I race with SIDI shoes (by far the best, but pricey). Just upgraded from Look Pedals after 8 years, to the New Shimano SPD L (the Lance Armstrong Pedal). The new Shimano is wonderful, very similar to the Look but more refined. Lite Weight, indented platform so the ball of your foot is closer to the center of the pedal axle and very smooth.

i ride on X1 pedals they are great they allow 28 degrees of float. but oyu have to like that too. i too suffer from an occasional flare up of my IT band. after about 2 weeks strait of refitting my bike it stopped. But i know the pedals deff helped. i honestly dont think the shoe matters much. thats my 3 cents "Damio"[/reply]

I use a Sidi T1 shoe and SPD pedals. I like the Sidi T1 very much.

Felix

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http://www.weilenmann.ch.vu

Tough call. I am struggling with this right now myself. I own a triathlon bike store which means I have the luxury of a ton of equipment at my disposal. I have recently acquired 5 pairs of shoes I will be testing and the pedals I intend on trying are Shimano SPD SL and the Speedplay Zero. My guess is I will using the Speedplay Zeros. I may have to make my own Speedplay pedal because I need the release tension of the track pedal (the red one) but the narrower "Q" factor of the titanium spindle since I am using the wider FSA Carbon Pro Team Issue cranks. My issue with Speedplays is there is no "recentering force" as with my old Time equipe pedals. The play, even when adjusted pretty tight on the Zeros, feels pretty "loose" to me. My issue with the SPD SLs is I've never been a big fan of pedal systems where you sit "on top" of the pedal like Look (which is basically what the SPD SL is). My guess is I will be on Sidi T-1s for triathlons I(no change there) and Sidi Ergos for my road shoes with both on Speedplay track Zeros with titanium spindles. Only time will tell... There is no perfect pedal. If there were, it would be the Speedplay Zero with recentering force.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Since, surprisingly, Tom did not say it I will. Buy the one that fits.

We all have very differently shaped feet and the last used a particular company to build their shoes may not be anything like your feet. I tried a pair of the Pearl Izumi cycling shoes and felt like my feet had three time more room than they needed in the shoes. I now ride (and run) in Adidas.

Richard

Oh yes, Thank you Richard R., you are 100% right. I failed to mention the reason I am trying five different pairs of shoes is to get the right fit. Fit is everything in shoes, and it isn'tt a matter of the right size, but the right shape and volume too. It's subtly complex. Closure system is important also. I am trying:

DMT Ultimax Carbon size 41
DMT Ultimax Carbon size 41.5
Sidi Ergo Size 41 (best fit so far)
Sidi Genius 4 Size 41
Sidi Genius 4 Size 41.5

I have settled on T-1s for my tri shoes for the last three years. I am going to try that new Shimano tri shoe also. The Lowa hiking boots I am wearing right now are a size 10 and I wear either a 10 or sometimes a 9.5 in running shoes. Most people buy their shoes way too big. We always fight a battle to get customers into shoes tight enough.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com