Clipless Pedals? Recommendations Appreciated!

[indysteel]

I'd add this into the discussion: Some of my pedal choices have been driven by the shoes, first and foremost. I have a narrow heel and I've found it extremely difficult to find shoes that work for me. I briefly considered using clipless pedals on my mountain bike, but could not find a mtb shoe that fit in my foot. I stopped short of trying SIDI mtb shoes because they were just too spendy for my purposes. So, I stuck with platform BMX pedals for the mtb. For road, the only shoe that seems to work is SIDI. Again, they're spendy but for the amount I ride on the road, I could justify it. Plus, I benefit from a stiffer shoe on road rides, as I have experiences some numbness and hot foot issues.

So, you might want to figure out what shoes will work for you feet and go from there, as not all pedal systems work with every shoe.

FWIW, I use Look Keos on my road bike. There's a bit of a learning curve with them, but I do like them. The cost is palatable depending on which model you choose and I've been happy with their durability.

[Amira]

I don't know if they are easier or not for beginners, but I have Shimano SPD-SL pedals, which I switched to last year to have a wider base platform to be clipped into because I was getting hot spots/numbness on the bottom of my feet. Changing pedals helped some with that problem, but it also required changing shoes (and I went through 2 pairs before I finally broke down and spent the money on the Sidi's I should have bought to begin with, but didn't because they were $$$). My only knock on them compared to my old pedals is that they only have one side that you clip into (unlike my old pedals, which you could clip into on either side) and the side that you clip into always turns over when not clipped in, so that you have to always be turning the pedal over to clip into it. I don't think that's a big deal and you get used to it, but it was a definite difference to start out with.