty walking, short cleat life, having to carry "cleat covers,"
and the dreaded squeak.

I switched to Shimano PD-M520 SPD pedals and Shimano T092 shoes.

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/sm...i-2032850.html

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/penncycl...5shshsh15.html

The M520 pedals are dual sided which allows easy entry. The shoes are
plenty stiff and look like normal road shoes, but have a recess for the
cleat. For me, this combination eliminates all the negative aspects of
the Looks, and I don't notice any performance difference.

Art Harris