Clipless pedals: why you don’t need to be scared of switching | Environment | Road Bike Clipless Pedals

SPD-SL pedals are much like Shimano’s groupsets: reliable, functional, easy to use, readily available, and without significant cost. As I’ve covered in my review of Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 pedals, Shimano is simply the best once you factor in all-out durability and dependability. They’re not the lightest or most adjustable, but they just work. Adding to their popularity is the fact that they’ve often been included as standard equipment on many entry-level road bikes.

I’ve always run clip-in (well, since SPDs were invented anyway…) and don’t play well with flats due to wonky ankles/knees, but I can appreciate how flats are superior in places like Innerleithen, where being able to micro-dab is a benefit

The cleat is one of the biggest on the market, so offers a very supportive platform to push on. They’re also quite cheap to replace, which is always a bonus.

One of the other advantages of clipless pedals is that you can get more power out of your legs by being able to pull up on the pedal stroke in addition to pushing down however, this highlights the disadvantage of multi-release cleats since if you pulled up on these your foot would come out of the pedal. 

a handy tip I was given for teaching people to use clipless is set the bike up on a turbotrainer – can practise clipping and unclipping until confident – done this with a with a few people and seems to work

The soft padding in the Maltese Falcon makes for a comfortable shoe—more so than a lot of flat-style models—without sacrificing performance. When clipped in to smaller pedals, the sole is stiff enough that it doesn’t flex uncomfortably, and there’s still good power transfer. And on wider, platform pedals, you get the feel of a sticky sole, even in the wet, with the added bonus of being clipped in. Off the bike, the Maltese Falcon has enough flex and grip to walk safely on steep and slippery terrain. In addition to being comfortable, the mesh padding also holds the foot in place to provide a sense of security. The leather upper keeps water and mud out, and the mesh tongue and side panels won’t pinch your foot.

Now in my 3rd year of Di2 ownership and it is running as sweet as the day it left the bike shop. Never missed a gear, absolutely hassle free, once ran out of power because I failed to check. Only irritating aspect is remembering where I put the charging cable for safe keeping.

Jeff, you’d think that FiveTen would have spent a bit more time on the design before releasing something like this. Heavy, can’t easily unclip, and can’t take cleats off – all for $150. What a (BAD) deal!

I’m certainly no engineer, but from what I can tell the two damaged bores are located in the thinnest part of the whole body, so I’d like to see this area beefed up a touch. The pins could also have a longer insertion depth, since the current ones are quite shallow and don’t actually penetrate the entire thread of the bore. They do use a standard M4 thread pitch, so you could always replace them with longer M4 grub screws to provide more adjustability, and potentially better support for each pin as well.

Entry and exit is positive and easy, tension adjustment is simple and you can use them for everything from commuting to cyclo-cross.

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So the dealer didn’t tell you cost of replacement parts was high? That info is at the consumer’s fingertips. If it is a deal breaker then perhaps the consumer really can’t afford electronic shifting and should avoid it. There is a hierarchy amongst groupsets – the top end ones cost more to buy and thus more to get replacement parts for. Shock horror.