Pedal, Pedal, Pedal as I am often saying/singing to myself in my head. It helps with a rhythm and focusing the brain on what I am doing. Pedals turn the motion of the body into movement of the bike, which leads to all the fun times.

There two main type of pedal styles: flat and clipless. A note on the use of the word clipless here, because it confused me for a long time… the non-flat style is referred to as ‘clipless’ because the traditional method of connecting to flat pedals was through toe clips/straps. So although modern pedal/shoe attachments are usually referred to as ‘being clipped in’ or ‘clipping in’, the style is still referred to as ‘clipless’ which is just ridiculously confusing. There are a number of variations of clipless pedals:

• SPD
• SPD-SL
• Look
• Speedplay

The different styles of pedal have different advantages and disadvantages for various situations. When first selecting the bike I wanted flat pedals as I had never used clipless before, and my bike is my ‘do everything’ workhorse so I like to be able to ride in any type of shoes. My first pedals were also a bit of a vanity choice, they looked sooo cool. I got the Moto Reflex Pedal with orange strips. I really liked them and they were good for riding in any shoes, didn’t attack me, and still offer good grip for riding on slightly rougher terrain.

But as I did more cycling I got curious about clipless pedals and their benefits. The potential benefits include a better connection to the bike and more efficient riding by engaging all the leg muscles at different points in the pedal stroke (instead of just pushing down, your leg also works on the up-stroke). I started researching the different styles to see what would work best for me. I want to be able to move around easily when off the bike and not carry extra shoes due to the touring and general use of the bike. Therefore the SPD style seemed to be the best choice. With SPDs, the cleats are recessed into the shoe and the sole is generally more flexible, then the other styles. They are generally aimed at mountain bikers.

With the style chosen I could then look at exact pedals and shoes. As I was only exploring clipless riding I did not want to spend a fortune on pedals and shoes. I selected with the help of Ingrid at BikeULike some generic half and half pedals. These have clips on one side and a flat pedal on the other, these suited me as they gave me clips to experiment with and a flat pedal for when the ground was to loose for me to be comfortable clipped in or I was riding in other normal shoes. For shoes I went to the home of cheap sporting equipment – Decathalon and got their basic SPD style mountian biker shoe. It wasn’t a bad fit for my feet and wasn’t really expensive for my wallet. Little note for those that are new to clipless systems, the cleats come with the shoes.

• 

• 

It took me a while to build up confidence riding clipped in the bike and a lot of concentration not to fall when you stop and forget that you’re clipped in (I failed a few times to the detriment of a derailleur hanger…) but I could feel in my legs more muscle groups being engaged and maybe it was making me faster and helping on the hills, though I don’t really know!