Look, Shimano, or Speedplay?

[DarcyInOregon]

SPD mtbs were ok until I started riding further distances (over 20mi-ish). Then I found pain in the ball of my foot with the smaller contact surface. Look Keos (or any traditional road bike style pedal, vs mtb, has this) have a wider contact surface, vs mtb pedals.

The same thing happened to me, the pain in the ball of the foot, but for me it was after mile 40, endurable only up to about mile 70. I kept the SPD pedals for too long, tinkering with the stiff sole shoe and moving the cleats further south on the shoe, then finally gave it up and moved to the Look Keo Max. And I am in love with my new pedals. Zero pain. No hot spots. And I have increased speed and power. I wear a Specialized road shoe with the carbon sole and the Look cleats.

Here is the Look pedal:

http://www.lookcycle.com/en/all/rout...keo-2-max.html

[Crankin]

JoBob, I think our cycling motivations are very much the same . I never have been competitive and you have done *much* more than me in many areas.
Especially at this time of year. I feel like I am past the "peak" of the season and just being out there is good. So, most of my rides involve coffee stops, purposely slow riding, and short (10-12 mile) rides at 5 AM.
When I am out doing errands by bike or just going out to eat, I am riding my hybrid and using SPDs.

[pll]

The same thing happened to me, the pain in the ball of the foot, but for me it was after mile 40, endurable only up to about mile 70. I kept the SPD pedals for too long, tinkering with the stiff sole shoe and moving the cleats further south on the shoe, then finally gave it up and moved to the Look Keo Max. And I am in love with my new pedals. Zero pain. No hot spots. And I have increased speed and power. I wear a Specialized road shoe with the carbon sole and the Look cleats.

Here is the Look pedal:

http://www.lookcycle.com/en/all/rout...keo-2-max.html

Great information! Exactly the type I had been looking for in threads on pedals... someone who had tinkered with shoe stiffness before changing pedals. Sold! <next pedals: Look Keo>

[DarcyInOregon]

Great information! Exactly the type I had been looking for in threads on pedals... someone who had tinkered with shoe stiffness before changing pedals. Sold! <next pedals: Look Keo>

I even found a video review of the Look pedal on You Tube before I purchased the pedals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIknQ2-0qLc

On the right side of the page are more Look pedal reviews. The reviews I watched gave the pedals high praise.

They are the same pedal Contador used in the Tour de France.

I have the pedals adjusted for a loose tension as I am not a sprint racer, just a fitness cyclist.

[nscrbug]

I currently ride with Shimano Ultegra pedals, after first having ridden SPD's for 1 season and then switching to Time RXS Carbon pedals for my 2nd season. I gave up on the SPD's because I was getting constant foot/toe pain on every ride. At the same time that I dumped the SPD's, I also switched to a dedicated road shoe - Northwave Velvet SBS women's road shoes...which have a wider toe box. After a season of riding with the Time pedals, I decided to switch to something when I bought a new bike at the start of this season. The Time pedals were getting progressively harder and harder to unclip out of, so I researched a bunch of different pedals. Initially, I tried the Speedplay Zeros...had my shop put them on my bike and then they had me practice with my bike on a trainer in the shop. I had a really hard time engaging the pedals...unclipping was fine, but clipping in was a nightmare. I'm not a small person, and it took all of my weight pressing down and I still couldn't get those darn pedals to clip in. I gave up and told my shop to remove them and put my old pedals on while I searched for something else. I ended up with the Shimano Ultegra's because I wanted the biggest contact platform that I could find. Plus, I wanted a pedal that could handle a small amount of walking, without getting beat to heck. So far, I've been very happy with the Ultegra's.

Linda