Weakbikr

I use them and love them, I will however be buying another pair of shoes with recessed cleats. That way I can walk normally.... lol

Brofessor

SPDs are good if you want to be able to walk in your cycling shoes. I use recessed SPD shoes and Shimano A530 pedals for commuting when the school starts, I walk around all day, I stand in class and teach for hours, and only notice they have cleats when I walk on bare concrete (they crunch a bit). However, I also have SPD-SL pedals and carbon soled shoes. The difference you might feel would not be in the pedals, but mostly in the shoes. My carbon shoes are much stiffer and transfers power much better compared to my recessed comfy shoes.

DrIsotope

With any of the higher-end shoes, there will be a nearly-identical SPD version of the SPD-SL shoe. I wear the Diadora X-Vortex Pro, which is the MTB version of the Vortex Pro. Thankfully, the SPD version is black.

Same story with Giro and the Factor Techlace (road) and Code Techlace (MTB.) Differing only in the tread. (Well, you can also get the Codes in purple.)

Beyond the color and the recessed cleat on the X-Vortex, they are otherwise the same shoe.

CliffordK

Sometimes I hear a clicking with the SPDs when I pull up. Other times it is not noticeable. So, that may be a sign of slight inefficiency as the cleats move in the pedals. But, it can't be that huge for ordinary mortals.

I usually adjust my cleats to be tight enough that I can't pull out.

Unfortunately, I seem to be able to now pull out of my left XPEDO R-Force Titanium, with no tension adjustment left. I'm still doing some testing on that one.

tagaproject6

I use the Shimano PD-A600 on all my bikes. For shoes, try the Specialized S-Works 6 XC, the soles are really stiff and the heel retention is not like any other I have used. If you want road shoes, try the Crono CR-1 and use the Shimano SH-41 SPD adapter. The shoe is really stiff and very light.

canklecat

At least half the folks I ride with use SPDs, some of them much stronger and faster than I am. I use Look delta only because a friend gave me the pedals, my first try at clipless, so I got the shoes and cleats to go with 'em. I like the Look just fine for rural route rides, but they demand a lot of attention when setting a foot down at traffic stops. But my usual rides of 20-30 miles have few stops and I can usually roll through intersections without stopping and unclipping, since there's rarely any traffic.

Eventually I'll switch to SPD on the bikes I use more often around traffic, especially casual group rides since those involve a lot of stops and visits to eat, etc.

Psychocycles

I also run SPDs on my road bikes and I have had zero issues with them. When I bought my first road bike 3 years ago, I got road pedals and shoes to go with it - very quickly realized I had bad hot spots on my feet. When I bought another bike a few months later, I bought SPDs for it mostly because I was living in a 5 story walkup at the time in the Bronx and boy oh boy 5 stories up and down with road shoes with a bike on your shoulder is NOT FUN. Eventually, fast forward to now and I just recently bought an aero road bike. I thought that since this is a proper racing bike, lemme try the road pedals again ... hot spots again. Switched to SPDs, hotspots gone. Did a few of the same routes on the same bike, just different shoes/pedals, and I'm actually considerably faster on SPDs because I can push harder since my feet don't hurt.

Long story short, I'm a big fan of the SPDs. They don't slow you down unless you're riding in the top 1% of 1%, as I have several KOMs from the NYC area all using a cross bike with SPDs, and you can actually walk when you're off the bike. While you're clipped in it's virtually impossible to tell that you're on mountain pedals, and as others have said, having multiple bikes with the same pedal type is a huge plus.

Robert A

So what's the lay of the land when it comes to getting the right SPD pedal for a road bike? Shimano, and any one pedal in particular? I know that A600s are recommended.

indyfabz

Just. Don't. Do. It.

TXCiclista

Ran SPD's for a few thousand miles, but never could get clipping down well enough to be 100% when it was important (e.g. taking off at a red light). I also wasn't a fan of carrying cleat covers around for walking. Switching to Speedplay and haven't looked back. I clip in much more reliably, and can walk around with a set of always-on covers.

But no, SPD's on a road bike are not unique. Quite common, in fact.

Psychocycles

Unless you're racing and every gram matters, at which point you'd probably go for Look/Time/Shimano/Speedplay, I'd go with the PD-M520. Virtually no difference between it, the $30-40 bottom end pedal, and the PD-9000 $150+ top end pedal except 70g weight. You can of course go with other brands, but I've had the M520 for years and it looks brand new, and I've heard of touring cyclists who've used theirs for 20+ years and are still on the original cleat and pedal.

noglider 

I had a lot of Wellgo and Nashbar pedals. They were good enough, but then when I tried Shimano, I decided that the quality is truly better. There are quite a few different models. I have the Shimano M324 on my commuting bike, as it allows me to use regular shoes if I want to, which I rarely do. There are also a line of models called Click'R which are easier to get in and out of than the others. My friend likes them; I haven't tried them.

But don't overthink this. Just get some. You'll probably like whatever you get.

noisebeam

If you do go to recessed cleat and your riding style includes situations where you like to apply bursts of power I highly recommend looking at Time ATAC.
I used M520/540 pedals prior. You will pull out if you sprint or power up short hills. Then you will worry you will do it again and your riding will be affected.
They don't have the tiny vertical play SPD does either.

Robert A

I have T780s already for my hybrid (flat on one side, cleats on the other). Like them a lot.

VtwinVince

Agreed, I switched to SPD's on my road bikes twenty years ago, now my old Carnac road shoes are a museum piece.

Robert A

To confirm, we're all discussing the 2-hole, recessed SPD, right?

HTupolev

Which cleats were you using, SH51 or SH56? The SH56 are specifically designed to release if the rider pulls hard upward.

noisebeam

SH51. That is also what comes standard with the M5x0 pedals.

Psychocycles

The M520s come with an adjustment bolt that allows you to increase your cleat retention strength. If I crank it up to max, it's actually quite difficult to clip out. I usually keep mine in the lower 1/3 of the allowable range, and I sprint up hills and from traffic lights etc and never have unclipped, nor am I worried that I will. Perhaps your cleats/pedals were defective in some way?

noisebeam

No. Multiple cleats, two pedals sets on two bikes. I am not the only this happened to either.
See my post from 2009:
https://www.bikeforums.net/8699033-post19.html

and two others:
https://www.bikeforums.net/8698933-post18.html

and:
https://www.bikeforums.net/8695471-post8.html

noglider 

Correct. Shimano also has SPD-SL cleats which look a lot like the original Look cleats but I believe are incompatible. I wish Shimano had called them something other than SPD. It's not as if they were going to run out of letter combinations.

Psychocycles

Interesting. I guess for some people it's better to stay away from certain products for random reasons. Maybe it has something to do with the way you pedal or I dunno! Anyway, as long as there's an equivalent product out there that works; I think SPD works for a majority of riders but in case it doesn't for the OP, maybe buy your pedals somewhere you can easily return, like Amazon or a LBS with a good return policy.

noisebeam

More thread with several stories of unwanted un-clipping.
https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycl...rint-spds.html
Overall they are fine retention system, I only wanted to note the caution if riding aggressively.
I used them for two years before I decided it wasn't worth the risk.

Psychocycles

Worth noting. Next time I ride I'll see if I can purposefully pull out and if so, reconsider my own pedal choice.

tangerineowl

Recently swtiched from Shimano RP5 to a S-Works 6 mtb shoe, mainly for the tread on the bottom, as I do a little walking around on the gravel/road rides.
Really like the stiffness on the bike.