Two-sided road pedals

Ghost Rider

Does anyone here use two-sided road pedals? If so, what kind? And would you recommend them?

EDIT: I am referring to pedals that take cleats on both sides, by the way - not ones that take cleats on one side but are flat on the other.

ROK ON

Yep. Have a pair on my weekend bike. Not totally sure of the make, but shimano spd type.
Like them. Easy to use.

TinyExplosions

I think it depends on exactly what you're taking about. Generally, 'road' pedals are one sided, like this:


The only double sided option I can think of in traditional road terms is the Crank Bros pedals, that I've never used.

Alternately, you could be talking about SPD type (generally used as MTB Pedals, and popular with commuters, myself included). There are loads of double sided ones out there, and all perform well really -you ays your money and takes your choice!

Maybe it would be easier to help if you could link to the kind of thing you were thinking about?

AstraMonti

Hi Ghost.

I am using the Shimano M324



and although i found it good in the start when i didn't have spd shoes, now i find it really annoying to try to find the correct side its time to clip the shoes. And i am actually on the process of changing them.

Ghost Rider

I already have a pair of Shimano SPD-type pedals on a touring bike and find them really good. This was for a road bike so I was wondering more about lighter, road-style pedals e.g. these Crank Brothers ones:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=8173

TinyExplosions wrote: »

I think it depends on exactly what you're taking about. Generally, 'road' pedals are one sided, like this:


The only double sided option I can think of in traditional road terms is the Crank Bros pedals, that I've never used.

Alternately, you could be talking about SPD type (generally used as MTB Pedals, and popular with commuters, myself included). There are loads of double sided ones out there, and all perform well really -you ays your money and takes your choice!

Maybe it would be easier to help if you could link to the kind of thing you were thinking about?

peterk19

AstraMonti wrote: »

Hi Ghost.

I am using the Shimano M324



and although i found it good in the start when i didn't have spd shoes, now i find it really annoying to try to find the correct side its time to clip the shoes. And i am actually on the process of changing them.

I have these i have the same problem with them altho they do tend to always go back to the spd side after a rotation of the crank

Ghost Rider

Yeah, I imagine that could be annoying alright. That's why I was more interested in the pedals that accept cleats on both sides - like the Crank Brothers ones.

I currently use Look Keos but find it a bit annoying having to flip the pedal over to get back into them after stopping at lights etc.

AstraMonti wrote: »

Hi Ghost.

I am using the Shimano M324



and although i found it good in the start when i didn't have spd shoes, now i find it really annoying to try to find the correct side its time to clip the shoes. And i am actually on the process of changing them.

Raam

Speedplay? http://www.speedplay.com/

blorg

I would just use double-sided SPDs that let you clip in on either side. I use them on all my bikes including the road bikes. Especially if you already use them, as you can use any shoes on any bike etc.

kenmc

I have Shimano M520/540 on my road and commute bikes, and the M545 on my mountain bike (platform is useful for MTBing). All work fine. I like having the same system on all bikes, don't need to worry about if I have the right shoes for the right pedals or whatever.

Vélo

I use these on my Fixie and commuter.




Nice big picture.

I got them from Wiggle.

DirkVoodoo

Yup, M520 for commuting and Ultegra pedals for the weekend. Double sided are handy for the stop-start nature of traffic, beware of the 520s ability to rust if you buy them, wipe them down in wet weather. Much prefer SPD-SL for the road bike, feels more stable and I don't normally have too much trouble clipping in, useyour toe to flip the pedal and then slot in.

scottreynolds

Additionally to speedplay...

Crank brothers - the makers of the eggbeaters...

Make the quartto -- http://www.crankbrothers.com/quattro.php

I've also read somewhere that people are using egg beaters on road bikes.

Ghost Rider

Some good tips here, folks. Thanks. I do like the idea of being able to use any shoes on any bike, blorg...

Ghost Rider

Blorg, this raises a question. Will all shoe styles (i.e. MTB and road) take both road and MTB styles of cleat?

(My road shoes are Adidas Girano. Hard to find out much about them online...)

blorg wrote: »

I would just use double-sided SPDs that let you clip in on either side. I use them on all my bikes including the road bikes. Especially if you already use them, as you can use any shoes on any bike etc.

Lumen

Ghost Rider wrote: »

Some good tips here, folks. Thanks. I do like the idea of being able to use any shoes on any bike, blorg...

Yeah, but MTB pedals on a road bike make Euro Baby Jesus cry.

Ghost Rider

Cheers. And you can tell Euro Baby Jesus to talk to the atheist hand.

(I don't think much of the Eurobaby shop either.)

Lumen wrote: »

Yeah, but MTB pedals on a road bike make Euro Baby Jesus cry.

Lumen

On a more (half) serious note, it does rather depend on what you want from your pedals.

I have single- and double-sided MTB-style SPDs, and they work fine in a functional sense. If you have stiff soles I'm not sure the small pedal plaform matters too much. But I miss the dramatic "clack" of my old Look pedals. The Shimano pedals just quietly click into place.

I bought some newer Looks from El Tonto, but I haven't summoned the willpower to splash €100+ to buy new shoes yet (since they won't fit on my MTB shoes).

penexpers

Lumen wrote: »

Yeah, but MTB pedals on a road bike make Euro Baby Jesus cry.

Tell that to blorg

Ghost Rider

Apologies for resurrecting this thread but I have a futher question on the same subject: some road bike shoes appear to need some kind of Shimano adaptor to work with SPD pedals. Does anyone use one of these adaptors?

If so, how do they work?

TinyExplosions

Ghost Rider wrote: »

Apologies for resurrecting this thread but I have a futher question on the same subject: some road bike shoes appear to need some kind of Shimano adaptor to work with SPD pedals. Does anyone use one of these adaptors?

If so, how do they work?

I don't have one, but they simple convert the 3 hole, triangular pattern that road cleats take to the 2 hole one that MTB spd's take. I would be wary enough of them as they move the cleat even further away from your foot, making walking difficult, and increasing stack height (the distance from the centre of the pedal to the sole of the shoe

blorg

+1 what Tiny says, just get shoes that match your pedal system, 2 hole if you use SPD, 3 hole if you use a road system. Some shoes will take both 3 and 2 hole cleats.

TinyExplosions

blorg wrote: »

+1 what Tiny says, just get shoes that match your pedal system, 2 hole if you use SPD, 3 hole if you use a road system. Some shoes will take both 3 and 2 hole cleats.

Get back to your mountains wouldya, you're on holiday -not in work!!!!

Ghost Rider

That's what I figured. Does't look like a great solution.

TinyExplosions wrote: »

I don't have one, but they simple convert the 3 hole, triangular pattern that road cleats take to the 2 hole one that MTB spd's take. I would be wary enough of them as they move the cleat even further away from your foot, making walking difficult, and increasing stack height (the distance from the centre of the pedal to the sole of the shoe

FrankGrimes

Just cos I have seen them linked in this thread - I use these Shimano SPD M545 pedals.

Double sided with the pop-up cleat for easy entry and they can also be cycled in any normal flat runners or shoes - handy for those times when just jumping on the bike to the shops or something like that. Also means you can take off from traffic lights without delay or looking down and worry about clipping in when moving steady.

€20 cheaper for the black plastic ones....but I likes my chrome

rottenhat

TinyExplosions wrote: »

The only double sided option I can think of in traditional road terms is the Crank Bros pedals, that I've never used.

Speedplays would be another option, wouldn't they? I've met a few people who have very high opinions of them.

blorg

rottenhat wrote: »

Speedplays would be another option, wouldn't they? I've met a few people who have very high opinions of them.

Speedplays would be considered a serious/mainstream road pedal, Crank Bros from what I can make out are used mainly by mountain bikers who use them on the MTB and want to stick with one pedal system.

To be honest if you are commuting/doing leisure spins where you may want to walk off the bike, SPDs are more than enough, while if you are racing/doing club spins there is little need for a double-sided pedal in the first place as you won't be unclipping!

lafors

Got these pedals last week, same ones as Aquinas73 has.
Shimano PD-A530

Very happy with them, got these shoes to fit them too.
I got them as they could take the SPD & SPD-SL connections.
Shimano R086
They also had my canal boat size 48 in stock