Fifty Plus (50+) - How to Marry Up Clipless Pedals to Clipless Shoes

I had a profound revelation while looking for winter boots today: Need to figure out which manufacturer of clipless shoes will work with the different type of clipless pedals.

Example: The only clipless shoes I have (haven't used yet), were bought at the same time I bought my pedals: Keo Look pedals with Sidi 5.5 Genius shoes. The shoe's sole have three holes, but not sure how they marry up to the pedal, as my Keo pedals haven't been installed yet.

However, the majority of clipless shoes I see being sold only have a pair of holes on the soles of the shoes.

First Question: Ideally, I would like to use the same type of pedal ... on my roadie ... on my metropark bike ... and on a Trek 730 that I'm frankensteining into a winter bike. Is this possible, since my roadie's Keo pedals came with Sidi shoes with three sole-holes, but most other shoes have two sole-holes?

Second Question: TSL pointed out in the winter-forum that the Lake shoemaker makes wide winter boots that I would like to try. What kind of pedals can I use with the Lake MXZ302 winter boots (I think they come with two sole-holes? Can these boots be used.

Third Question: Why have one group of shoes that have three sole-holes, and another group of shoes that have two sole-holes? Is the logic that three hole-soles are preferred for road ... and two sole-holes are preferred for MTB?

Second Question: TSL pointed out in the winter-forum that the Lake shoemaker makes wide winter boots that I would like to try. What kind of pedals can I use with the Lake MXZ302 winter boots (I think they come with two sole-holes? Can these boots be used.

Yes, the Lakes are two-bolt shoes.

I use SPD pedals. My primary bike came with PD-M520 (http://bike.shimano.com/catalog/cycle/products/component.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441763015&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302053522&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181785&bmUID=1194208273581)s. My other road bike has road-style SPDs, the PD-A520 (http://bike.shimano.com/catalog/cycle/products/component.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441770661&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302053520&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181785&bmUID=1194208457364)s. My old hybrid has PD-M545 (http://bike.shimano.com/catalog/cycle/products/component.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441763017&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302053522&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181785&bmUID=1194208302003)s.

Of the three, I like the M520 the best. The A520s are always upside-down when I go to clip-in. And the M545s are just plain heavy and clunky-looking.

I'm not sure I fully understand your questions, but here's my take:

It seems you have Sidi road shoes, which will have three bolt holes. Keo cleats have three bolts.
The pedals will determine which cleats you use. Keo for Keo, SPD for SPD etc.
Sidi MTB shoes have two holes and and the cleats are inset into the sole for easy walking. If you want to use your shoes for road and MTB, I would sugggest you change your Sidis for Sidi MTBs and change the pedals to a MTB type for all your bikes. I hope this helps.

Most road-specific pedal systems' cleats use 3 hole attachment (Look, SPD-SL etc). Most MTB-specific pedal systems' (and their road derivatives) cleats use 2 hole attachment (SPD, Eggbeaters etc).

I use Look pedals and Sidi shoes with 3 hole attachment on my road bike that I use for long, fast rides with minimal walking around. I use MTB or touring shoes with 2 mounting holes and Eggbeater pedals for most everything else.

Everyone has pretty much nailed it. 3 hole shoes roadie pedals and cleats. 2 hole shoes MTB pedals and cleats. There are advantages to each kind of shoe for the intended use.

There are some of us here however that are obstinate enough though to want to stick to one sort of cleat and one sort of shoe for everything. For that crowd it appears that the large majority use some form of MTB cleat and shoe on all bikes. The shoe is some percentage point (fraction of) less effecient on a road bike (see posts on CF and light wheels :) ) but you can walk in it and there will be some variation of pedal that will work with all bikes.

Hybrid pedals?

Good points, thanks everyone. Two more points come to play, at least for me and my 6-month old ankle injury:

A. I'm siding with maddmaxx and the obstinate gang, about wanting to stick to one sort of cleat, for one primary reason: It would appear the clipping/unclipping movement ... which needs to be automatic without though ... would be more uniform if I had the same type of pedal/shoe setup on all three bikes. So an important question that would help me in knowing the answer: Is the clipping/unclipping movement noticeably different between ... the 3 hole roadie setup ... and ... the 2 hole MTB setup? In other words, if I learn how to automatically unclip with one setup, would I be learning how to automatically unclip with the other setup at the same time?

B. I've only worn my Sidi 3-hole roadie shoes a few times in the house, with their protective caps that cover the external cleats for walking purposes. I only wore them on my wooden floors, and they were wobbly to walk on, with not much lateral stability of the ankles. When doing brief walks outdoors for any extended time (on paved road, parking lots, metropark) breakfasts after club rides), would walking with roadie shoes be a risk to ankle injuries?

Good points, thanks everyone. Two more points come to play, at least for me and my 6-month old ankle injury:

A. I'm siding with maddmaxx and the obstinate gang, about wanting to stick to one sort of cleat, for one primary reason: It would appear the clipping/unclipping movement ... which needs to be automatic without though ... would be more uniform if I had the same type of pedal/shoe setup on all three bikes. So an important question that would help me in knowing the answer: Is the clipping/unclipping movement noticeably different between ... the 3 hole roadie setup ... and ... the 2 hole MTB setup? In other words, if I learn how to automatically unclip with one setup, would I be learning how to automatically unclip with the other setup at the same time?

B. I've only worn my Sidi 3-hole roadie shoes a few times in the house, with their protective caps that cover the external cleats for walking purposes. I only wore them on my wooden floors, and they were wobbly to walk on, with not much lateral stability of the ankles. When doing brief walks outdoors for any extended time (on paved road, parking lots, metropark) breakfasts after club rides), would walking with roadie shoes be a risk to ankle injuries?

Different pedals clip and unclip differently. That's one of the big reasons that I use the same shoes/cleats/pedals on all bikes. As TSL mentions, my A520's are always hanging at a particular angle so over the last couple of years, I have become used to a particular flick/clip motion. I don't claim that any of these are better/worse than any others, but there appear to be some benefits to doing the same thing all the time.

I use SPD pedals on my mountain bike and my road bikes. There are road shoes that have both the 2 hole SPD slots and the 3 hole arrangement. My shoes happen to be a cross between mountain and road. The cleats are recessed so they don't scratch up the surface you're walking on. Since I long ago realized I wasn't a racer, they work fine for me.

Good points, thanks everyone. Two more points come to play, at least for me and my 6-month old ankle injury:

A. I'm siding with maddmaxx and the obstinate gang, about wanting to stick to one sort of cleat, for one primary reason: It would appear the clipping/unclipping movement ... which needs to be automatic without though ... would be more uniform if I had the same type of pedal/shoe setup on all three bikes. So an important question that would help me in knowing the answer: Is the clipping/unclipping movement noticeably different between ... the 3 hole roadie setup ... and ... the 2 hole MTB setup? In other words, if I learn how to automatically unclip with one setup, would I be learning how to automatically unclip with the other setup at the same time?

B. I've only worn my Sidi 3-hole roadie shoes a few times in the house, with their protective caps that cover the external cleats for walking purposes. I only wore them on my wooden floors, and they were wobbly to walk on, with not much lateral stability of the ankles. When doing brief walks outdoors for any extended time (on paved road, parking lots, metropark) breakfasts after club rides), would walking with roadie shoes be a risk to ankle injuries?

Choose whatever you like, but some of the reasoning here seems silly to me.
Every pedal system I have used, I click in by placing the front of the cleat into the pedal attachment and then lowering my heel to lock in.
Every pedal system I have used, I click out by rotating my heel out until the pedal releases the cleat.
Is the action exactly the same? No. But I have never had a problem knowing what to do in each case.
Turning left and turning right aren't the same, but I manage to do both. I can walk up stairs and walk across the lawn. Different actions, but I manage to keep them straight. It is really not that confusing. I worry about some of the concern people seem to have over adapting to small differences.

The only walking I do in my Look cleats is short walks in parking lots, out my front door, at rest stops, stores and restaurants. In that amount of walking, the cleats are slightly awkward, but not a problem. If I do a metric century in 4.5 hours, about 0.5 hours of that is off the bike. I choose the setup that works best for me for the 4 hours of riding. YMMV, but the true road pedal system works better for me on longer, more athletic type rides. I am definitely not a racer or a hammerhead, but I like to ride long distances at a fairly fast pace. The Look pedals work enough better for me at this kind of riding for me to put up with minor disadvantages for a minor amount of time.

On other kinds of rides, the balance tips toward pedals that use recessed cleats for easier walking.