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Does anyone have any opinions on the best pedals for a 12/13 year old to start with on a road bike to minimise the chances of falling over sideways/not being able to clip in/falling over when walking/aggravating knees?
I think that SPDs might be the way to go, with a pair of touring or MTB shoes and multirelease SH56 cleats - easy in/out, easy to walk, not sure what the float is like.
But I've also got the option of an older pair of Keo Max pedals (which I find tricky to get the right way up sometimes) - bigger surface, bit lighter, good float.
Keo Easy's or Shimano R540 Light Action if you're going for single sided road pedals.
M520's with the release tension set to minimum if going for MTB pedals.
This is all IMO of course, but it's what I recommend to my female and youth customers trying clipless on road bikes for the first time.
Shimano spd-sl are easier to clip into for the beginner.
Shimano M324 spds mean kids can wear their normal shoes and ride to school, or flip the pedal and wear spds.
Looks are slightly harder to learn on, but the kids will adapt.
MTB more user friendly, but they'll get used to anything
A520s look more "right" on a road bike than the MTB SPDs but still let you use shoes that you can actually walk in.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-pd-a520-touring-pedals/
520s because they are not single sided - much safer. What kids started with.
Thanks all, I didn't know about the lght release spd-sl pedals, but it looks like M520s and wr35 touring shoes are the right combination of looks and functionality!
Consider CB Candys too. I much prefer them for touring.
My boys learnt on spd-sl pedals. Youngest was about 9 and they got on with them really well.