I'm looking to get some pedals and shoes for a nephew who is new to bents and biking both. He is in the process of building a tadpole trike from scratch...and I think I want to get him a setup that is easier to walk around in than old school road shoes. The only experience I have is with Look and Speedplay road pedals. What would be a good relatively inexpensive pedal to get him? Shimano SPD MTB? Crank Bros?  Please advise...

Both the SPD and Crank Bros are fine, and you can get MTB shoes for around $50...   John Paulus at the Lancaster bike shop has a set of Crank Bros. eggbeaters on clearance for ~$40, last time I was down there...  Give him a call!

I've been with the SPDs for years.  They work with mountain shoes, as well as sandals, and they shed mud well--a plus for the more adventuresome rider.  Now I use the touring model (Shimano PD-A520).  They are one-sided, but they hang with the catches toward the rider, which is particularly helpful for the 'bent rider.
 
I much prefer Sidi for my shoes, as the fit is reliable, and the shoes are durable.  They are expensive, however.  I buy mine on closeout sales, so I'm not fashionable, but I keep more money.  Heck! I wear mountain bike shoes on my road bike, so who needs fashion?!!  

I've used SPD's, Crank Bros, and currently have Speedplay Frogs. I liked my Crank Bros Candy pedals quite a lot. They were economical and dependable, purchased as a replacement for the SPD's when the bearings wore out. The only reason I changed to Frogs was because of a nagging knee. All of these will work with a variety of mountain bike shoes, which are easy to walk in. I previously had a pair of Specialized shoes but switched to a pair of Shimano. Performance Bicycle had a particularly good selection of different shoes when I needed to replace mine.

Bringing the thread back to life.
 
looking for some input on pedals/shoes, I've been looking at shoes today and the road shoes i like use a 3 bolt pattern such as SPD-SL or SpeedPlay.  I've been having foot issues and will probably replace my Shimano MTB shoes and Time MTB pedals.
 
thoughts?
 

Quote from Tiger_Mike on Jul 11^th, 2013, 9:55pm:

 
Thank you for the input, I had a sales person tell me the same thing today about the Speedplay.

Quote from Monkeywrangler22 on Jul 12^th, 2013, 9:37am:

 
Second that. Also, lots of float and it's easy to clip out of the pedals (No springs). Replacement cleats are expensive and not real durable, but I've switched back to Frogs, because of a problem I was having with my right foot. I've added some Dr. Scholl's thin, padded insoles under my Specialized MTB shoes' insoles and am not experiencing any more discomfort. Even though they have been bothering my right foot, still using Crank Brothers Eggbeaters on my trike, because the Frogs were releasing unexpectedly on rough pavement (Not good when your foot hits the ground and gets sucked under a trike's cruciform). I replaced the thin insoles in the pair of Specialized MTB shoes I use with the Eggbeaters with a pair of Dr. Scholl's "Active Series" insoles. The thick ball of foot padding in these insoles seems to relieve the discomfort in my right foot.