I got my new bike!
 

It's a Kestrel carbon fiber frame with 100% ultegra componentry. That still means nothing to me by the way. What I need to do now I guess is, is get some pedals, anybody have suggestions?!, i need a helmet and some shorts (hoping bluegoose can come through on some BYU gear). I'm really excited! I didn't know there were so many cycling shops so close to my house! Anyway, I thought I'd let you all know about the bike and get your advice on pedals. My father-in-law recommended some speed play pedals, but my buddy said that they would give me 'hot spots'. I have no idea what to get. I just want to get in and out easily. I feel like all this cycling stuff has it's own language.

A very good choice. It is a bike you will not outgrow. You can supplement it and enjoy it for a long time. It will be comfortable.

Speedplay is the way to go for me. It gives play so that the knees don't suffer. Speedplay also has zero play pedals but I don't recommend them even though they make you pedal correctly. The "play" helps you. And I've gone one hundred fifty miles without hot spots, done two ironmen, so I wouldn't worry about hot spots.

I saw a group of riders in springville over the weekend and saw a couple guys with the BYU riding jerseys with the new Y logo.

I had both look-style and speedplay. I think I prefer Look because your feet are less likely to slip out when you are really cranking. Just my personal opinion.

Wow, you don't mess around! I'm jealous.

No offense intended here, but if your feet slip out of speedplays it means you are not using good form. Speedplays are good, I think becasue they let you get in and out very easily, they will pop out if you start flailing away in a wild sprint, which means you train yourself not to flail but ot be more efficient, and they have all the float you will need. The primary drawback to speedplays from my point of view is that the cleat is very exposed when you walk and will wear quickly from too much walking on them. For riding, however, I think I prefer the speedplay system.

Cool bike, btw.

I don't think speedplay has a high adoption rate in the pro ranks.

Sounds like the speedplay pedals are the way to go then... My father-in-law said they were excellent pedals too. My concern was the hot spots, but if you've done a 150 miler and 2 inronmen without hotspots, i should be more than fine! Thanks!

i've pretty much decided to go with speedplay, so i better figure out how to make it work! is their a certain shoe that will help prevent from serious slippage? shimano was recommended...

I'm not anti-speedplay per se. I use them myself, when I replaced my el cheapo performancebike look-style cleats.

It's just that I preferred the more secure feeling of the Looks.

I'm not sure which shoe is the best, but I would recommend not going cheap on shoes. I got the $70 shimano shoes. They are fine, but I could have done much better. It's just that I'm too cheap to get better ones.

More importantly don't go cheap on the cycling shorts. I recommend the pearl izumis.