Quote:
Originally Posted by mattbikeboy
I for one never liked Eggbeaters -- I bought a pair a couple of years ago to go on my bike for a trip to Europe so I could walk around without my road shoe cleats taking a beating. By that time I had been riding clipless pedals for more than 12 years -- and I fell more in the two months I had those on my bike than I did in the previous 11.5 years. Eggbeaters brass cleats wear quickly and the pedals themselves don't release or spin as smoothly as Shimano.
I switched back to my Shimano SPDs on my mountain bike and Shimano SPD SLs on my road bike and have a nearly new set of EGGbeater SLs in my tool box.
For a new rider Shimano XT mountain bike pedals are a good starting pedal. They release easily, they are two sided so you can just step on them and go and you can use mountain bike shoes that allow the cleats to be recessed and allow you to walk around normally. I personally use them on my mountain bikes. My road bike has Ultegra SPD SL pedals and I love them -- but the cleats are large and definitely not walk or standing around friendly and can be slippery when you're tired and a little lazy when stopping at stop lights.
mbb
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I agree with everything MBB says here. In fact, he could be me for all I know, as I also us SPD SL on the road bike.
I have never personally used Eggbeaters, aside from clipping in and out to see how they feel. My friends are a mixed bag as to how they feel about them. Some live them for their versatility. Others hate them and have switched back to SPDs.
Regarding slow speeds up hills - Beelzebabs, I've gone up some steep hills at 2-3 mph for up to an hour at a time. There's no reason to be unclipping at 4mph. Don't be skeeerrd, just keep em turning.