could it simply be that a fits b' but b does not fit a'? regardless, is it not always better to match the pedal with the appropriate cleat ( a w/ a' & b w/ b')? i ask simply because i had always assumed this to be the case.

Shimano does make a few models that only have the spd pattern, particularly for Mountain Bike/Touring (ones with a sole you can walk on) -- they are not compatible with the look pattern.

Most of Shimano's Road shoes accept the look pattern. I don't know if at some point they made road shoes that only accepted the spd pattern.

As others stated, double check with John, he's of the upmost integrity.

I ride speedplay pedals.
from Italy, with love,

Ivan

"On a recent recommendation from a friend, I decided to try Conrad's. About 5 weeks ago, I met John and told him I needed to have my rear wheel trued and that the crank was not spinning as freely as it should have been. I figured it was a bottom bracket problem most likely. He said he would check out the bike and take care of it and told me to come back in a week. After a week, I went back and the bike was not even touched. John again said come back in a week. I wasn't to happy but I said fine. I called him 5 days later and told him I'd like the work done, he said come in two days. When I went to pick up my bike, I asked him how it went and he said no problems. He charged me $65 (plus a $15 tip for the mechanic) and off I went. I immediatly noticed that the crank was still the same so several days later, when I had the time, I went back told him there was no difference. I asked him if he worked on the crank and the bottom bracket and immediately I could tell he hadn't. He gave me a very uncomfortable yes answer which I could see was not true. He then said he would have to overhaul the whole bike if I wanted him to find out the real problem. He quoted me a price which was extremely high but, being naive and still remembering how my friend raved about this guy, I gave the go ahead. Again, he said come back in a week. I called him last Thursday after he had the bike for 8 days and asked if the bike was ready. Of course, he said no but they would work on it on Friday and told me to come on Monday to pick up the bike. I had my doubts, why come on Monday if the bike will be ready on Friday? Anyway, I kept my mouth shut and waited. This morning I went over to the shop and there was John. First thing out of his mouth was, ""hey, what can I do for you today?"" Like he didn't know. I told him I was there to collect my bike. He said he'd have it back to me ""sometime this week"". Supressing my anger, I told him no way, I wanted my bike back now. He had the nerve to ask me why. I said, ""why? because I want it back"". He then said he could have it back to me tomorrow. Suddenly, my bike was a priority. I said, no, now, I'm taking it out of here and that this level of service was unacceptable and bad. He said he was sorry but that in the Spring it's really busy and I shouldn't come for service in the Spring. Right, like it's my bike's fault for needing service at this moment. In all, Conrad's had my bike for 4 weeks out of the last 5 and managed to only true my rear wheel (which cost $80 bucks). What a waste of time. If you want to be overcharged, lied to, jerked around and without your bike for weeks at a time, then by all means go to Conrad's. It's the black hole for bikes. Otherwise, my strong recommendation is to stay far away from this place, there are way to many good bike mechanics in this city then to deal with such nonsense."

I for one will trust only Conrad’s to service my bike. There are lots of bike shops in New York City. Some are very good. But as far as I am concerned there is only one Pro Shop – and that one Pro Shop is Conrad’s. I have a custom made bike built specifically for me, I did not buy it at Conrad’s. Yet Conrad’s services it as if it were their own bike, as if they were going to ride that bike to the top of the mountain themselves. Conrad’s is the Pro Shop. John, Philip, Yee – they are all pros. And my experience with the pros is if you have a problem, work with them, they will fix it. No one in this city does better work making a bike hum.

I find it interesting that the critics hide behind anonymity. Who are you, I wonder? Could you be a bike employee from the competition trying to drive business your way? If you don’t have the strength of character to stand by your own opinions, your opinions must be very weak, they can have no merit. While Conrad’s is at risk, in the public eye, open, a potential target, you throw barbs from hidden places. Who are you? I don’t know. What experience do you have with bikes? I don’t know. Do you even ride a bike? I don’t know. In fact, I actually wonder if you do. I also find it interesting that the people who have had good experiences with Conrad’s generally do take ownership of their comments. They stand strong by their words. My compliments to you for taking a position and owning that stand.

I know Conrad’s and they have proven to me time and again that they are the absolute best. I don’t know who the anonymous critics are. They have proven absolutely nothing to me.

Irv and I have only positive things to say from our years of experience with John Tsang at Conrad's.

I just got my bike tuned at Conrad's. As always, they did great work.

As is often the case they went to extra trouble to help me out.

It's true that they are very busy now. When I brought my bike in they warned me it might take a while. They were one day later than I was expecting, which I consider a VERY small price to pay for having confidence in the workmanship.

I have had bad experiences at other bike shops. Never at Conrad's.

By the way, I did NOT buy my bike there.

I recently tried Conrad's for the first time on the recommendation of one of the A19 Sig leaders. I was having terrible trouble with my rear derailer and it seemed like nobody could get it right, including me. I first tried the shop where I'd bought my Trek 2300 last year, which provides free tune ups for a year. After they worked on it, the shifting was worse, even though I know the guys and they're eager to help.

I then went to Anewgen in midtown, but discovered they've sadly closed. I relied on them for tune ups and service after another NYCC member recommended them to me.

So I tried Sid's, paid $8.50 for an on-the-spot fix and it was practically identical to when I brought it in--still giving me trouble on about half of my gears. Not good.

Then I brought it to Conrad's on Monday and Yee said it wouldn't be ready till the following Monday. I panicked and said I couldn't wait. I had to ride on Saturday with the NYCC Sig. So he said, Okay, call Friday. I called Friday and picked it up that afternoon.

I rode it for 81 miles in deepest Westchester and it worked tons better, but not 100%. So I brought it back and Yee worked on it again, and got it back to me a day later. It was like 99.999%.

John didn't charge me for the second tune up, although I am sure if I brought it back they'd further fine tune it for free. I'm satisfied for now. I also bought new Look Keo pedals from John, which I'm thrilled with.

Conrad's seems to be incredibly diligent, although nobody's perfect. Buy hey, keep me posted if you know of the Perfect Bike Shop.

Karol

I've been riding since 1985. Since then I have used a few bike shops. Most were ok. None of them great. That is till I found Conrad's. I only purchased one bike from them and that was way back in 1988 or 1989. Ever since then I've been using Conrad's for all my bike needs. John treats all the bikes that I bring in as if they were his own. Currently I'm riding a Trek 5900 which John treats just like the custom Ti Seven's sold by his shop.

Every once in a while I stray. Especially now that I live in Brooklyn. But it's still worth taking my bike there even though I have to take the train to get there when ever my bike is ready.

Some advice that I can offer is narrow down what you think the problem with your bike is. You can't walk into any bike shop and say - my bike is making a clunking, grinding kind of sound. That'll get your bike pushed to the bottom of the fixer up pile. While people who walk in and know more or less what the problem is will get their bike back within a week. If the mechanic has a good lead from you it makes their job easier. It's just a matter of knowing how your bike rides when it's in tip top shape.

All shops mess up every once in a while. So give John a break. Or at least have the decency to give us your identity so we can see who's bitching and moaning.

By the way Karol, kudos to the A-19 Sig leader who recomended Conrad's. He must be one cool sun of a gun.
So there you have it!!! Conrad's is the Perfect Bike Shop!!!

"1. It's that season to defame or defend a bike shop on the message board, with Conrad's on the hot seat. Can't support either side. I didn't buy my bike at Conrads, and my favorite shop didn't sell me my bike either FWIW

2. If you think you have problems with you local bike shop, don't think the pros have it any easier. From Cyclingnews.com's live commentary on Stage 18 of the 2005 Giro di Italia (a 34km ITT):
Russell Van Hout (Selle Italia) rode across the finish line with part of his clip-on bar in his hand, as it came off five km to go. He described his mechanic with an obscene gerund, before remarking, ""Our mechanic's the best, eh? He's a wanker. I just had a nice tempo, It was a good roll down for me. But with five kilometres to go, my bar came off. I was holding that in one hand and my brake in the other, so I nearly lost it on one corner.""

BTW, I love the Aussies for their straight on comments.

3. The following saying is generally attributed to Yogi Berra: ""If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be""

similarly, I don't believe there's a perfect bike shop, though it's ok to think there is a PBS."

The original poster never had a follow up discussion with the store. It could have been a simple communication problem or something the shop owner would have been happy to resolve. Then posting something here afterwards may have then had some (very) marginal value.

I don't see what the point is posting annonomously such negativity here. Likewise no further discussion from this poster despite the many responses here. To me, this is very lame and very suspect - reflecting poorly on the poster raqther than the shop. That's my impression for what it's worth.