Clipless pedals or whatever they are called ?

[JamesM]

I too vote for Shimano M520 SPD's. £20 from CRC with free postage and they just go on and on forever. They come with cleats so don't buy these seperatly. Get yourself down to Lidl when they have cycling gear you can pick up a set of shoes for less than £20. That's less than £40 all in. When you find you can't live without SPD's you can get some nicer shoes (the Lidl ones are pretty good though, I've had mine a year and they are holding up just fine).

 

[silverclaws]

Yeah, I got the lidl cycling shoes a while back, they are good and will take cleats, can't see them wearing out in a hurry, weird to walk in though.

 

[silverclaws]

I am looking on fleabay now at spd pedals, and I am quite liking the functionality of the Shimano DX PD-M636, as it was my intention to go for something that is more traditional pedal like but clip in as a replacement for the ridiculous toe clip assembly, but I am notcing regards cleats that there are a few types of Shimano spd cleat, which ones would be suitable for those mentioned above ?

 

[Andy B]

PD-M636 can use both the std (SM-SH51) & multi release cleats (SM-SH56) if you can find a pair of M636, the 647 is the latest version IIRC

Std cleats only release with a twist of the heel, multi release ones you can release by pulling your foot upwards as well

Personally I prefer std cleats, less chance of an accidental release.

Only issue with the platform type SPD pedals is that the mechanism stands proud of the platform so you can't use a normal pair of shoes with them

I started out with the M424 pedals, quite good, but the plastic cage disintegrated after a year due to too many pedal strikes on rocks.

The M545 might be worth a look as they have a metal cage similar to the M424

I now use the normal SPD pedals (XT & XTR) the best value SPD's are the M520's

 

[BobCatMax]

I bought my first set in 1993 and have only fallen off twice because of SPD.

1. Friends garage when trying to get off for the 1st time

2. after a pub night with Jack Daniels as my friend - very embarrassing

I use 737 XT 535 LX and have just bought:

a bargain at £20!

http://www.cyclebasket.com/products.php ... 6p38&rs=gb

I see your cycle basket and raise you a cycling bargains..

http://www.cyclingbargains.com/product_ ... rrency=GBP

much less P&P

**edit**

and then i read the rest of the thread and see that CRC has them cheaper :roll:

 

[JamesM]

£20, free postage, all colours available.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=3759

Don't bother with ebay. Second hands ones sell for around £10 plus postage and usually don't come with cleats.

 

[JamesM]

Personally I prefer std cleats, less chance of an accidental release.

Yep, don't bother with multi release cleats. They are good for getting used to clipping in and out on the road but off road they can be a bit hazardous. Plus you can't really pull up on the pedals and that's half the point of clip-ins.

I started out with the M424 pedals, quite good, but the plastic cage disintegrated after a year due to too many pedal strikes on rocks.

The M545 might be worth a look as they have a metal cage similar to the M424

I started with the M324 pedals. Single sided with a steel cage. They came with multi release cleats so after a bit of acclimatization on the road I had to buy a set of single release cleats. I used them off road once. Finding the right side of the pedal was a bit of a pain and after a few rock strickes the cages were razor sharp and ended up cutting my legs to pieces when standing around chatting.

Next I tried the M424's but a rock strike killed one of them. On mine the cage was intact but the cap fell off and the spring fell out meaning the cage was only secured to the pedal on the crank arm side and the binding no longer "popped up". The M545 is the same design only with a metal cage so would have failed in the exact same way.

Don't know how tough the 636/647 is. It looks alot tougher than the M424/545 though.

In the end I just bought a set of M520's and I wished I'd done that from the start.

 

[RobMac]

Been using SPD's since late 80's early 90's and now use Crank Bros as well as SPD's wouldn't ride without them.
Although Im about to put a DH bike together so I'll have to look at flat pedals as well now :?

.

 

[CAS]

I've used spds generally but have also used Look pedals on the road.

Spd are fine and you can get pedals that have one side to clip in and the other flat - my OH uses these and finds them very useful!

 

[old_coyote_pedaller]

Been using the same pair of Crank Bros EggBeater SL's for about 7 years, never needed to change bearings, only greased them once, still working beautifully.

When you say you've greased them, did you use the cap with hole that screws in to replace the end-cap? Or did you dismantle them?
I bought a set of Eggbeaters new and thought "what a good idea" that the grease injection cap is included in box. Wasn't till I dismantled and rebuilt, with new bearings/bushes, a 2nd pair of Eggbeaters for my other bike I realised that the grease injection cap won't work. The grease has to go through the outer bearing to get to the inner bush but the outer bearing has seals on it so grease cannot pass into bearing or get through it to inner bush. So the grease injection cap is basically pointless. :roll: