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The inevitable 30-something MAMIL transition saw him shift to skinny tyres and these days he lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

Flats as that’s what I’ve always run. Even use them on the road bike/commuter. Everyone tells me to go clipless but I like the fact that I can dismount nice and easily. Having seen various failed dismounts from people trying clipless for the first time I’m not bothered.

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My experience with SH56 cleats is that they can disengage either by twisting your foot off, as normal, or sliding it off sideways off the pedal. That way, if you are a beginner and have forgotten to unclip, you can more quickly put your foot down.

So they take a long time before you can use them with confidence, they are mechnically delicate (even before you factor in mechanism wear from putting your foot down at lights/walking in them, vs replacing a plastic cleat) and the real advantage – is this a real advantage* – comes when you are pulling away from the lights. [If I am riding my road bike the number of times I stop is pretty small, so marginal benefit of marginally faster engagement - I think I'm pretty good with my Keos - probably not so important for me. YMMV.] This is before you get to the fact that they are quite expensive (because they aren’t very popular so unit volumes not high) and (again because unit volumes not high) finding spares is a pain in the arse. I tried them and wouldn’t recommend them to anyone.

Road.cc buyer’s guides are maintained and updated by John Stevenson. Email John with comments, corrections or queries.

Watch the video below to learn our mechanic Al’s top tips on clipless pedal installation and removal.

As the name suggests, the retention spring is a carbon blade that is available in three different tension ratings of 12, 16 and 20. The latest version of the tension spring is easy to interchange, and our test pedals shipped with 12s installed with 16s included if we were in need of more tension. In addition to the trio of spring options, Look also offers three cleats with a different amount of angular float: 0 (black), 4.5 (grey) or 9 degrees (red). The grey cleat is the most popular with RBA test riders.

Add in the relatively low price, widespread availability, and decent durability of the large plastic cleat, and Shimano also set the benchmark for running costs. The cleat’s generously wide platform and softer co-molded contact points even make it far better to walk in than you’d expect, even decent to walk in, even on those dreaded tiled cafe floors. Other makes have sought to catch up in this regard, but SPD-SL still remains the best option in that respect.

And so it continues. Some of our younger contingent espy a minor double, which wouldn’t be a problem but for the sharp corner leading into it; a startling display of high-speed direction changing and jump-smashing then ensues, as do a couple of more wince-inducing displays of full-scale jump-casing. I decide to take a lead out of Douglas Adam’s book – if discretion is the better part of valour, and cowardice is the better part of discretion, then I valiantly decline to embarrass myself with a display of my abilities. It simply wouldn’t be sporting.

“With a claimed weight of 500g (492g on our trusty workshop scales) they are certainly not the lightest flat pedals on the market. In fact they are one of the heaviest pedals on test, but Shimano have put a lot effort into making sure the pedals are robust and super reliable…” Read the full review here.

There’s no denying that Speedplay has some real benefits, but as Matt states, they’re the highest maintenance option suggested here and are therefore not for everyone. The pedals themselves run on tiny needle bearings and need periodic greasing (easily done with a grease gun). Likewise, as Neal noted, you need to be especially careful of what you step in to prevent fouling the cleat mechanism with debris, and on occasion, it’s suggested to lube the cleats with a dry lube. I remember a bike fitter friend used to say “Speedplay are not a pedal for Sydney”, a reference to the reliability issues that would surface through constant clipping in and out at lights.