ol geezer

When I bought my first bicycle after college the LBS suggested I consider getting clipless shoes/pedals. Once I got re-acquainted with cycling, I decided the clipless route was the way to go. Since the bike was a hybrid, they had me buy MTB shoes/pedals. I sold the hybrid and bought a cyclo-cross as an "all-purpose" bike and kept the shoes and pedals. I'm now toying with the idea of buying a road bike.

If I decide to buy a road bike I'm not sure if I should buy new shoes/pedals to go along with them. I'm very comfortable with the ones I have and maybe that's the most important criteria. But I'd appreciate feedback from the more experienced cyclists out there. I'm not so stuck on the MTB shoes/pedals that I wouldn't consider getting road shoes/pedals instead. It's just that I'd want to have a good reason - for me - to do so. I'm wide open to your comments, suggestions, and recommendations.

Thanks!

BTW - my current shoes are basic entry-level Shimano MTB shoes; pedals are crankbrothers Candy 1 (also entry-level).

Mr. Beanz

All my road bikes and tandem have spd's. I tried look pedals and didn't care for them. Been riding them for 16 years no problems, that's enuff fer me.

umazuki

I haven't ever used them, but I think the more road-oriented clipless systems tend to have stronger shoe/pedal interfaces, stiffer soles, and generally less walkability than mountain systems. I wouldn't consider them unless I was racing.

Roosterbird

I have the MTB shoes with clips used on shimano one sided clip pedals, the other side is just a platform. The shoes are easy to walk in for times your off the bike. I have a long ride coming up this summer with lots of stops and thought this shoes would be more appropriate than the more road oriented shoes. I like the platform side of the pedal for short hops with the kids within the neighborhood.

fietsbob

I got a pair of what were Shimano's Touring shoe [TO92], 3 velcro strap upper shared with Road shoe.
sole has the SPuD recess
but the sole is smoother , than the knobby tread of MTB shoes.. .

Recreate.me

With shorter or less intense rides it shouldn't matter which system you choose. Road pedals are designed to provide a larger area to contact the shoe which should help eliminate hot spots that can develop on long rides, or intense rides, or whatever the reason my be, road pedals should have less.

When you look at the shoe's themselves you will see road shoes are pretty much just designed to ride in, MTB shoes or casual SPD shoes are designed to be able to walk, at least a bit while trying to hide the clips.

If you are just a casual rider just ride with whatever you already, at least until it gets to the point where its no longer comfortable (or to where you can't deal with it any longer).

If your comfy, and have no problems clipping in and out, and can generate decent power while riding for a while, i see no reason to buy a whole new system unless you really want one.

Steve B.

After maybe 20 years on SPD mt. systems exclusively for all my bikes, I went to SPD-L midway in the '12 season. This was mostly as I had major foot pain called "hot foot" which is really an inflammation in the nerve at the main joint of the small toes.

My issue seemed to be a smaller contact area from the SPD cleat, as well as SPD mt. shoes that were just not stiff enough. Even top of the line Diadora mt. shoes didn't help, so to the road system I went.

They are harder to clip into and after those decades on SPD, it's a learning curve, even though I rode Look for about 5 years way back when. I'm much better at it this year.

I do find the SPD-L, which is really a knock-off of the Look road system, to have better power transfer, due to the larger cleat area, as well as the stiffer road shoe. And no hot foot this year so far.

flatlander_48

In recent times I've been using BeBop Pedals with Shimano MO87 shoes on my road bike. I originally ran them for aome time with Specialized road shoes, but the shoes never seemed to fit quite right. Previously I ran Crank Bros Quattro pedals, which I liked, but I switched when they discontinued them. Anyway, here's my list for the BeBops from another thread:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...1#post15499946