Shimano’s M324
Shimano’s M324-Platform and clipless pedal all in one
Since switching to Shimano’s half-platform / half-clipless pedal, the M324, I’m now wearing street shoes about 98% of the time when I ride.
These were the things I loved about clipless pedals before using the M324:
- I enjoyed the feeling, at the end of a hard day at work, of putting on my special ‘go fast’ shoes, and heading home with a purpose.
- On long days in the saddle, clipless is more efficient because you can contribute energy on the full pedal stroke, not just the down part. You’re getting your hamstrings more involved.
- The actual feeling of clicking in, the sound and sensation, is pretty cool.
But I always had these frustrations:
- You are going out to the cafe. You don’t want to wear your special ‘go fast’ click-in shoes. So you put on street shoes, but the clipless pedals dig in and make them uncomfortable.
- Ditto, but when there’s water involved your feet slip off the metal surfaces, or the pedals roll under your feet at unpredictiable moments, and they become a safety hazard.
If you’re in the situation where you don’t want to give up clipless because you love the performance, but you’re constantly wearing street shoes and riding in discomfort, you’ll love Shimano’s platform / clipless solution.
Contrary to many people’s first impression of this pedal, it is not hard to use. The pedal hangs the same way each time due to the relative weights of the flat and clipless sides. This means that when you’re wearing street shoes you can always step on the correct side of the pedal if you step down and backwards. When wearing SPD (Click-in) shoes, you can always step on the click-in side by stepping forward and down.
