sw20

So, going to purchase my first set of clipless pedals for my road bike, and have narrowed it down to the Shimano M530 or 520, was originally going to get the R540 but after some reading decided to go for the MTB pedals as they seem to be a little more user friendly for a clipless noob!
Can anyone recommend which one would be better and if anyone has used both sets, how different did they feel? will be getting these as shoes https://www.decathlon.co.uk/100-moun...d_8386858.html to start with.

Thanks

IslandTimePE

I have a pair of 520's and also other pedals similar to the 530's (but not Shimano). I prefer the 530 style. Like the larger surface area for two reasons: 1) I find them easier to clip into...and it is possible to pedal a bit even if you miss clipping in right away with pulling away from a stop. 2) if I break a cleat, it is still possible to pedal to some degree on the large pedal surface of the 530 style; more difficult to do so on the 520's just because the surface area is so small.

jlaw

I've got the 520's on two of my road bikes. I like them because they are cheap ($25) and reliable. I have used clipless for many years so the small size platform is fine for me. You will have to decide if the small platform matters to you.

mercator

I've used m520 and m424 but for a spd pedal on a road bike I find I like the a520 best of all. I have the a530 on one bike and don't really like it much.
The pricing vs the m530 makes no sense to me, however, and I guess if I was buying at list price the m530 looks like a pretty good deal.

grizzly59

tagaproject6

I use the 530 for some bikes for when I want to ride with regular shoes. All my other bikes, I use the SPD-A600, I like that it is lighter than the M520 ( I used to have them). The dual side entry of the 520 was not really an issue.

mcours2006

Weight is not really an issue with my commuter bikes, which both have the M530's. I like it, also,that I can use street shoes...well, sort of use them, at least for short trips.

redlude97

I can ride with normal shoes on 520s or 530s for short distances so not an issue for either case, otherwise go a530 if you plan on doing that quite a bit. The m530 effectively has less free float feeling when used with mtb shoes with an aggressive sole as the cage interacts with the lugs to fee more connected. Not necessary or needed on a road bike IME with stiff enough shoes for a road bike.

Craptacular8

I started off with a530's, then a520's, and most recently went with the M520's on a gravel bike. If I were to go back and replace some that I only ride clipped in, I'd probably put the M520's on most bikes. Even using the multi-directional cleats, the m520's seem to be easier (to me) to reliably unclip in virtually any situation. On most of my bikes, I'm seldom not clipped in, and in winter when I switch to a hiking boot to ride in, I might as well just swap out my pedals to flats anyway, as I find it a tad irritating that the spd side invariably is on the bottom, and I'm forever flipping my pedals when I start off using the A530's. I thought that I'd avoid that issue with the A520's, but it too seems to slide to the clip side down rather often. The m520's are always ready to clip into being dual sided......perfect except if you desire to be able to ride in street shoes for any length of time. For that reason alone, think I'm finally going to dump the flats I use on my tour bike, and put another set of A530's, because I do ride in flip flops after a long day touring when heading out to dinner in street attire.

Wanderer

I've got 530s on one bike, and 324s on another. Personally, I like the 324s better.

surak

I use M530s on my road bike with SH-56 cleats (switched when I couldn't get my right foot used to the rotation... probably could go back to the stock SH-51s now but not worth the bother). I started commuting with that setup before getting my first SPD shoes. Even though they are not ideal with regular shoes, I did multiple 16-mile rides and didn't have my feet slip off. Nashbar has the M530s for $28, which is a pretty good price if you have other stuff you want to buy to get free shipping, or if you wait for a no-minimum free shipping sale.

MAK

If you're still shopping, REI is having their anniversary sale and the Shimano m520, m540 and other Shimano as well as other brand pedals are on sale.

sw20

Don't think REI ship to I' but I'm still undecided at the moment as I have now found some shoes which are both SPD and SPD SL compatible, not sure whether to get the M520 and then get the R540 further down the line once I have got use to clipless pedals. Is there any benefit going from the M520 to the R540?

Ironfish653

The main advantage (to 99% of us) of SPD-SL/LOOK pedals is that you can wear light and stiff road/ race style shoes. These shoes also don't have much, if any tread on them, so it's easier to walk on one of the big plastic 'delta' cleats than the little metal SPD cleat, especially on hard surfaces. You don't want to walk in them any farther than absolutely neccesary

The 2-bolt SPD pedal lets you use the whole range of MTB and Touring / sport shoes, that you can actually walk in when you're not on the bike. Some of them can even pass for 'regular' shoes. I have a pair of the Pearl Izumi 'Fuel' shoes that look and feel like a pair of chunky, neon colored trainers. On the other end of the spectrum are the MTB/CX race shoes that are pretty much road racing shoes with treads on the bottom.

Finally; I wouldn't pick out the shoes with an eye towards 'upgrading' the pedals; The pedals will last far longer than the shoes. I have a pair of Shimano M-535 pedals that are 20+ years old, and i'm on my 3rd pair of shoes.

cyccommute 

You are confusing the M530 with the A530. They aren't the same. The A530 is a single sided clipless with a platform on the other side. The M530 is the same as the M520 but with a large platform around the cleat mechanism.

I've not used the M530 since the smaller M520 has been adequate for my needs and it is lighter.

sw20

Thanks for info.

I tried on some shoes at the weekend, and saw a couple of pairs that I liked, these https://www.decathlon.co.uk/500-road...d_8487283.html and these https://www.decathlon.co.uk/900-carb...d_8390039.html the first pair were the ones that are compatible with SPD and SPD SL, hence the reasoning for edging towards them as I could get the M520 to get use to clipping in and then getting the R540 if I liked it!

I can get first pair of shoes and a set of M520 and R540 for the price of the second pair of shoes and a set of R540 pedals.

Ironfish653

If you want smooth-soled 'road' shoes, then go straight to the SPD-SL R540's. IMHO, the small 2-bolt cleat, exposed on the sole of a road shoe is miserable and darn near hazardous to walk in, even just taking the bike out of the garage. Frankly, the 2-bolt SPD is harder to get lined up and clicked in without being in the 'pocket' of the sole of an MTB / Touring shoe as well.

The learning curve isn't really much different for the two styles, other than the 2-sided aspect of some SPD pedals. If you like the road shoes, go straight to the SPD-SL / LOOK pedals.