Gravel/commuter pedals & advice

[EddyBee]

After spending a year riding to work on my hardtail MTB i’ve given in and bought a commuter bike that kinda doubles as a gravel bike.

I have a Commencal Meta TR full suss mountain bike which I adore and I really liked the look of their commuter bike. I probably could’ve got something better for the money but I didn’t want drop bars and I think it looks awesome (don’t judge me, I used what excuses I could find to just a new bike!)

Anyway, I’ve always used flats but I’m toying with the idea of SPDs.
I’ve seen dual sided ones; flat pedal one side and SPD the other and I like the idea of not having to wear special shoes if I’m just popping out.

Has anyone got any experience with these dual sided pedals?
I’m a size 9 but have pretty wide feet and a lot of them look pretty narrow.

For reference I have Deity T-Mac pedals on my Full suss and they’re 105x110mm (massive) and my HT has DMR V8s 95x100mm.

I was looking at these;
https://www.cyclisme.co.uk/product/look-geo-trekki...
Still smaller than what I’m used to though

of anyone has any other advice on clipless I'm all ears, I gather there’s 2 different types?
Also I have no idea about what shoes I’d need, being a mountain biker I’d want Five Tens or similar; I’m assuming the cleats on these are recessed so you can walk normally?

Link to the bike I’ve ordered
https://www.commencal-store.co.uk/fcb-dirt-2021-c2...

Thanks in advance!

[Sway]

I'm personally not a fan of the dual sided - instead, a spd pedal with wraparound cage gives a 'good enough' platform for casual riding with normal shoes...

Five tens are pretty good to walk in, and yes recessed cleat.

[HughG]

I’ve got shimano XT T-8000 on my Checkpoint for exactly the same reason as you, normal shoes for popping out or pottering with the kids. Cleats for proper riding.

[jimmy156]

I’ve got a set of shimano pd-eh500 in my gravel bike which are spd on one side and flat on the other, reckon they would be perfect for what you want. I hardly use the flat side to be honest, but it’s useful when I’m out for little rides with my son etc. My commute is 50km each way so I’m clipped in for that

Edited by jimmy156 on Friday 18th June 19:42

[gradeA]

Why not just use flats - how far is the commute?

[defblade]

I've used dual sided for 20+ years on my one-and-only-until-last-month bike, they make perfect sense to me for all sorts of riding except weight weenie speed efforts which are not exactly me anyway

Advantages include not having to clip in immediately when setting off; having a decent platform still when clipped out - eg if you want one foot free to be able to dab down in traffic; you can ride in normal shoes... and buy/use bike shoes you can walk fairly normally in.
Disadvantages - weight, lack of coolness, not always clipping in as you're on the wrong side (rare, I find, as you learn how they hang without thinking about it... and not a big problem anyway!)

Having said that, I've put Look dual-sided SPDs on my new bike, as that's just for riding for riding's sake and not expected to make many compromises. Although the Looks have a decent platform for pure SPDs, there is a bit of a scrabble/slide around if you don't get clipped in first time... tho that may be my current shoes as much as the pedals.

[EddyBee]

Thanks for all the replies.
I think the Shimano XT T8000s look the best as they come up the widest.

Yes I could just use flats but I’d like to try clipless but with the option of flats when I don’t want to wear the shoes.

jimmy156 said:

My commute is 50km each way so I’m clipped in for that

Wow, that’s loads, mines a pathetic 6.5km each way haha!
However I don’t care I've managed to lose 9stone in the last 12 months partly through riding my bike.
This bike will be used for other stuff too & if I’m a convert i could always try them when I go mountain biking.

[Dnlm]

I've gone back and forth with best commute/errand pedal options.

Atm have PD-ME700 dual sided SPD's with a bit of support around them. Found one sided a bugger to get into when going through tonnes of junctions, lights etc.

I dont really rate them above the basic m520s, but they are good for going a mile or so with trainers instead of clip ins.

[gangzoom]

I just use these and normal shoes for a sub 10 mile commute. In urban rush hour traffic makes life much easier than been clipped in.