I'm about to splurge some vouchers at wiggle and I'm thiking of getting some pedals, clips and shoes for my roadbike. I don't do triathlon but I am doing a sportive in October, and I commute once or twice a week. I'm migrating from pedals and cages.
What's a good starting point with about £100 to spend
Comments
clips
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-pd-r540-spd-sl-sport-pedals/
shoes
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/dhb-r20c-carbon-road-cycling-shoe/
lots of good shoes in the £100 bracket - especially those in Autumn sales.
fit is important - make sure they aren't too tight across the foot or it can become painful on longer rides as the foot expands. Italian brands like Sidi and Gaerne usually come up narrow; Spesh and Northwave are good for wider feet (I ride Northwave road and tri shoes).
a carbon sole will be stiffer and able to provide more power but tend to be at the top end of the price brackets. glass fibre soles are good if you can't afford carbon.
a 3 strap closure system where the ankle one has a ratchet for fine tuning is best for holding the foot in place.
other than that - go try a few
I currently use the pedals that silent assassin posted the link to and I can thoroughly recommend them. They're great value. Not the lightest but great entry level pedals. As for shoes the shimano ones come up a little small and tight too.
Clips are actually the cages you are using now Snap, just in case any shop assistants get confused, you want clipless pedals, shoes and then the things you put on your shoes to "clip in" are cleats, but they will come with new pedals anyway.
+1 for the DHB road carbon shoes. I use them for tri`s as well, without socks and all good. Just had delivered,a pair of higher end Northwave Tribute Tri shoes (wanted speed up the getaway on the bike) and without the tightness of the rachet closure, they just feel baggy and cannot get the same power through the pedals. Sending back. The DHB`s are not that heavy, same as the Northwave`s. Also, I use those pedals as well and they work well together.
+1 for shoes with a ratchet strap. Currently using Shimano R107 shoes (I'll admit I went for these partly because they matched the bike...) and the ratchet closure lets me get a nice snug fit
Only issue with ratchet strap is speed in transtion... Or lack there of.... I use ratchet strap for normal road riding etc but never for racing a tri (or brick sessions) just because of speed... In IM distance it won't matter so much but don't bother in shorter stuff time used putting hem on is time wasted!
You only really need to "ratchet down" shoes for sprint efforts in my opinion, for a tri which is a consistent steady effort over a long period Velcro straps are perfectly adequate and much quicker in transition.
I use Shimano shoes too, find them the most comfortable.
My sidi ratchet bolts were always working loose.
Im another fan of the DHB carbon range
But I would not go SPD for road use - I find them uncomfortable on long distance and prefer the larger platform of Keo Looks
I was in fact thinking SPD-SL's and I was also looking at Shimano,dhb and northwave as they fit into my budget. Sidi look expensive!
Cheers guys.
Specialized BG shoes are reasonably priced and as you're new to the 520SLs you may need the yellow cleats which give your ankles a little freedom {6deg float}.
Red cleats are better for those that don't have inline pedalling/knee problems.
Sidi is to bike shoes as Rapha and Assos is to bike kit - it's the tart's end of the market - you're buying a brand that might have a little more technical magic than brand X, but imho, not worth it for your average punter. save your money and don't buy Sidi
I can recommend these if you can stretch a bit further, on a good offer at the moment http://www.wiggle.co.uk/fizik-r1-road-cycling-shoes-2012/