spd or road pedals.
 

I have been using spd pedals and normal shoe style spd shoe and was quite comfortable with them, I just bought spd sl road shoes and pedals. I am feeling quite nervous uncomfortable with them in traffic. question is are the mountain bike spd shoes that look like road shoes just as stiff as the road shoes i bought. I would really like to go back to spd if the shoes were similar to road shoes.

Who cares what somebody else thinks? Wear the shoes you like wearing. Road shoes are generally stiffer than their MTB counterparts. If you can't tell, who cares?

Or just spend the money on high quality MTB shoes, best of both worlds!

thats what i was wondering if high end mtb shoes were close to road shoes

Never have used road shoes, have the Mavic Razor MTB shoes and really like them. I would bet the difference, for a 50+ clyde like me (General Classification, Fred Cat 4), between road shoes and mine are very minimal.

I have both as well, but I do most my riding in my SPD's.
Both pairs are carbon sole, but I just love the way my SPD's feel, I'm looking to get a newer pair od SPD -SL really soon.

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftr...tbshoes/promtb

-Light and stiff, full-length FACT carbon midsole: 10 stiffness index.


I'm looking to get the road version of my SPD's.

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftr...oroad#features

-Lightweight FACT full-carbon sole uses TorsionBox technology, which increases stiffness for improved power transfer: 11.0 stiffness index

I have road shoes that take my SPD cleats... and I have mountain shoes that take 'em. I have Shimano A520's on my road bikes and a Wellgo SPD pedal on my mountain bike. It's what works for me, so why change?

I moved from spd to spd-sl as well and experienced this too. I took a while but I'm doing better with them now. I still miss the target from time to time but no real issues. Overall I like them better than the spd. I have stiff carbon road and mtb shoes so no real difference there but the road shoes are a lot lighter and I like the larger platform. Take some time to get used to them.

Not all SPD shoes are canvas clunker MTB shoes. Specialized makes nice looking shoes that take SPD cleats. I might try giving the road pedals more time before abandoning them Once you get used to them, you'll be fine. However, I know plenty of avid road cyclists at work who only use SPD pedals. Ride the pedals *you want to ride*, not the ones other people want to ride.

I use SPD's on my road bikes. You can get this adapter http://www.rei.com/product/785658/sh...-cleat-adapter to let you use almost any road shoes. Still easier to walk with than standard road cleats.

I have spds for mountain and CX bikes and SPD-SL for road bikes. They each have a seperate purpose and don't work as well for the other. To make spds work for road, you need a very stiff road shoe. Even then you don't get that full power transfer from the larger platform

+1 I use both, with SPDs on the commuter and SPD-SLs on the road bike. The SLs feel like they do a much better job transferring power to the pedal and the larger platform just feels more stable. The float is also smoother, since the connection isn't metal-on-metal. Clipping in is a bit less forgiving and walking is not as easy though, which is why I haven't put SLs on my commuter.

Incorrect. How do I know? I tried so many different shoes with this. It only works with lower end Shimano road shoes.

Do you have issues with SPD? Why did you change? In my case, it was the float and knee issue that made me move to Speed Play. As for stiffness, that is in your shoes. (try S-works MTB shoes then S-works Road one I would be surprised if you can tell difference... - I do have both). One thing is road pedal tend to have better platform (which you can get SPD pedal with bigger platform as well) If SPD or another MTB pedal has more adjust-ability than speedplay, I would be all over it myself as I already have 4 different MTB shoes (3 sneakers, 1 S-works) I can use as well as making it easier for me to walk...

I use SPD pedals on my road bike. I've climbed some of the ice giants of the northern Cascades, and seven mountain pedals in them. I have nice SPD/MTB shoes with carbon fiber soles, they're every bit as stiff and comfortable as road shoes. But I can walk in them, in fact, I can scramble across a talus field down to the creek to fill my water bottles in them.

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/Stev...e/DSC00843.jpg

I have Shimano SPD pedals and shoes and I ride road bikes. I didn't really noticed it until a few years back that it's for MTB's. I love using it so it stuck on me. I wouldn't mind getting a road clipless pedals in the near future to see how it feels to ride in 'em.

Time's high-end MTB shoes were great..."were" because they apparently no longer make them, but you can still find new pairs on ebay.

Was gonna swap, but riding city streets, sometimes you simply cannot get clipped in fast enough. With a MTB shoe I can use the tread of the shoe to stabilize my foot on the pedal, get moving, and then clip in. My understanding is that with road shoes, this would be very difficult and possibly dangerous as without the tread, your foot can slip off the pedal if you try this.

Anybody care to chime in with their experiences?

Yes, I've missed and slipped of the pedal trying to get started. Can be painful when you hit the saddle wrong. Part of the learning curve though. People also fall over using clipless of all kinds. It goes with the territory. Just ride and practice.

Whoa! Awesome!

Oh. :( Damn.

I ride eggbeaters with S-works shimano MTB shoes, and have used Look's with high end Sidi's (on loan), and I notice no stiffness difference, so I stick with the eggbeaters on all of my bikes, and one pair of stiff, light shoes. I am only 145 pounds though, ma be a bigger difference if you are a bit heavier.

I ride SPD's and last year bought a stiffer road type of shoe. The shoes were way slippery untill you were clipped in. Really made me nervous and it was hard to unclip and cruise to a stop with the middle of the shoe on the pedals., or to start on a steep hill etc. I know the serious riders get past this, but they still are not as versatile as my mtb type shoes. Solution for me is to apply some double sided tape to the shoes to the rear of the clips. Then cut a few strips of a rough grit sandpaper and apply. Works great, is cheap, light and replaceable.

This completely sums up what my issues are right now.

Worked fine on my Specialized road shoes.