I have been road cycling around 5 months and only just made the switch to clipless shoes. While it was my first road bike, I felt that I adjusted to it pretty easily and I believe part of that reason is because I wore running shoes instead of going straight to clipless. I knew that I'd be able to put my feet on the ground in an instant if I needed to, and that left me free to concentrate on getting used to the bike first.

I have the Shimano A530 pedals because at the time, I wasn't comfortable with the idea of being clipped in and it was nice to use the platform side first and not have to get new pedals if I ever decided to switch.

I actually like the A530s a lot - I got fairly used to being able to switch to the platform side without having to look down (when I was wearing running shoes). For me, I think I was better off having waited until I truly felt comfortable enough on the bike before moving to clipless shoes. Just go at your own pace and wait until you feel like you want to make the switch, if at all.