Mountain Biking - Can I get by with my road shoes?

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nikos
12-08-02, 04:16 PM
Serious roadie getting back into mountain biking. I understand that road shoes while needing to hike on some parts of trails could be a hassel. However, I have 6-7 pairs of real nice road shoes that I thought I could use for mountain biking. I also noticed that most atb shoes are only spd compatible, I never like the spd pedal and would rather use my speedplay pedals - not the frogs, but the regular speedplays. Anyone see any potiential setup problems with this? thanks

WorldIRC
12-08-02, 04:20 PM
If u need to get off the bike in the middle of a trail good like walking.

Mountain road riding would be fine though.
Maelstrom
12-09-02, 02:06 AM
Flats?




Sorry just kidding...I was just being an ass. ;)

Jim311
12-09-02, 07:17 AM
I'm not so sure that would be a good idea.
a2psyklnut
12-09-02, 07:30 AM
Are talking about some X-2's or X-3's type pedals? I would image the first time you step in mud and then try to "Click-in", you'd go crazy!

Other than that, if your trails aren't so technical that you'd be doing a lot of walking, go for it.

Another thing you could do is get some "SHOE GOO" or similar product and mold some type of lugs on the sole to give you some traction.

L8R
Kustomz
12-11-02, 12:30 PM
I have used my X3's off road before, but this was on smooth trail that I did not have to release and walk on. I would think the first dab in mud or grit would spell the end of the next click in and for those who don't know.....
bac
12-11-02, 12:46 PM
Do not use the road-specific Speedplays off road. I know from experience.

I was riding a back road, and came upon some road construction that closed the road. The bottom line is that I had to go through the construction, as going back or around was not an option. While walking through the construction I got some dirt in one of my cleats. I spent the next 20-30 minutes digging the dirt out in order to get to the point where I could snap in again.

It takes VERY little dirt to gum up the works.
Cipher
12-11-02, 01:07 PM
Must agree with the above, SpeedPlay above all others seems to be more susceptible to 'gumming up' and/or breakage by simply being walking around in. (Let-alone the demands placed on the cleats while tromping around off-road). Personally this is the only flaw in the SpeedPlay design, and for this reason I started using their Café covers while off the bike.