I rode SPD's for about 10 years and then decided to do my knees a favor and switched to Speedplay Zeros. I'm crazy about them. Each cleat can be adjusted for Heel In/Heel Out so you can really fine-tune them. I'm a light-weight too - 102lbs - and yes, I did find clipping in a bit stiff at first but it has improved with each ride. Initially, I found that I had to kind of stomp down on the pedal to clip in but clipping out was no harder than with my SPD's. They recommend that you use White Lightening lube on the cleat every ride or two and that really helped. I had to buy new shoes as the cleat wouldn't fit my others - ohdarn I had to buy Sidi's - so you might take that into consideration. The thing I love about these pedals in addition to the adjustable float is the nice big platform for your foot. It gives a really nice, strong stable feeling as I pedal. Oh, one thing - definitely buy a pair of cafe covers so you can move around. The cleat are really big and you'll look like Donald Duck no matter what but with the cafe covers you won't slip around and more importantly, you'll keep gunk out of the cleats.