metropical

I ride a 10yo CAAD9. The OEM cheepo nylon pedals with toes clips finally gave out.
Doing research on pedals kind of got me to the point of getting into road shoes.
I'm not a big rider. Maybe 20 miles 3 times a week. And I'm somewhat over 50. heh, heh, heh Somewhat.
I'd like nylon sole shoes. I'd prefer velcro but have read a fair amount of negative user reviews and experiences. Lace is certainly an option.
Don't want to drop more than $125 or so on shoes and pedals.
For pedals, sealed bearing on a metal frame is what I'd prefer.
Any thoughts or recs?

MagicHour

$125 for both will be tough. SPD may be a little cheaper for both shoes and pedals but sounds like you want nylon soles, hence SPD-L. No specific recommendations but I'd start with Shimano's entry level range as a starting point, maybe Giro shoes too. Maybe you could find some used stuff on eBay- but can be tricky and/or time consuming unless you know specifically what you want - your time vs cost kinda thing, and no returns for Shoes.

Sometimes you can find deals on past season models/colors at places like Sierra.com, Backcountry, BikeTiresDirect etc.
Also Merlincycles.com in the UK - for deals on Shimano pedals, I personally wouldn't buy shoes overseas, though, unless I knew for sure my exact size in a specific model.

PaulRivers

I prefer flats over clipless, if you want to stick with flats, I really like a combination of Five Ten Bike Shoes and Flat Pedals with pins. Five Ten shoes use a special rubber formulation that sticks to metal pins very well and it's like clipless - except if you pull up.

However, they're not exactly in your price range at $130. Here's one pair the Five Ten Sleuths:
https://www.adidasoutdoor.com/five-t...hoe/BTM00.html

I personally use DMR Pedals because they are the most comfortable pedals I've found. At $110 they're expensive though.
https://www.amazon.com/DMR-Vault-Ped...dp/B07G3GN9B7/

For a much more affordable pedal, the RaceFace Chesters have a good reputation with good reliability at $40:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018J1J7QE/

Lemond1985

I think a threshold question would be how important a priority walking normally would be for you, because the highest-performing pedal / shoe combos generally sacrifice the ability to walk any distance beyond a couple hundred yards in them, should you get a mechanical. I don't always ride with my phone, so I want something I can walk a few miles in should I break down. For that reason, I started using the original SPD pedals, those combined with shoes that have recessed cleats for walking. This was in the early 90's and I have never found a reason to switch to anything else.

Or you could go with flats, but I can't pedal a bike very efficiently on flats, I like to pull in every possible direction when I get jiggy on the bike, so those would never work. I used clips and straps for a long time, but don't like the loss of circulation and numbness in my feet caused by the straps. And I like to be able to walk a fair distance and avoid slipping, so that rules out pretty much everything else (I don't know of any recessed "walkable" cleats other than SPD, but there may well be something).

The orignal SPD's are everywhere, and the cleats and pedals from the knock-offs are interchangeable with the Shimano ones. SPD's have become an "open source" standard for clipless pedals that every manufacturer uses. They would be my recommendation, it really seems like a no-brainer, unless there is something else out there I haven't heard about.

CliffordK

I also like SPD pedals/cleats/shoes. I've gone with the regular ones and not the multirelease.

Much of my riding is commuting/shopping/errands, and the SPDs work well.

I've gone cheap. The local bike co-ops tend to have good pairs of SPD pedals for about $10 per pair, sometimes needing some tuning, but I got a good set of M9000 pedals for a song. New bearings, and now they're almost perfect.

Shoes? The co-op shoes tend to be a bit junky, but I've done well with E-Bay shoes. Unfortunately you can't try them on first. (Craigslist, Facebook?)

I find the metric shoe sizes (sizes 40 to 50cm or so) tend to be much more representative than the US sizes, and easier to deal with. Still, there seems to be some variability from brand to brand.

metropical

thanks for all the input. In looking for US14/EU50, there are so few that stock the size in something affordable. I don't walk much when I ride, changing to clipless, at least with that in mind, is NBD.
But in looking at whats available on line (coz my LBS seems to cater to the $8k CF crowd), I couldn't find any combination that flipped my lid, as it were. Flats don't appeal to me, as that seems to be not alot different from running shoes and platforms I'm looking to replace.
I think for the time being, I'm just gonna replace the platforms and keep my eyes on Sierra and the like for SPD shoes.
My feets is too big and flat to buy blind from anything other than a reliable and returnable source.

El Davisimo

I'm a Speedplay guy. I find them the easiest to get in and out of.

Carbonfiberboy 

First thing is to know for sure your size by trying on shoes in a bike shop, You want SPD pedals with MTB shoes. Shimano makes inexpensive MTB shoes. I started out with a pair which were just fine for everything except performance cycling. I rode a double century in them just fine. ME301 is the least expensive with your size. Google around, see what you can find. NY has a zillion bike shops which sell Shimano. You can get one of them to special order for you. A review said these shoes run 2 sizes small, but they go up to 52. Ask the shop.
https://map.shimano.com/dealers/map/na-cycle/
I think it's possible to get very close to $125. You can buy the pedals online, from Amazon and many bike shops. As said above, pedals don't have to be Shimano, just SPD compatible. The pedals will come with the cleats which bolt to your new shoes. The bike shop can help you with that if necessary.

metropical

I'll have to check the shops in Manhattan. Prolly better stock and more competitive than the 4 LBS. The ME301 were the ones I spotted. And there a couple of Giro that fit the bill.

wipekitty

I think $125 is doable, if you are comfortable shopping online. If you want road pedals (3 bolt, non-walkable), the Shimano R540 are a solid but heavy entry level model. You can sometimes find very good deals on them from bike retailers, ebay, etc., and you should be able to obtain a pair for ~$40 or less. I got a new pair for $6 once, but that was a very odd deal.

Buying shoes in person will probably be more expensive. If you go the online route, Amazon is very good about returns (if you make sure you purchase through Amazon itself and not a third-party seller). The nice thing about being an odd size (I'm at the other end of the spectrum, FWIW) is that products in extremely large or small sizes are often priced lower. Do a bit of research regarding shoe widths (some brands are known for running narrow or wide, large or small) and you can probably nail online shopping for shoes.

MagicHour

Also for better or worse at the lower price points and larger sizes most shoes will only come in (Euro) whole sizes - which can make deciding between 2 sizes slightly easier than the smaller .5 increments of higher end shoes, which I often struggle with.

Checkout Shimano RT- (road touring/explorer) series shoes too, the latest model is the RT-5. I have an older model RT-82 and love them, I think I paid ~$89 for them on sale, and they're still my longer ride shoe with A-520 SPD pedals.

metropical

can't find either the shoes and/or size and/or rea$onable deal on line. but I did just stumble on an LBS that doesn't appear to be like the others. their line card looks extensive. Hoping they can get in for a try on as I hate ill fit shoes of any kind.

canklecat

Don't expect a big difference in overall average speed between platform pedals without foot retention and clipless or toe clips. I switch between 'em routinely and can't claim to see any difference. They feel different. There's some ergonomic differences. But no consistent difference in my average speed on familiar routes I've ridden hundreds of times.

However the ergonomic differences may be significant. I'm very prone to muscle cramps, practically head to toe, in part due to injuries, partly due to metabolic issues. (Nope, no help from electrolytes, vitamin and mineral supplements, pickle juice, etc. It's not a dietary deficiency or dehydration.) That influences my pedal choices.

With flats I tend to mash, although with practice and the right combo of pedals/shoes I can spin around 80-90 rpm. Mashing and stomping up climbs means my quads cook quicker and I'll get spasms in my thighs and arches of my feet. With the right pedals, shoes and practice it's possible to sweep back on the pedals and do more circles rather than squares, pretty much everything except pulling up on the pedals.

With clipless I get fewer muscle spasms and when the quads threaten mutiny on climbs I can switch to pulling up on the pedals for a few moments until the thighs calm down. Of course if I use that alternate technique carelessly or too long the hamstrings will rebel. And the rigid soles of the clipless shoes provide better arch support with less cramping.

So I prefer clipless on my main road bike. Before switching to clipless I'd occasionally get muscle spasms in my thighs and foot arches. Needing to suddenly slow down and pull over was, understandably, freaking out some folks in group rides where we were closer together or drafting. It was inconsiderate to them so I switched to clipless

But my hybrids have platforms. I can get off the bike and stretch and massage the misbehaving muscles since even my group rides are casual no-drop, no drafting, no big deal if someone needs a rest break.

But ask me again after a couple of weeks with clipless on my new-to-me old Trek 5900, my first carbon bike. For a couple of weeks I've used only platform pedals and grippy walking shoes. Despite the bike being lighter and smoother than my 25 lb steel road bike with clipless, my average speed is the same on my usual 20-30 mile roller coaster routes -- 16 mph overall, if I include my usual 15 minute 12 mph warmup piddle-pedal and 5 minute cool down. My average for the actual workout portion is usually 17-18 mph, and again, no difference between the two bikes, pedals and shoe setups.

But I'm putting clipless pedals on the Trek this weekend so, who knows. Maybe it'll change. But I need to find a second set of shoes. My feet are very narrow and so far only Scott Road Pro shoes have fit me properly. They're good, affordable and, alas, discontinued.

metropical

not so much concerned about speed. It only started to replace the OEM cheap nylon pedals. I figured this was a good time to jump to shoes and SPDs, for power transfer. But I gave up looking yesterday. Just bought a decent set of replacement allow platforms.
I did find another LBS that might have something other than the high end.