The pedals connect directly to some special cleats on a bike shoe. You foot is then essentially attached to the pedal. This allows for more efficient pedaling as the ball of your foot is in constant contact with the pedal.
I found a great sale on pedals at Jenson USA and picked up some Shimano 105 PD5700 pedals for $69.99. A bargain according to everyone I spoke to. I also picked up some Pearl Izumi shoes that were on sale.
I had a buddy of mine help install the pedals. The old ones were really tough to get off. Even with all the tools! All the online videos made it seem much easier than it actually was. Here’s a video showing how easy it should have been!
How easy is that! We tried and tried and they just wouldn’t budge, finally after much persistance we were able to get the hold ones off.
The new ones were really easy to install and were done in a couple of minutes.
I connected the cleats to my shoes and made sure to line them up so the ball of my foot was positioned correctly per the instructions. Road shoes are funny to walk in because of the cleats. The ones I got had a rubber stopper on the back so you can walk in them but you have to be careful.
The next day I propped myself up in the garage and practiced connecting the shows to the pedals and then unclipping out of them over and over. I was told to practice because it does feel strange pulling them out, your foot should move kinda like squishing a bug. After I had practiced I headed out to give it a try. My first attempt was a FAIL! I didn’t pedal and watched as I tried to clip my right foot in and tumbled to the left! Nice new pedals and bike got their first scratches!
I jumped back on and then success. I went out for my usual loop. I clipped out a couple of times and back in successfully. I could really tell the difference being connected to the pedals, it was easier to get up some of the hills and I could build up speed quicker.
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