# Bike Pedals?



## andyzee (Jun 15, 2006)

I haven't been riding as much as I used to and when I do ride it's on Trek Hybrid, which is really nothing special. I just purchased this bike so that my wife has a chance of keeping up with me. This year I have made a determination to get my road bike out and try to do some real riding again, The pedals I have on this bike are Looks, not sure about the model, but they're like 13 years old as are my shoes (phew) and I'm thinking about possibly replacing both. I'm just wondering:


 Have there been any great new inovations in bike pedals in the last 13 years?
What kind of pedals is everyone else using, (roadbike)?
Any recommendations?


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## skibum1321 (Jun 15, 2006)

I think the main innovations in bike pedals have been in terms of weight and materials used. Also, after all that time the internal springs may be rusted or in pretty rough shape.

I use the Speedplay Zeros. They are double sided so you don't have to worry about trying to find the toe when you are clipping in. IMO they are much more intuitive and are very easy to get in and out. They have some float to give your old knees a bit of a break (Look pedals also have float - Speedplay X Series do not). The big drawback that people mention is that they are high maintenance - which I don't really see. Just throw a little dry lube in your cleats after each ride and they're good to go. They also are a much smaller surface so if your shoes aren't stiff then they may cause hot spots. Most of todays shoes have pretty stiff soles though so it shouldn't be an issue.


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## Charlie Schuessler (Jun 18, 2006)

I ride with Speedplay X-3 pedals on my road bke and Speedplay Frogs on my mountain bike.  A little dry lube on the cleats once in a while and they are good to go...


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## SkiMangoJazz (Jun 19, 2006)

I had pedals which needed cleat shoes on one side and didn't on the other.  Thought it was a great idea as I didn't need to use my special shoes always.  Turned out to be a real hassle as I'd have to look down to see if the correct side was up when I needed to clip in and looking down wasn't always a good idea on a mountain bike.

I replaced them with two sided clip pedals and it is definitely better.

Of course as most people new to clip in pedals find, I went over more than once when coming to a stop and not clipping out properly


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## andyzee (Jun 19, 2006)

Well ran out and purchased new shoes yesterday, figured I could hold off on pedals for a bit, if ever. I presently ride Look pedals so I purchased Look cleats, I told the guy at the store what kind of Look pedals I have and they still made a mistake and gave me the wrong cleats. It appears that Look is changing their line and he gave me the new ones. Not a biggie, they'll take them back. I've had the same shoes for 13 years, nice to finally have some new ones  And from looking around, I don't see much change in pedal designs, so guess I'll stick with the Look pedals.


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## eastcoastskiier (Jul 14, 2007)

i am currently riding  with Time Impact road pedels. I picked these up a little over a  year ago on eBay for like 70$ and i have been quite happy with them. So far i have not had to give them any special attention and they are holding up great. They just came out with a new model, but i checked and the float is basically the same, they just have a more edgyer style with more defined lines.

so far they are really nice


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## marcski (Jul 16, 2007)

skibum1321 said:


> I think the main innovations in bike pedals have been in terms of weight and materials used. Also, after all that time the internal springs may be rusted or in pretty rough shape.
> 
> I use the Speedplay Zeros. They are double sided so you don't have to worry about trying to find the toe when you are clipping in. IMO they are much more intuitive and are very easy to get in and out. They have some float to give your old knees a bit of a break (Look pedals also have float - Speedplay X Series do not). The big drawback that people mention is that they are high maintenance - which I don't really see. Just throw a little dry lube in your cleats after each ride and they're good to go. They also are a much smaller surface so if your shoes aren't stiff then they may cause hot spots. Most of todays shoes have pretty stiff soles though so it shouldn't be an issue.



I ride with the Speedplay X-2's.  The X series actually has what they call unrestricted float.  With the zeros you can adjust the amount of float, from none or upto 15 degrees of float.  Compared to the zeros, the speedplay website says the x-series has "unlimited float".  The zeros are the newer version.  

I am happy with my x-2's Not much maintenance, as Charlie said, a few drops of dry-lube on the cleat springs every few rides and you're good to go.


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## mlctvt (Jul 18, 2007)

I've used standard Look pedals for the last 20 years. I've had three different models over this time and overall they've been great but recently I've been having creaking issues with the cleats. I could make the creaking stop only by getting new cleats then it would start again sometimes within just a few days. I asked several bike shop owners about this and they all said Look pedals are known for this. I recently bought the new 2007 version Shimano Ultegra road SPD-SL pedals model PD-6620. These have been excellent so far. They have a very wide platform which spreads the forces over a larger area to reduce hot spots. They also are much safer for walking as they have a couple of soft rubber tabs that grip well and don't seem to wear off. They retail for about $130 but I got them on ebay for about $85.


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## cbcbd (Jul 18, 2007)

I use SPDs on both road and MTB. 
I only have one pair of shoes so... that's what I use for both.


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## Bumpsis (Aug 15, 2007)

I use Speedplay frogs on my road bike and toeclips on all the rest (I have to sell off some bikes!!).
I love the big float of the Speedplays. My knees just could't take pedals that had 7 - 10 degree float.


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