SPD Pedals for the Dummy Cyclist

Shimano SPD road pedal (one tension screw, Tammie)

Quite a few of the staffers here at the Antisocial Network are die-hard cyclists, which is why – besides the half dozen or so bikes in the staff bicycle rack – there's a commercial-quality spin bike in the communal gym. Last time we looked, the spin bike, the hybrids, and the mountain bikes all had Shimano SPD pedals. Only the oldest road bike (a 1994 Trek) had SPDs, though, the rest had Looks. At least our cyclists know the difference, which is a lot more than we can say for eHowian Tammie Painter, whose "How to Adjust Shimano SPD Pedals" lives at SportsRec.com these days thanks to Leaf Group's niching program.

Although Portland, where Painter got a biology degree, is well-known as a bicycle mecca; it's doubtful that Painter spends much time on two wheels. If she were a cyclist, she would know that her introduction...

"Shimano SPD pedals used to be mainly used only on mountain bikes. However, the smaller cleats (as compared to traditional road bike cleats) are easy to walk in and therefore have become popular for commuters to use on hybrids, touring, and road bikes..."

... is exactly backward: road cyclists don't use the original SPD pedals because the cleat is so small and road shoes don't have the deep tread that MTB shoes have. That's why Shimano now makes a road version of their pedals with a wider cleat similar to those used by Look pedals. Painter did get it that the tension needs to be adjusted, but that might just be because she read about it somewhere. That's why she botched the instructions she artfully cribbed from Shimano's installation and maintenance docs – for the mountain bike version.
Shimano pedals intended for mountain bikes are typically two-sided, which is where Tammie came up with this tension-adjustment instruction:

"Locate the two adjustment bolts on each of your pedals. They are found at the front and at the back of the bindings (the metal parts you clip into). Also locate the tension indicator, which is found near each of the bolts.."

Ummm, Tammie? the adjustment screws are always at the rear of the pedal when the binding faces up. There may be two screws per pedal or there may not: Shimano SPD road pedals only have one because they're one-sided, as are the SPD clips on a spin bike. Painter further confuses the issue by ordering her readers to,

"[Adjust] the bolts until both the tension indicators are the same. Test the tension by placing the bike in a doorway to support yourself as you clip in and out of each pedal to see if they are too loose... Turn the tension adjustment bolts clockwise a quarter turn on each bolt and each pedal."

How do we determine if they're "too loose," Tammie? And there you go again with that two screws per pedal thing... and finally, there's this bit of wisdom:

"...tension is a personal choice, but if it is too loose you can come out of the pedals accidentally."

We had to laugh: none of our staffers has ever "come out of the pedals accidentally," but a couple have had difficulty uncleating in an emergency and one staffer ruined a pair of new MTB shoes trying to uncleat from an overly tight pedal on a gym's spin bike. But what the hey: our Portlandian expert knows it all. So what if she's really the Dumbass of the Day?

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