I ride with these because it's nice to have the flat option on one side also just for a quick trip to the store or with the family without fully gearing up in my shoes.
SHIMANO PD-EH500; SPD Bike... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FTB9MCW?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
SHIMANO PD-EH500; SPD Bike... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FTB9MCW?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
I never rode with Cleats before and I got these. They have a flat side, and after a year getting used to the cleats ( amazingly with no falls due to cleats) I was going on a longer ride with high winds and possible traffic issues, so I tried out my regular sneakers on the flat side.
I have not used the cleats since then. And I have so much less anxiety. And forgot how great it is to just get off and walk normal!
( I do have nerve damage in my left foot, numbness, so although the cleats were ok, im not professional and my feet don’t move, so I don’t feel the need to have that extra possibility of a fall.
No worries! If you want the best of both worlds you can get these double sided pedals. You have the ability to clip in on one side and if you are wearing different shoes they have regular grip on the other side. You won’t need to worry about having the right shoes with you every time https://www.amazon.com/SHIMANO-PD-EH500-Pedals-Included-Platform/dp/B07FTB9MCW
I've yet to try these so I don't know if they are any good (or three general thoughts on them) but I've considered trying double sided pedals for this reason. Anyone have experience with something like these before?
Pedal Question!
Former roadie, so I'm used to clipless. I sometimes like to climb up fireroads, where clipless would be super helpful. I'm also increasingly into twisty single-tracks, and I feel more comfortable with flats for that stuff.
Would this be a good compromise:
https://www.amazon.com/SHIMANO-PD-EH500-Pedals-Included-Platform/dp/B07FTB9MCW
There are a bunch of dual-sided pedals that might work in your situation, but for me personally it doesn't really feel all that great—when you're riding with clipless, it's annoying to have to find the clipless side, when you're riding in flats, it's annoying to find the flat side. I ended up just swapping them out for my trusty m520s and have relegated my velosambas to be my commuting shoes.
https://www.amazon.com/SHIMANO-PD-EH500-Pedals-Included-Platform/dp/B07FTB9MCW
Just get one sided SPD pedals.
Like these.
I use this kind of pedal 95% of the time because I ride in dress shoes.
Alternatively just use straps instead of clipless since this is fixed gear riding.
I replaced my pedals with Shimano SPD pedals, which also include the cleats. I liked this pedal because it is dual sided so you can use the bike with just a regular shoe:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FTB9MCW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
After getting tired of searching on Amazon for my size, I finally landed on Pearl Izumi road shoes, which have a recessed cleat although the cleat is NOT included with the shoe:
https://www.zappos.com/p/pearl-izumi-all-road-v5-cycling-shoe/product/9289845
It took some time to get used to "clipping in" at first, but have now gotten the hang of it. I find the rides much more enjoyable and effective as you can pull up on the pedals in addition to pushing down. Hope that helps!
As a newish $2500 gravel bike rider, I can add that I purchased SPD "clip in pedals" (that have clips on one side and the flat pedal on the other side) about a month after purchasing the bike. As I've become stronger, I now use the clips 99.999% of the time. You can pedal tons faster with the clips. If you never try the clips, you'll never know. Flat/Clip pedals
I found these pedals:
my understanding is that one side is clip in and the other is flat, i.e. you could choose to wear clips ins or regular shoes?
I also found these pedals:
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I'm a little confused because there are spikes but they don't seem like they are 'clip ins'. In the video it shows a road bike shoe I believe, which seems odd since they are meant for mountain bikes.
Item | Current | Lowest | Reviews |
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SHIMANO PD-EH500 Urban Riding & Cycle Touring Dou… | - | - | 4.8/5.0 |
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Item | Current | Lowest | Reviews |
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SHIMANO PD-EH500 Urban Riding & Cycle Touring Dou… | - | - | 4.8/5.0 |
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SHIMANO PD-EH500 Urban Riding & Cycle Touring Dou… | $87.19 | $87.19 | 4.8/5.0 |
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For pedals, I cannot recommend the Shimano PD-EH500 enough.
https://www.amazon.com/SHIMANO-PD-EH500-Pedals-Included-Platform/dp/B07FTB9MCW
Honestly, these are the best pedals to introduce you to the world of SPD with one side being a flat pedal. And they're not even that heavy.
For shoes, since you're on gravel, I'd take a look at some of Pearl Izumi's stuff. Not super rigid, they're comfortable and easy to walk-around in, and they're very well-made, and very affordable.
https://www.rei.com/b/pearl-izumi/c/cycling-shoes
I have the X-Alp Divide and have over 5000 miles easy on mine and they still look like new. Shimano also makes excellent SPD shoes (you want SPD, not SPD-SL).
I really like these:
https://www.amazon.com/SHIMANO-PD-EH500-Pedals-Included-Platform/dp/B07FTB9MCW
The platforms are quite small though so they are not suitable for proper mountain biking.
I got my Domane AL 3 in April and that's when I started riding so I'm also a "beginner". After putting about 200 miles on the bike I got SPD shoes and pedals.
Shoes (Bontrager Evoke Mountain Shoe): https://www.trekbicyclesuperstore.com/product/bontrager-evoke-mountain-shoe-311842-1.htm?variations=165080,168602
Pedals (Shimano PD-EH500): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FTB9MCW/
Since then I've put about 2,000 miles on these shoes and pedals. Here are my thoughts:
For the shoes, I went with mountain bike shoes because I thought they would be easier to walk around in. They're probably easier than road shoes but they're not really something you'll want to do a long trek in unless you absolutely have to.
Most of my riding has been in the summer in central Texas. The shoes were never overly warm. I have started wearing wool socks now that it's "cold" (for us at least). So far I stay warm enough in these shoes.
Note: I picked these specific shoes as they were the only pair I could find that came in the right color orange. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If anyone thinks about getting these specific shoes, they are narrow AF. I had to get shoe spreaders to make them reasonable. 2,000 miles in and they've finally formed to my feet but they were horribly uncomfortable when I got them.
I'm apparently a maniac. I absolutely destroyed the stock pedals that came on the Domane. I have a habit of pedaling through tight fast corners and the concrete is fairly unforgiving on cheap ass pedals.
So for me, the SPD pedals are likely to hold up better as they're made for other maniacs (mountain bike riders). I picked this pair because they're reversible if I want to use my bike for going somewhere in regular shoes. The downside is slightly harder to get your second foot clipped when you take off, but the large platform makes it easy-ish to pedal if you're not locked in.
If I could go back in time I'd do the exact same thing. SPD clips are great, I like the durability, the shoes are meh but I think road bike shoes would be the same.
I have a medium topeak aero wedge. Inside i have a set of 3 tire leavers, a spare tube, 3 co2s, a portland design pump/co2 combo, a tube patch kit, and a crankbrothers m19 multitool. I still have room for a pixel 4 xl after its all loaded up.
Look at the Shimano eh500 pedals. They are flat on one side and SPD on the other
https://www.amazon.com/SHIMANO-PD-EH500-Pedals-Included-Platform/dp/B07FTB9MCW
You can see how big the pack is here
I'm using Shimano SPD pedals. I like clipless, i just don't want to commit to dual sided ones in case I want to take a break from the cycling shoes for a while.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FTB9MCW/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_zwxiFb4F562KF
I pulled this comment out of the spam bin. Automoderator canned it because of the horrific ugly Amazon link. I apparently have no control over this. Please clean up your links in the future.
You linked to:
Everything after the product number is tracking garbage. Remove that in the future like so:
https://smile.amazon.com/SHIMANO-PD-EH500-Pedals-Included-Platform/dp/B07FTB9MCW/
The product name itself is also garbage and normally harmless, but can be spoofed and so should be removed:
https://smile.amazon.com/IDoNotLikePuppies/dp/B07FTB9MCW/ links to the exact same product as your link, but is misleading. Thus the spoof potential.
Do not use link shorteners in an attempt to obscure ugly links. Clean your links.
I will not pull your posts from the spam bin again.
Thank you.
This is in the spam bin by action of automoderator. AutoMod was triggered for two reasons:
1 - You used link shorteners. Do not do this. This not only breaks the WWW it can be used to obscure malicious sites. Use the Reddit formatting if you want a pretty looking link.
2 - Your Amazon links are full of tracking garbage: Here is one of your two:
EVERYTHING after the product ID is garbage and potentially harmful and automod (not just in /r/cycling) silently shitcans posts for this. CLEAN UP YOUR LINK:
https://www.amazon.com/SHIMANO-PD-EH500-Pedals-Included-Platform/dp/B07FTB9MCW/
Goes to exactly the same item w/o the tracking garbage.
To show you're really polite, not not needed, remove the completely optional and spoofable product description because it can be spoofed:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FTB9MCW/
This is the only time I will remove one of your comments from the spam bin.
Sooo...did I get the wrong pedals? I'm not sure what you mean that they don't offer the platform base working WITH the SPD Cleat...I thought by purchasing SPD pedals, they automatically work with SPD cleats...see, this can be quite confusing for a newbie, so thank you for your help with this!
The ones you linked: https://www.rei.com/product/118437/shimano-pd-t421-clickr-spd-pedals look so similar to the ones I just purchased on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FTB9MCW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A1EO9LBE1E73RW&psc=1.
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I can't really tell the difference, besides the REI ones look much more like a regular bike pedal. Can you confirm if the ones I purchased are going to work, or am I better off getting the Shimano PD T421 Clickr ones?
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I live in NYC so picking up a bit of grease can turn into a whole To Do, so I will probably purchase some on Amazon :)
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I'm trying to get back into shape after I fractured my cuboid bone two years ago, and still experience foot swelling if I walk/stand for more than 15 mins, hoping Peloton will do the trick but really need to get my setup right..spring is here! (Or not, since it's snowing here today lol).
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