rbloem

Hey guys. I have a Specialized Roubaix sl4. I put my mountain bike pedals on the bike and use my mountain bike shoes on them. Does using real road bike shoes with proper pedals make a "noticeable" difference compared to mountain bike shoes? The feeling I'm getting on my shoes is that only a small point is connected to the pedal. Is a road bike shoe more firmly planted and is there more comfort and more of a power transfer in those compared to mountain shoes? Does the road bike shoe basically connect in the same spot as the mountain bike shoe, or is is more toward the center of the foot? Also what is a good brand of shoe/pedal combination that is not outrageous in cost? Thanks guys!

k_kibbler

If you're currently wearing lower-end MTB shoes, or if you're getting hotspots, going to road shoes and pedal can help with that small contact point feeling. Or switch to higher-end MTB shoes for the same results, minus cafe cred.

If you're already wearing stiff (i.e. expensive) MTB shoes, you won't feel any difference going to a road system.

Both types of shoes attach to cleats in roughly the same area. Maybe consider a professional bike fit if you're unsure of your ideal cleat position.

datlas 

Use current setup unless you are getting hot spots. Some poseurs will look down on you but eff them.

If you have money to burn, the current crop of road pedals are nice. Most choose look keo 2, shimano spd-sl, or speedplay.

Fiery

A road pedal system will absolutely feel different from a MTB pedal system, no matter how stiff the shoe soles are. Pressure through the soles might be similar, but at the very least lateral stability will be different. Whether this different feel will be something positive for the OP, that's something only they will be able to tell after trying out both.

dave1442397

I used MTB pedals and boots on my road bike for the past three winters. The summer pedals and road bike shoes feel better, but not to the extent that I would feel I had to upgrade.

Taking a quick look at ProBikeKit USA | Cycling kit, running and triathlon kit you could get a pair of Shimano 105 pedals for $62. They have road shoes too, but I'm not up on the prices vs the US. I paid $84 for a pair of Shimano R087 road shoes at REI four years ago, and they are working just fine for me.

Fastfwd01

I'm sort of in the same boat. I have a new Cannondale Synapse 5 Disc 105 and bought Shimano Deore XT M780 pedals for it. In part because I already had some pretty cheapo Shimano SPD shoes that I had been wearing while riding my mountain bike and I like to be able to walk in them. Now, I'm sort of thinking that maybe my Nashbar sale Shimano SPD shoes (I think I paid $40) that I've had for probably five or six years are getting due for replacement soon.

I'm looking at the options too and asking some of these same questions. I have small feet - so, I don't really notice the hot spots that are mentioned that maybe are more related to bigger feet on mountain pedals? I actually feel like I'm doing just fine with my cheapo shoes and the Deore XT pedals, but it could be that I don't know what I don't know.

I'm still not sure about going to road shoes. I am seeing the Shimano shoes that can use both SPD and SPD-SL and considering those as a potential shoe to transition to road pedals in the future, but I'm not sure I need to do that. I also see they have a 'touring' SPD shoe that only uses SPD and has recessed cleats - SH-RT82. I'm sure it is a much better shoe than I'm using, but it wouldn't allow me to make a transition to road pedals if desired.

My main interest is in cycling for fitness and enjoying possibly participating in metrics or centuries. Not crit racing or touring really, but somewhere in-between. I do like to see my Strava segments improve, etc. Is this just something that is entirely subjective or am I really wasting a lot of energy and will continue to do so with SPD pedals/shoes?

To the OP, I wasn't trying to highjack the thread. I just hated to start a brand new thread on basically the same subject. I notice that Wiggle has some great deals on Shimano shoes btw and Bike Nashbar has 25% off until tomorrow on a lot of their shoes other than Shimano (and everything else).

dr_lha

I rode all last year on SPDs and shoes I paid $35 for in a sale, including century rides with no issues, 3000 miles of riding.

Over the winter I switched to SPD-SLs.

Now I get to feel like I'm a "real roadie" as I can now too walk around like a duck, wipe out on wood floors (or as a friend of mine did last year, wipe out in a porta-potty and end up with his head in the hole) and spend my evenings supergluing back on the little yellow rubbery corners of the cleats that keep falling off. So a real improvement.

Speedplays are the next step I guess.

abby4000

OP, i went through the exact same thing. When i first started riding (3 years ago) i used MTB cleats and shoes. The cheapest ones i could get. Then the following year i upgraded to better MTB pedals ( shimano XTR) and good SIDI shoes for use on my road bike.
This year i went with new road shoes and SPD-SL pedals. I found a big difference. I just recently had a professional 4 hour bike fit and he ended up putting some wedges under my cleats. The difference now is massive. Much more power delivery and zero hot spots. Just my .02 cents but i went through what you are and ended up much happier and more comfortable with the road shoes and bike fit.

fastk9dad

If you want to say with SPD cleats, you could go with the Shimano PD-A600 pedal. It's marketed as their Ultegra level road SPD pedal, it's single sided and has a larger platform similar to more conventional road style pedals.

https://bike.shimano.com/content/sac-...s/pd-a600.html

seymour1910

The rubber cleat covers that I paid $18 for solve all those issues for me.

dr_lha

Another thing in my jersey pocket. *Yay*