Giving up on SPDs

[laura*]

Yes, you can use soft shoes. Yes, the eggbeaters stick up.

Yours was the first suggestion I've ever heard that a Crank Brothers clipless pedal w/ platform surround could actually be useful with non-cleat shoes. Previously I thought that the platform on those pedals simply was for extra stability while clipped in.

Laura, you said you don't actually do that much mountain or off-road riding, but that you want a mtn bike because of the hills. Why not just put sturdy tires and low gears on a regular bike or road bike? I have mtn gears and kevlar tires on my road/touring bike.

The bike in question is a mid 90's steel frame rigid fork MTB. In today's market it might be grouped with flat bar road bikes. So, in a sense, I've already followed your suggestion except that the frame's MTB heritage means it is longer. I think that is useful for me when climbing hills.

I am very genuinely curious... where are you riding that has 30% grade? Straight up Filbert street in San Francisco?

Filbert street is less than 100 miles from here. The steep grade is in a state park. The trail is climbing out of a river valley. From a creek crossing to a leveling of the trail, a USGS topo shows a 100 foot rise in a run of 500 feet. That's 20%, except the climbing is compressed into less than 500 feet.

I think those were the M505 pedals ... Total death traps!

I really don't have ANY problems with the 520s

Hmmm. So not all Shimano SPDs are the same. So maybe that's my problem. (The M324's have been sort of OK for my urban riding...)

My mb club leader kept telling me to stay clipped in on technical bits and fall with the bike if I fell

In my teens, I learned to "fall off" my bike when I crashed. I could usually "make like a cat" and land on my feet. And my bike, because it no longer had my weight on it, wouldn't be hurt either. But being attached to the pedals definitively gives more control for the technical bits.

[meggybikes]

I just want to echo the calls on here for Speedplay frogs. There is no spring in the system, you simply move your heel over a little bit to get out, and lift up your foot, and your'e out. I'm not sure how many degrees you have to move your heels, but I can tell you that they are the easiest pedal in the world to get out of. I dont' even think about getting out of them, I just put my foot down, they are that easy. Oh, and I should add that I worked at a bike shop for 5 years and recommended these to everyone who couldn't get used to spd's, and no one ever returned them. You can find them used on Ebay pretty regularly. Good luck!