Carkar7

Is it possible to use a road specific pedal such as:
https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-R550-S...ds=road+pedals

With a MTB shoe?

I often go casual bike riding with my non-roadie friends, and we typically end up in crowded areas that involves a lot of walking. I would like to be able to have a road shoe for performance purposes and a MTB shoe for casual purposes, without having to change pedals. Any recommendations please?

Thanks!

Velocivixen

I believe that as long as the pedal & the cleat are the same style/brand then it wouldn't matter the specific designation (road or mountain) that the shoe is.

I don't ride clipless, but wear Shimano CT40 MTB shoes with clipless capability and they're comfy to walk in.

catgita

No. You would have to cut almost all the rubber away, and drill your own mounting holes.

How about this:
Amazon.com : Speedplay Syzr Stainless Pedals : Sports & Outdoors

Carkar7

Those look interesting...do you have experience using them? Any idea if they are comparable to a typical road pedal as far as power transfer is concerned?

datlas 

Too pricey. What's wrong with your current setup??

Either use MTB pedals/shoes or road pedals and cleat covers with road shoes.

gsa103

You can always get a different SPD pedal with a larger platform.

Here's a road styled pedal:
https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-PD-A60...p_89%3AShimano

Or a double-sided MTB version:
https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-149319...p_89%3AShimano

I've tried both pedals, and the extra width engages with the rubber to help provide a larger platform. I actually have more hot-spot issues with my SPD-SL (road) pedals, than these, although I suspect that's a function of shoe fit and cleat placement.

rjones28 

I use MTB pedals and a road/touring shoe that has a recessed cleat. The one I have is discontinued, but Giro makes a version - Territory? - Road - Shoes - Men's - Cycling .

Feels the same as my old road pedal/shoe set up, while riding. I mainly changed to have two-sided entry without going to Speedplays.

TimothyH

Lots of people use MTB shoes with road pedals. SPD road pedals with SPD cleats on MTB shoes are used extensively by urban and fixed-gear riders and lots of road roadies switch to MTB shoes for the winter.

I use Shimano A530 dual-sided flat/SPD with touring shoes on my fixed gear as shown below. I plan on switching to SPD road pedals and MTB shoes for the fixed gear bike and have been thinking about switching over my road bike from speedplay to SPD for this very reason - so that I could wear MTB shoes in the winter.




-Tim-

LesterOfPuppets

What performance are you looking for? Carbon sole? There are race-oriented MTB shoes with that. So you could get one casual SPD shoe and one race SPD shoe. I guess that would suck if you already have a favorite 3-bolt shoe, though.

Lightness? How light are you looking for?

Carkar7

Hey tim, what kind of shoes are those?

PaulRivers

Mtb shoes with road pedals? No one does that, because it's physically impossible.

This picture illustrates what makes a mtb bike shoe - a small cleat, surrounded on each side by tread (mtn shoes are usually not leather, but the white part in this pic points where the extra tread is on a mtn bike shoe that's not on a road shoe):


This picture illustrates the side of a road cleat on a road shoe:


You cannot put a road cleat (which is needed for using with a road pedal) onto a mountain bike shoe - it won't fit inside the tread on the bottom, and the holes are not drilled into the shoe for it.

Lots of people ride mountain bike pedals on road bikes, but to switch back and forth they have to switch both the shoe and the pedal.

PaulRivers

There's no difference between road and mtn shoes for performance purposes. Whether there was or wasn't before carbon fiber soles I don't know, but there isn't since shoes are made with them. There's also quite some debate over whether clipless improves efficiency at all versus good flat shoes and good flat pedals - people did studies and found no difference other than clipless feeling slightly faster, but then again those studies and tests weren't done in real world conditions. Point being it's not a huge gap between clipless and good flats - any difference between mtn and road I don't think exists at all, other than style and personal preference.

The closest thing I know of for full road pedals is either speedplay walkable cleat covers:


You don't have to take them on and off, you can clip in and out with them on the shoe. They also make coffee shop covers that you do take on and off. Either one makes your shoes about as walkable as mtn bike shoes - which is to say fine for fairly short distances (into a store), but your feet would hurt if you went hiking with them.

Otherwise I'd just suggest switching to a mtn bike pedal and cleat, and having 2 pairs of shoes - 1 with a stiff carbon sole, the other with a far more flexible walkable sole.

loimpact

QFT!

I still run my old CT40 shoes (Shimano Click'r) and some M540 pedals (great pedals) with the SH-56 cleats which allow for plenty of float. I don't seem to have any issues with hot spots, etc. and I've ridden everything up to a century. In fact, many of my friends start complaining about that kind of stuff on the road pedal setups before I do.

Furthermore.....I'm not even sure why road setup is still popular.

1.) SPD's are easy in & out and double-sided so just....I dunno....super easy

2.) Whenever I encounter problems coming off a light......it's usually somebody in a road pedal that can't get it flipped right & I just about stall & have to unclip my SPD's so I can allow them to get back in.

3.) Walking....'nuff said

I road with a guy this weekend who runs Candies with some nice Lake shoes. When I was giving everyone in our group the business about road vs SPD, he spoke out for the same. (He runs beautiful Dogma so his stuff is no joke). Was nice to see somebody else not convinced they needed a road shoe.....on a Dogma, no less.

GAPavedTrailRdr

I wanted shoes that I could commute with and keep on all day at work. The SPD cleat is pretty common, and there are some street-wear shoes available in it. I bought these shoes a couple of months ago:

Shimano WM34 Bike Shoes - Women's - REI.com

and I use them with these pedals:
Forté Campus Pedals

They work fine together, but it's worth mentioning that the shoes are stiffer in the sole and that might affect whether you want to walk around in them with friends that much.

Marin

If you want to be able to walk in your cycling shoes, you need SPD pedals and shoes. There are some touring shoes that don't look out of place on a road bike.

I just bought a pair of Giro Rumble VRs since 2 of my 3 road bikes are now set up with SPDs (commuter/CX and the road/gravel steel bike), only the proper full carbon aero superlight race bike has Time road pedals.

92Esquire

I used to use the SPD's and mtb shoes - very easy to walk in. However, when I started riding longer distances, I got hot spots - BAD. Stopped in at a local shop. Guy behind the counter was working on a bike and asked me if I needed help. I told him I was looking at new shoes because I was getting hot spots. He never even looked up at me - just said "time to give up the SPD's, son."

I went to a road shoe with SPD-SL's, and I have not had hot spots since. Perhaps more modern MTB shoes are different, but mine were not suitable for longer rides. I will say that the pedals were much easier to use than the single-sided road pedals. I still have the SPD's on my mountain bike.