Originally Posted by chaadster

Because one doesn’t need to be a “monster” to not have to walk during a gravel ride. That’s the point. I prefer the feel, especially for the lateral stability, of road cleats, and since I can ride all over SE MI gravel roads until I’m exhausted without ever having to walk anywhere, I mostly use road pedals. I use MTB/SPD pedals sometimes— as I said before— primarily for extra peace of mind in the winter when it’s sloppy, icy, and treacherous to walk about should I need to for whatever reason.

I brought up the pros to highlight that road pedals give up nothing to SPD…if you’re actually riding. If you’re walking around so much on unrideable roads, trails, paths or whatever, the yeah, pick SPD I guess…maybe hiking boots and platform pedals would be better? Dunno… walking during a ride is for me more like .01% than “absolutely 100%,” just as it is for virtually every gravel rider in the lower peninsula of MI.