Need help and feedback on picking road pedals. I’m sure I just need to try different ones and see what feels best to me. And I know loyalties can run deep. But any feedback on pros and cons of Look, Speedplay, Shimano, Time would be appreciated.
One comment that I’ve seen a lot is that Look pedals can have an annoying squeak.
Another question – do the Speedplay pedals feel really small underfoot, or does a bigger cleat surface make up for it?
Thanks for the help.
I traded in my Shimanos for Speedplays and absolutely love them. for a beginner, they are extremely easy to get in and out of, so you might be able to minimize the risk of getting stuck in your pedals and falling over at a stoplight or something. I never had any issues with hotspots on my feet. I think the larger cleat distributes the pressure pretty well. One thing to watch for is the amount of float you get because it took some getting used to for me moving from a pedal that didn’t allow any twisting side to side, and going to my Speedplays which allowed a lot of that lateral motion. Go to a bike shop and test ride a couple types to see what you like and feel comfortable with.
Thanks, slowguy. Yes, the falling over at stoplights thing is not something I look forward to! 
So, knowing that one model might be easier to get out of than another is very helpful.
I really like my old Looks as they are pretty easy to get into and haven’t had any trouble with hot spots on my feet. Doubt they are significantly better than the other major brands, just what I’m used to. There is a set of Coomb pedals for sale in the classified forum. Never used them but they appear woth looking into and he has a good price on them (I have a lot of stuff on my “to get” list before pedals or I’d snatch them up)
Kevin
SPD-SL’s … in a word, awesome
I love my Keywins. Large stable platform, custom float or full lockout, great cornering clearance, plastic body so if you DO scrape a pedal the odds of being launched are significantly less (than a metal bodied pedal), and you simply can’t pull out of these bad boys! They’re light, too if you care.
I’m not a fan of Speedplay, but I did like my original style Looks (don’t know jack about the new ones). I also really liked the old Time Equipe Mag’s - but you’ll have to fight with Record on Ebay for those. 
I use spd-sls and love em, but lance uses them right? what happened today!
Another vote for SPD-SLs (ultegra) about the only thing on my my bike worth a $h!t
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Went from Look (didn’t like) to Speedplay, which were great except for a couple things:
because they float so freely your shoes can easily get knocked off the pedals if you run with them preattached or take your feet out early.
because the spring mechanism is on the shoe, if you run in your bike shoes in transition, you can get crap in them. It’s happened to me and a friend of mine several times. This is my biggest criticism. I had to pull over once after running through transition and stomp my shoes to loosen some dirt (and I always cleaned the cleat before the race) I picked up in T1. Cost me at least 10-15 seconds, plus the aggravation.
So… I gave up my Speedplays and went to the Time RXS. I couldn’t be happier. Big, stable platform plus most of the float of the Speedplay (and certainly as much as you need). The RXS’s are GREAT pedals. NO CONS after 7 months of riding.