Originally Posted by
staehpj1
Really? Pretty much every spd type shoe I remember seeing has had two sets of holes. I think some of my first spd shoes may not have (I was a very early adopter of spd), but since then two sets seems to be the norm. Just for fun I scrolled through most of the MTB shoes shown on REI, and all that I saw had two sets.
Anyway, your comment made me curious what shoes might have only one set of holes since I had not seen any. So I was curious enough to dig a little and with a bit more digging I managed to find a few, but they tended to be for indoor cycling and were generally brands I never heard of.(Gavin, CyclingDeal, Roknemo, Honosuker, etc.). Also they were likely to be for shoes that were trying to accomodate both two bolt cleats and three bolt cleats.
Of the ones I found the Gavin models were the only ones that had models that were available in what looked like MTB, road, and generally the range of models rather than tailored to indoor cycling. I had vever heard of them, but they did look like they got reasonably good reviews. The rest looked like cheap no name junk.
All that said the standard good quality brands, Sidi, Pearl Izumi, Bontrager, Shimano, Specialized, Lake, and so on tend to come with two sets of holes.
FWIW, shoes are an area where I tend to splurge. I'll ride a lower end bike before I'll wear cheap shoes. So you won't see CyclingDeal, Roknemo, Honosuker, on my feet. I'll stick with Sidis. That may be why I hadn't see SPD shoes with one set of holes in the last 2-3 decades. Some things are worth opening the wallet on to get quality. Shoes and sleeping bags are a couple places where I don't bat an eye at a steeper price tag. The payoff in comfort is worth it.
I think I may have mixed which is which in my head. My shimano shoes have 2 holes but could have been replaced. My wife’s Sidi’s are also 2 holes but they’re really small and a bit older.
Ive also never used junk shoes. My racing preferences were Diadora or the Trek OCLV Nikes. That pretty much tells you exactly how old I am. They were all 3 holes and I removed the spd insert to “save weight”. Ha.
Currently I use pseudo-retro looking Bontragers on the road, and another pair of Speedplay specific Audi’s that get exactly as much use as my Speedplays (I’ll make you a great deal on them). On drop bars I mostly ride gravel, I find that Shimano agrees with my foot injuries more, so I use them. Once I wear those out and only Boa is available for better quality, I’m not sure what I’ll do.
When I got back into mountain bikes, I switched to flats and have been a lot more satisfied than I ever would have expected. I think the broader market would agree with me.
Seems nowadays, SPD style is almost gravel specific or spin class. And my single pair of Shimano shoes is no sample size.
That 4 hole plate sure is a lot more robust than the 2. That alone is probably why it gets used.