SPD pedal advice for town bike

For years I've been using Shimano pedals that are SPD on one side and a
normal cage on the other. This is on a bike used mainly in town, and for
light trail riding. I always thought it was nice to keep the ability to
just hop on the bike with whatever I'm wearing on my feet for a short trip
to the local store (about 10 blocks).

For a longer ride, I'll wear my cleated shoes -- Shimano sandals for
summer, entry-level Shimano road shoes for winter. I'm comfortable with
flipping over to get the right side of the pedal, but it does give me one
more thing to think about, when I'm in heavy traffic and trying to get
across an intersection from a standing start.

The pedals are getting old and rusty, so I'm shopping for a replacement. I
can replace these with the current Shimano version of the same pedal.

Or... should I consider something like the Shimano PD-M424 "ATB" pedal
which has the clip on both sides? It looks like there's a little bit of
platform there that I could ride with normal shoes, for short distances. It
would be nice to not worry about flipping over the pedal to get on the
right side. But without actually getting the pedal under my foot, I don't
know what it would feel like with normal shoes or sandals.

What do y'all think? I'm a total newbie when it comes to pedal choices,
even though I've been riding these one-sided SPD things for a long time. I
just don't pay much attention to stuff like this, until I have to replace
something.

P.S. I also want to be able to wear cleated shoes and sandals that have
enough rubber that I can walk into a store, or my own house, without
tearing up the wood floors. I don't know if that makes a difference here.
My current Shimano shoes and cleats are okay for this.


--
Mike Barrs

I don't know much about SPD 424. However, I don't like the feeling of
putting a pair of normal shoes on my platform pedals SPD M545.
"foldedpath" wrote in message
. 3.44...
For years I've been using Shimano pedals that are SPD on one side and a
normal cage on the other. This is on a bike used mainly in town, and for
light trail riding. I always thought it was nice to keep the ability to
just hop on the bike with whatever I'm wearing on my feet for a short trip
to the local store (about 10 blocks).

For a longer ride, I'll wear my cleated shoes -- Shimano sandals for
summer, entry-level Shimano road shoes for winter. I'm comfortable with
flipping over to get the right side of the pedal, but it does give me one
more thing to think about, when I'm in heavy traffic and trying to get
across an intersection from a standing start.

The pedals are getting old and rusty, so I'm shopping for a replacement. I
can replace these with the current Shimano version of the same pedal.

Or... should I consider something like the Shimano PD-M424 "ATB" pedal
which has the clip on both sides? It looks like there's a little bit of
platform there that I could ride with normal shoes, for short distances.
It
would be nice to not worry about flipping over the pedal to get on the
right side. But without actually getting the pedal under my foot, I don't
know what it would feel like with normal shoes or sandals.

What do y'all think? I'm a total newbie when it comes to pedal choices,
even though I've been riding these one-sided SPD things for a long time. I
just don't pay much attention to stuff like this, until I have to replace
something.

P.S. I also want to be able to wear cleated shoes and sandals that have
enough rubber that I can walk into a store, or my own house, without
tearing up the wood floors. I don't know if that makes a difference here.
My current Shimano shoes and cleats are okay for this.


--
Mike Barrs

I don't know much about SPD 424. However, I don't like the feeling of
putting a pair of normal shoes on my platform pedals SPD M545.
"foldedpath" wrote in message
. 3.44...
For years I've been using Shimano pedals that are SPD on one side and a
normal cage on the other. This is on a bike used mainly in town, and for
light trail riding. I always thought it was nice to keep the ability to
just hop on the bike with whatever I'm wearing on my feet for a short trip
to the local store (about 10 blocks).

For a longer ride, I'll wear my cleated shoes -- Shimano sandals for
summer, entry-level Shimano road shoes for winter. I'm comfortable with
flipping over to get the right side of the pedal, but it does give me one
more thing to think about, when I'm in heavy traffic and trying to get
across an intersection from a standing start.

The pedals are getting old and rusty, so I'm shopping for a replacement. I
can replace these with the current Shimano version of the same pedal.

Or... should I consider something like the Shimano PD-M424 "ATB" pedal
which has the clip on both sides? It looks like there's a little bit of
platform there that I could ride with normal shoes, for short distances.
It
would be nice to not worry about flipping over the pedal to get on the
right side. But without actually getting the pedal under my foot, I don't
know what it would feel like with normal shoes or sandals.

What do y'all think? I'm a total newbie when it comes to pedal choices,
even though I've been riding these one-sided SPD things for a long time. I
just don't pay much attention to stuff like this, until I have to replace
something.

P.S. I also want to be able to wear cleated shoes and sandals that have
enough rubber that I can walk into a store, or my own house, without
tearing up the wood floors. I don't know if that makes a difference here.
My current Shimano shoes and cleats are okay for this.


--
Mike Barrs

"foldedpath" wrote in message
. 3.44...
For years I've been using Shimano pedals that are SPD on one side and a
normal cage on the other. This is on a bike used mainly in town, and for
light trail riding. I always thought it was nice to keep the ability to
just hop on the bike with whatever I'm wearing on my feet for a short trip
to the local store (about 10 blocks).

For a longer ride, I'll wear my cleated shoes -- Shimano sandals for
summer, entry-level Shimano road shoes for winter. I'm comfortable with
flipping over to get the right side of the pedal, but it does give me one
more thing to think about, when I'm in heavy traffic and trying to get
across an intersection from a standing start.

Since you have the platform on the other side, why do you need to be clipped
in in treacherous situations? Just put your foot down and pedal and worry
about clipping in when it's safe?

The pedals are getting old and rusty, so I'm shopping for a replacement. I
can replace these with the current Shimano version of the same pedal.

Or... should I consider something like the Shimano PD-M424 "ATB" pedal
which has the clip on both sides? It looks like there's a little bit of
platform there that I could ride with normal shoes, for short distances.
It
would be nice to not worry about flipping over the pedal to get on the
right side. But without actually getting the pedal under my foot, I don't
know what it would feel like with normal shoes or sandals.

Not great. The clamp mechanism sticks up above the plane of the pedal, so
these are not comfortable for prolonged street-shoe riding. These are
really downhill pedals, intended to give a rider a big target to aim their
foot at while speeding downhill, and a very temporary platform on which to
rest their foot when flying around corners and down steep hills.

What do y'all think? I'm a total newbie when it comes to pedal choices,
even though I've been riding these one-sided SPD things for a long time. I
just don't pay much attention to stuff like this, until I have to replace
something.

The real question is - how often do you ride this bike in regular shoes? If
its quite often, then stick with the one-sided pedals. If you rarely ride
with plain shoes, then you'd probably benefit from a normal, non-platform
MTB SPD (i.e., NOT the M424).


P.S. I also want to be able to wear cleated shoes and sandals that have
enough rubber that I can walk into a store, or my own house, without
tearing up the wood floors. I don't know if that makes a difference here.
My current Shimano shoes and cleats are okay for this.


--
Mike Barrs

"foldedpath" wrote in message
. 3.44...
For years I've been using Shimano pedals that are SPD on one side and a
normal cage on the other. This is on a bike used mainly in town, and for
light trail riding. I always thought it was nice to keep the ability to
just hop on the bike with whatever I'm wearing on my feet for a short trip
to the local store (about 10 blocks).

For a longer ride, I'll wear my cleated shoes -- Shimano sandals for
summer, entry-level Shimano road shoes for winter. I'm comfortable with
flipping over to get the right side of the pedal, but it does give me one
more thing to think about, when I'm in heavy traffic and trying to get
across an intersection from a standing start.

Since you have the platform on the other side, why do you need to be clipped
in in treacherous situations? Just put your foot down and pedal and worry
about clipping in when it's safe?

The pedals are getting old and rusty, so I'm shopping for a replacement. I
can replace these with the current Shimano version of the same pedal.

Or... should I consider something like the Shimano PD-M424 "ATB" pedal
which has the clip on both sides? It looks like there's a little bit of
platform there that I could ride with normal shoes, for short distances.
It
would be nice to not worry about flipping over the pedal to get on the
right side. But without actually getting the pedal under my foot, I don't
know what it would feel like with normal shoes or sandals.

Not great. The clamp mechanism sticks up above the plane of the pedal, so
these are not comfortable for prolonged street-shoe riding. These are
really downhill pedals, intended to give a rider a big target to aim their
foot at while speeding downhill, and a very temporary platform on which to
rest their foot when flying around corners and down steep hills.

What do y'all think? I'm a total newbie when it comes to pedal choices,
even though I've been riding these one-sided SPD things for a long time. I
just don't pay much attention to stuff like this, until I have to replace
something.

The real question is - how often do you ride this bike in regular shoes? If
its quite often, then stick with the one-sided pedals. If you rarely ride
with plain shoes, then you'd probably benefit from a normal, non-platform
MTB SPD (i.e., NOT the M424).


P.S. I also want to be able to wear cleated shoes and sandals that have
enough rubber that I can walk into a store, or my own house, without
tearing up the wood floors. I don't know if that makes a difference here.
My current Shimano shoes and cleats are okay for this.


--
Mike Barrs

On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 00:48:13 -0000, foldedpath
wrote:
Or... should I consider something like the Shimano PD-M424 "ATB" pedal
which has the clip on both sides? It looks like there's a little bit of

Yes, you should.

platform there that I could ride with normal shoes, for short distances. It
would be nice to not worry about flipping over the pedal to get on the
right side. But without actually getting the pedal under my foot, I don't
know what it would feel like with normal shoes or sandals.

The platform is sufficient. Some pedals may have the binding
protruding above the platform, however, which may be annoying with
thin/flexible soled shoes.

P.S. I also want to be able to wear cleated shoes and sandals that have
enough rubber that I can walk into a store, or my own house, without
tearing up the wood floors. I don't know if that makes a difference here.
My current Shimano shoes and cleats are okay for this.

You'll probably want pedals that use the same cleats, if you're
currently using standard SPD cleats (which I think you are). They
are very common cleats.
--
Rick Onanian

On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 00:48:13 -0000, foldedpath
wrote:
Or... should I consider something like the Shimano PD-M424 "ATB" pedal
which has the clip on both sides? It looks like there's a little bit of

Yes, you should.

platform there that I could ride with normal shoes, for short distances. It
would be nice to not worry about flipping over the pedal to get on the
right side. But without actually getting the pedal under my foot, I don't
know what it would feel like with normal shoes or sandals.

The platform is sufficient. Some pedals may have the binding
protruding above the platform, however, which may be annoying with
thin/flexible soled shoes.

P.S. I also want to be able to wear cleated shoes and sandals that have
enough rubber that I can walk into a store, or my own house, without
tearing up the wood floors. I don't know if that makes a difference here.
My current Shimano shoes and cleats are okay for this.

You'll probably want pedals that use the same cleats, if you're
currently using standard SPD cleats (which I think you are). They
are very common cleats.
--
Rick Onanian

On 2004-07-13, foldedpath wrote:
For years I've been using Shimano pedals that are SPD on one side and a
normal cage on the other. This is on a bike used mainly in town, and for
light trail riding. I always thought it was nice to keep the ability to
just hop on the bike with whatever I'm wearing on my feet for a short trip
to the local store (about 10 blocks).

You should follow your instinct and replace them with the modern
equivalent, SPD-M324.
http://bike.shimano.com/footwear_ped...ls/pd-m324.asp

Greg
--
Gregory S. Sutter "How do I read this file?"
"You uudecode it."
http://zer0.org/~gsutter/ "I I I decode it?"

On 2004-07-13, foldedpath wrote:
For years I've been using Shimano pedals that are SPD on one side and a
normal cage on the other. This is on a bike used mainly in town, and for
light trail riding. I always thought it was nice to keep the ability to
just hop on the bike with whatever I'm wearing on my feet for a short trip
to the local store (about 10 blocks).

You should follow your instinct and replace them with the modern
equivalent, SPD-M324.
http://bike.shimano.com/footwear_ped...ls/pd-m324.asp

Greg
--
Gregory S. Sutter "How do I read this file?"
"You uudecode it."
http://zer0.org/~gsutter/ "I I I decode it?"

"Kyle.B.H" wrote in
news:qEHIc.64086$a24.13571@attbi_s03:

Since you have the platform on the other side, why do you need to be
clipped in in treacherous situations? Just put your foot down and
pedal and worry about clipping in when it's safe?

Fair question. I guess the main reason is that my current pedals are
slippery on the SPD side, if I'm wearing standard shoes and don't land on
the right (caged) side of the pedal on takeoff. I do land there most of the
time.

Or... should I consider something like the Shimano PD-M424 "ATB"
pedal which has the clip on both sides? It looks like there's a
little bit of platform there that I could ride with normal shoes, for
short distances.

Not great. The clamp mechanism sticks up above the plane of the
pedal, so these are not comfortable for prolonged street-shoe riding.
These are really downhill pedals, intended to give a rider a big
target to aim their foot at while speeding downhill, and a very
temporary platform on which to rest their foot when flying around
corners and down steep hills.

Okay, that's what I was wondering about.

The real question is - how often do you ride this bike in regular
shoes? If its quite often, then stick with the one-sided pedals. If
you rarely ride with plain shoes, then you'd probably benefit from a
normal, non-platform MTB SPD (i.e., NOT the M424).

Yeah, well... that's the problem when you try to use one bike for
everything. Thanks for the feedback!

--
Mike Barrs