Dougie D

WhyFi

I think that the most important question is whether or not your commuting and/or weekend rides include any significant walking.

I have Shimano A530 dual-sided (SPD/platform) pedals on my gravel/foul weather/errand bike. They allow me to do the clipless thing on longer rides or to just jump on it with regular shoes for a quick trip to the grocery store/playground/whatever. Otherwise, I use Speedplay Zero pedals, which I have used for commuting in the past. I've also used SPD-SLs for commuting, but the Speedplays are just a little more convenient if you're going to be clipping/unclipping frequently.

redfooj

all the cool kids ride eggbeaters because they go with recessed-cleats shoes for walking

PaulRivers

I spent years riding with clipless and went back to flats.
- Feet stopped hurting when riding. (May or may not apply to everyone but it did to me and I had tried several bike fittings several pairs of shoes etc etc.)
- Putting on 1 pair of shoes then never changing the shoes until I get home is just so much easier. Eliminates accidentally forgetting shoes. Just need to bring my bike (which has everything else I need physically attached to it).
- It's way more convenient for destination rides, where at one end of the ride you walk into a restaurant, around a town, etc. You just step off the bike and walk around. Mountain bike shoes are better than they used to be for this but nothing beats regular flat soled shoes.

I initially went with flats and chrome shoes but had a bit of annoyance with my feet not always being 100% solid on the pedal. Went to Five Ten shoes which use a special kind of grippy rubber and that issue went away, for anything that's not pulling straight up they're just as solid on the pedal as clipless.

When I was using clipless I was using Time Atac's as they seemed to be the best combination of reliability (crank brothers was terrible at the time not sure if they improved) and not getting jammed up with snow and ice (spd's didn't have the best reputation for that).

But I've completely changed to flats and have a hard time seeing myself going back to clipless. The claims of "massive" improvements in speed from clipless have shown themselves to be false. There are still claims of slight improvements in speed in certain sections like sprinting that are important in racing where 10 seconds can make a big difference, but - I'm not racing. I enjoy riding a whole lot more with less hassle with flats.

WhyFi

It's funny that I'm exactly the opposite - more foot pain with any significant amount of riding in regular shoes on platforms.

Gconan

Shimano spd mountain bike pedals. Great for walking around in.

Sy Reene

Speedplay Frogs

phtomita

+1. A530 is very convenient and you can walk as regular shoes with SPD cleats.

bluehills3149

Many questions about riding style , whether walking is needed and even climate but here's my choice - crank bros candy. I can use mtb shoes if I need to do some walking and not look like a cyclist (or it is colder/wet but not cold enough for booties) but for sporty rides I use carbon soled road shoes and the crank bros adapter to use the cleats on 3 holed road shoes (and even they are OK to walk in compared to say Look cleats).

Marcus_Ti

Or rather SPDs...because Crank Brothers pedals have a poor durability rep.

bluehills3149

Are CrankBros the only pedal that can be used on both mtb 4 hole and 3 holed road shoes (with adapter)? I think this is the ideal as it makes them suitable for the "race-on-sunday" and "commute-on-Monday" combo.
And crankbros pedals can be rebuilt pretty cheap too if they ever wear out - just avoid Candy 1's.

Marcus_Ti

SPDs, and ATACs, too.

It isn't just Candy 1s...all CB pedals tend not to live very long lives whether it is springs or wings. Rebuilding them gets old when you can by Shimano XT or XTRs for the same price that last a ton longer. They don't make bad race-day pedals, particularly if the mud-shedding is really needed.

WhyFi

There are 3-hole to 2-hole adapters, so no.

PaulRivers

Ha, I definitely recommend riding with whatever doesn't cause you foot pain. There's another poster here who said the same thing. I kinda wonder if wearing better flat shoes would help, but it doesn't really matter - if clipless works better for you keep using clipless.

redfooj

ive not heard that, and anecdotally mine's gone past a decade riding on MTB, cross, in mud, rain, gravel, and have never been rebuilt

Dirt Farmer

I use mountain biking shoes for everything; and on said shoes I use Time ATAC pedals. I love them.

Dudelsack 

OBoile

This is what I do and it was my immediate thought as well.

exime

Best all around are Shimano Deore XT PD-M8020 Trail Pedals

1nterceptor

About 10 years ago when I started cycling a lot; I only had 1 bike. It was a roadbike that I did everything on; long weekend club rides, commute(in rain & winter too)
and 100 mile charity events. My first clipless pedals were Shimano SPD. Like them enough that I kept using even after trying other systems; Eggbeaters, Time ATAC,
Look KEO, etc. I also tried and like Speedplay.

Trsnrtr

+2

jitteringjr

I like the Candy pedals from CB because they are easier to clip into than SPD's and still have a flat surface if you miss the first attempt which is really helpful when you have to restart on a rocky MTB climb. I have been lucky on the reliability front though.

kbarch

Not really clear on your definition of "all around," especially in the context of this would-be somewhat specialized sub-forum, but I'd say: straps. But if all-around doesn't preclude the necessity for specialized shoes, that's another story. I like the Time "iclick" system, but it's not a "walkable" type.