ChrisAN82

I currently have a pair of Lake mountain shoes with SPD cleats. I'm planning on getting a road bike soon and would like to know if I should go buy road specific shoes and cleats, or will my Lake mountain shoes and SPD cleats work fine?

CaptainKurt99

They'll work fine with SPD pedals

jimbud

The SPD shoe and pedal combination will work fine for recreational riding till you feel you'd like to move to a wide platform style road pedal.

Skipsjh

I'm kind of new to road biking and use SPD's as well. What are the advantages of road pedals/shoes?

ChrisAN82

What advantage does a wide platform style road pedal have over the SPD style?

johnny99

Wider cleats prevent your feet from rocking left and right with each pedal stroke. Wasted motion is usually wasted energy, but it can also be a sign of poor fit or poor technique.

obstacle

Not true. I've ridden Egg Beaters for years, for everything. They are on my fixie, my roadie, my former XC bikes and my soon to be built cross bike. I've never had issue with them anywhere, long rides, sprints, fixed gear riding (road and track) and have never had the dread hot spot issue. Granted I chalk that one up to my Sidis...but still. Energy trandfer and the like are just fine. It's all about setting your cleats up properly.

Yes.....but proper bike fit will do wonders...then learning how to properly pedal and the like help much more.

BTW...I interchange between a pair of Sidi road shoes and MTN shoes....

goaliedad30

They'll work fine. When my 16-year-old son went from MTB to road biking, he moved his Time MTB pedals to his road bike, and uses his Shimano MTB shoes. He still drops me and my carbon-soled Sidis/Speedplays .... badly, and with little remorse.

mrballistic

on my bikes, i use the crank bros pedal system. then, i can use either road or mountain shoes, depending upon what i want to do. i use my mountain shoes (and a pair or sandals when it's warm) for commuting, and road shoes for distance. it's really the best of both worlds for me.

superslomo

MTB shoes here. I have to clip and unclip endlessly on the rides around where I am most of the time, and I prefer the ease of just stomping down without having to look at the pedal to know whether I'm on the right side. It's just what I got used to, so I stuck with it. No need to spend a couple of hundred bucks right now if I don't have to.

vandeda

My SPDs and Times mtn bike pdeals have worked fine for both. Afterall, mtn biking on technical rock gardens taxes the pedals/shoes/feet/whatever pretty darn good, and I've never had a problem. Riding them on the road has none of that to deal with, so I never even notice my pedals.

That said, I do own road pedals (dura ace spd-sl pedals), and I don't like them. I find them harder to engage, and when I miss, its like stepping on ice ... I don't have that problem with mtn shoes/pedals. They disengage too hard even on the softest setting, much harder than my mtn pedals. I look dumb walking in road shoes. And the pedals are plastic and expensive. The only advantage is my road shoes I have breathe better than my mtn shoes, but that's why I also have spd sandals.

In other words, I like my spd pedals way better than my road pedals.

ChrisAN82

Thanks for the responses everyone. I'll keep my mountain shoes and just buy SPD pedals when I get my road bike.

They make SPD sandals? That's freakin sweet. I've gotta check that out.

chipcom 

When you got multiple bikes, a standard pedal system is the frugal option. I run SPDs and I use the A520s on my road & touring bikes because they have a platform around the cleat.

I pretty much wear nothing but Shimano sandals when the temps are above 60 or so - the older ones with two straps, not the newer ones with three. Added benefit...we don't need no stinkin float in the cleats, my float is in the sandals (depending on how loose I fasten them).

SV Commuter

Performance sells SPD road pedals (https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...gory_ID=10046). I have these on my Giant TCR C1 and love them! I think they are as easy to clip into as Look or SPD-SL pedals, only 256g, and on sale for only $44.99!

I also started on a bike with SPD mountain bike pedals and these pedals let me keep using my nice Sidi Dominator shoes, and they are compatible with my commuter/shopping bike that has Forte Campus pedals (SPD one side, regular platform pedals other side).

The argument I always hear for Look or SPD-SL pedals is the larger surface area reduces "hot spot" pain on long rides, but at least for myself I haven't experienced this. My Sidi shoes have such firm soles I don't think what kind of cleat is under them makes much difference...

kirkcubs

I think the "wider surface area" notion is just splitting hairs. I think you can tell by the overwhelming # of responses that you're just fine with them on the road and it will save you $$$. It might just be an OCP matter, but for the money you save you can just apply that to a sweet jersey since no one really sees your pedals while you're riding.

Camilo

I have one-sided "road" spd pedals on my road bike. I just think they look better on a road bike. Functionally, I sometimes find them actually easier to use than my two sided MTB pedals. I don't know why, but since I have the hang of flipping them with my toe and then clicking in, I miss less often than when I try to just stomp down on the MTB pedals.

My road pedals are about 10 year old Shimano pd 525. I don't think they make them anymore? I think the performance ones look pretty nice. Unless I switch to a crank bros. pedal when these wear out, I think I'll go with them. Like I say, I just think the road pedal looks better on a road bike, and the clip in is pretty easy once you develop the flip and click.

Camilo

And you can't tell the diff. between racy looking road shoes and racy looking mtb shoes w/o looking close.

SSP

Learn to trackstand...then, you'll never need to unclip. And, it's a fun way to impress the cagers at lights (assuming you don't have a 0 mph fall ).


To the OP - I rode with single-sided SPD's and MTB shoes for several years, then switched to Shimano Ultegra road pedals, with Specialized Carbon Comp shoes. The roadie shoes are *much* lighter than most MTB shoes, and the wider platforms of the Shimano pedals mean less "hot spot" issues on longer rides (though this is less of an issue if you have high-end MTB shoes with very stiff soles).

SV Commuter

Yes, the road shoes are much lighter even though (for Sidis) the uppers seem indistinguishable to the similar mountain bike shoe.

The Weak Link

Interesting. I've used M520s on my MTB for ever. I then bought a road bike. The M520s felt fine, but it wasn't OCPish for me, so I bought A520's. I think they're harder to clip in and out of. I can't tell any difference in performance. But man, they look cool....

megamo

me too

misterC

crank bros egg beaters on mtn and road bike.. one set of mountain shoes.

VeganRider

spd's and mountain bike shoes = you can actually walk around like a normal dude when you get there and get off the bike; that can be very nice.

mihlbach

Go with mountain shoes/pedals. If you have hotspot problems on longer rides and have already messed around with cleat position adustment, then think about road shoes/pedals.

Mazaev

+1 for Crank Bros. I have eggbeaters on the commuter and Quattros on the roadie. So far I just use MTB shoes on both but it's nice to have the option to upgrade to proper road shoes when I'm ready and keep the same pedals. The Quattros also provide the stated "wider road pedal platform" advantage on the roadie, as well as come with wider cleats for road shoes.

I used SPDs prior and the one big problem I had with them was pulling out when pedaling hard. This has yet to happen on either one of the CB pedals.