shorthanded

anybody give these a crack?

i've been riding cage pedals for.. well.. forever.

i'm finally down to wearing out my last pair of lace up cleats.. and i think it's time to switch to clipless for the sake of walking and ease of replacement.

anyhow-- i'm giving a set of shimano spd a520's a crack, and just figured i'd see what folks thought of them-- or if they're even a known entity!

my thoughts on them-- there's SOME support from the cage-- they're not mountain pedals-- they're tough to jam up when walking on hardpack (which i end up doing a lot)-- they're silver (yup.. vanity )-- and they're not hideous expensive, nor are the cleats, and they're available in loads of places in emergencies. plus.. recessed cleat.. which is a boon after years of the duckwalk..

i still hear of spd deadfoot.. so i'm hoping i don't get it... but i'm matching them up with a new pair of sharp and not super flash bontrager shoes with a grippy sole, and not SUPER stiff platform.. but they do have a secondary stiff insole.

what say ye? suffering to come, or plausible solution for randonnee?

shorthanded

pedal in question.



classy understated, but velcro'd, shoe in question.

Marcello

I have been using SPD pedals for many years, and a week ago I installed a pair of a600, which are almost identical to the a520, on my trike. I have only done one 100k ride on it. The 200k brevet tomorrow will be a good test. I was hoping that the platform around the cleats would provide a larger area for the foot to lean on, to eliminate some hot foot issues that I have on 400k and longer rides. But I found that the sole of my shoes (Shimano sandals, actually) only touch the "platform" on a very small area. So far I like the pedals, but I may need to buy new shoes with a more flat sole to go with them.

Mr. Beanz

I've done about 35 centuries on SPD two sided M520's. Never had a problem. Some people have talked about hotspots. In my 15 years on the bike and spd's, I've never experienced it.

X-LinkedRider

I use these pedals on my Allez. I like them better than any pedals I have had so far. Whenever I upgrade, I will be moving these to my touring bike which currently uses SPD/Flat pedal hybrids.

shorthanded

thanks all-- it's not as if a cage cleat ISN"T an incredibly small contact area to begin with-- so sometimes i think an SPD is actually a BROADER area to contact with a pedal .

i looked at frogs too- but a) a lot of float is a super weird concept to me coming from cage pedals with cleats, and b) there's a lot of climbing here, and everyone i talked to said the spring is weak, and they're prone to 'climbing pullout' which sounds horrible. and the cleat's really no bigger.. so i'd rather err on the side of availability.

a guy i work with has a set-- and he's pretty alright with them on his rando bike-- but he seldom puts in much more than 25-30 miles- so he can't speak as to how they'd do with long distance riding.. this is certainly helping though!

Kurious Oranj

I have used these pedals on my road bike for more than a year and I like them. I have not done more than a century on them though. I just switched them out for Speedplay Zeros but they will see continued use on my new "long-distance bike". I happen to like the SPD cleats and MTB shoes, even on road bikes.

X-LinkedRider

Shimano makes great pedals. Basically at this level and up, you get what you pay for (usually in regards to weight) not quality. I would doubt if you found any problems with them as long as your shoes are adjusted properly.

shelbyfv

I went to the A520s from double sided spds and I think they are more supportive. They work well and look good, not too clunky.

Six jours

Standard SPDs give me hotspots. A520's don't, as long as I use reasonably stiff soles. They're my favorite LD clipless.

barturtle

I've got about 5000 miles on mine. bearings were a bit stiff for the first 1000, and it didn't always hang to the correct side when starting out to be able to clip in. I've had no problems with them.

Chris_W

I've used A520s a lot (and their predecessor, the A515), and have three pairs of A520's between my wife's, my bikes, and our tandem. None have ever given any trouble mechanically, with the longest-serving pair having about 15-20,000 km on them so far (and many more than that on the old A515s). Get a shoe with a reasonably stiff sole (I use high-end Shimano MTB shoes with carbon soles) and get the cleat in the right place and you then shouldn't have any foot problems (I've done 14 hour rides without any trouble). I've also used the A600's on one bike for about 6 months now, which they say is the Ultegra-level version. Compared to the A520's, I haven't noticed any functional difference, but they are a few grams lighter, and do have a darker finish which matches the rest of that bike better.

I can't understand why anyone who is not racing would use road shoes when pedals like these are readily available. I like being able to walk normally when off the bike.

red sox junkie

I have three pairs of the double sided 520s on my three bikes. They are pretty inexpensive and they work well. I switched from road cleats to mountain ones a few years ago on my long distance bike. Don't know why it took me that long. Never experienced hot spot on these or any other clipless pedal system. The shoes will determine your experince with clipless much more than the pedals themselves.

shorthanded

got the a520's yesterday and threw them on... man- there's more foot support on these than there are for a pair of cage pedals by a long shot, and i suspect i'll probably get LESS hotspots than i did with clips and pedals.

so far so good, although i only put a few miles in putzing around getting the cleats set up. i REALLY thought i'd be irritated by 'float'.. but it's been nice to have a little wiggle room.. last i tried clipless was the original white looks in the mid 80's.. kind of different

hopefully get a ride in today and see what flies-- thanks everyone!