Touring - Road or Mountain Pedals for Touring Bicycle?

My apologies if this question has been asked and answered before, but I am having trouble searching the forums.

I am looking at buying a Surly Long Haul Trucker. Would you guys recommend buying mountain or road pedals for this bike? Any particular advantages in buying one type of pedall over the other? I have heard that road pedals "feel" better than mountain pedals on long rides, but I really love my mountain shoes because I can walk around in them, due to the recessed cleat.

I would really appreciate any recommendations you could make! Thanks!

You may want to look at Shimano 520. These are popular touring pedals. (Not to be confused with Shimano 520M which are a mountain pedal).
They have a wider platform and use the recessed SPD cleats.

mtn.

mtn.

Those M520's you were told to avoid. Cheap, tough, double sided. If you can get into and out of them on step mountain trails, touring is a piece of cake. A stiff shoe is more important than the size of the pedal.

My apologies if this question has been asked and answered before, but I am having trouble searching the forums.

I am looking at buying a Surly Long Haul Trucker. Would you guys recommend buying mountain or road pedals for this bike? Any particular advantages in buying one type of pedall over the other? I have heard that road pedals "feel" better than mountain pedals on long rides, but I really love my mountain shoes because I can walk around in them, due to the recessed cleat.

I would really appreciate any recommendations you could make! Thanks!

I like MTB pedals because the cleat is recessed, I can walk around like a normal person for extended periods when I'm not on my bike. If you have shoes with good stiff soles, either pedal type will be comfortable for long periods. I'm really happy with the Crank Brothers Eggbeaters on my tourer (I'm putting them on my MTB this summer), they're reasonably light, easy to get in and out of, and well made.

Shimano makes (or made) the PDM324, recessed MTB cleat on one side, no cleat on the other side so you can ride around in sneakers/sandals/whatever. Nice idea if you don't want cleated shoes all the time, but it's pretty heavy.

SPD FTW

Recessed cleats are great for traveling. I can't even imagine touring with road pedals....

Shimano SPD's, Crank Brothers Eggbeaters and Speedplay Frogs are all recessed so you can get off the bike and walk when combined with mountain style shoes.

I have used both, and both seem to feel the same. I switched totally to mountain when I bought my last bike, cause I like you like walking normal and not looking like a duck when I walk.

Those M520's you were told to avoid. Cheap, tough, double sided. If you can get into and out of them on step mountain trails, touring is a piece of cake. A stiff shoe is more important than the size of the pedal.



+1

I use mountain pedals (Time ATAC XS) and road shoes. I have used Times for years offroad, so I didn't want to leave them when I moved to the road. My mountain shoes were too flexible in the sole though, so I ended up buying road shoes. Perhaps not the perfect combination, but it works for me.