I’ve been very satisfied with my SPD pedals on my mountain bike, but now that I have tri bike, I’m wondering if some other pedal system is more favorable for triathlons. Any advice from more experienced triathletes?
Get any road pedal other than SPD. I prefer Look, I think many will try to say that Speedplay are so much better, but that depends on your definition of better, plus they cost more $$$$. I would also look into the shimano SPDL pedals, they are very similar to look only probably lighter and lower profile pedal.
Any reason not go with the SPD’s??
I use SPD on my commuting bike (double sided mountain type) and HAD single sided SPD (Ritchie Road Logic) on my old tri bike.
On my new tri bike I ran out of money when it came to pedals so went with cheap SPD double sided again. With a stiff carbon sole bike shoe, I don’t think the larger platform of other pedals is very important. I like the double sided entry for getting out of T1 fast too. They can be relativley heavy but price and convenience and speed of entry really sold me.
I’m sure others (much faster cyclists in particular) will argue for their favourite pedals however.
TriDork
I don’t use SPDs for my tri bike, only for my mountain bike, but I always here of people complaining about hot spots, but today with most carbon sole shoes, it should not be as much of a problem. And I have heard of people using them in long distance triathlons if you can tolerate them. However, the new SPD SL’s and Speedplays are sooooo good, I’d be hard pressed not to consider them very seriously, even if I were happy with SPDs. ( I currently use SPD-R’s wannabe’s which suck big time, so need to trade up)
Why so adamant about not using SPD. I have used Look style for 15+ years (now Shimano) and will continue to, but recently have wondered about using my SPD in sprint races. I use SPD for mountain bike, touring and winter training (so I can wear warm shoes and skip the cover crap). I suspect you will argue weight and clearance/profile-but anything else? What interests me is that it is easier to run, easier to peddle without being clipped in and I think clipping in on the fly (I do not leave shoes on bike in T1, I do in T2). I would think all of these would be important for a beginner.