Flash

As much as I'd like to go out and back without stopping, I'm off the bike at various times and need to be able to walk semi-normally. Right now I'm using Diadora mountain shoes with spd cleats and Forte Carve pedals. It's a good setup for me, but I find the carve pedals to be a bit unstable when I'm out of the saddle and pedaling hard.

First question: can anyone relate their experiences and recommend a SPD cleat/shoe/pedal combo that gets closest to a true road setup -- delivering stability and solid feel -- and is walkable?

Second question: can anyone relate their experiences and recommend a straight road setup -- your choice of cleat/road shoe/road pedal that is somewhat walkable?

Thanks!

FLIT Christy

if your concerned with walking. stick with the mtb shoes/cleats. I have yet to see any real walkable road shoes/cleats

exRunner

I can walk reasonably well in SpeedPlay Zero's and Cafe Covers.

urbanknight

If you can walk reasonably on Speedplay, you can walk reasonably on any system.

+1 to using MTB shoes if walking is that important.

lukewall

Crank Bros Quattros and road shoes with the 3 hole adapter cleats. Or just use MTB shoes with the regular crank bros cleats.

rsyb

Find my Shimano RT80's very walkable. No severe tread like an MTB shoe.

Great for me. Not a racer.

flatlander_48

Good solution as the Quattro cleats have a raised plastic section surrounding the cleat. The downside is that Quattros are going (or have gone) out of production as Crank Bros. will "concentrate on off-road equipment"...

abeyance23

I have a set of Lake CX-125 shoes that I bought on special a while back. They have deep treads and allow look cleats. The treads are so deep that they allow walking without noise/grinding of any sort, more so than any spd shoe that I have tried.

thirdin77

What do you mean you current shoes/pedals are unstable?

Of course the first thing to do is to tighten your cleats or maybe replace them.

If it's still unstable, get a different pedal.

My SPD 520's are plenty stable, albeit with little lateral float and probably no rotational float.

My complaint with them is the poor power transmission, which can't be helped, but they've always felt solid.

AndrewP

Shimano a520 pedals take the standard SPD cleat but have a platform around to provide additional stability. The SIDI Mega mountain shoes are 500 g lighter and stiffer than the Cannondale MTB shoes that I had been using, and have the look of road shoes. I can walk in the SIDI shoes but if I planned on a day of mixed riding and walking I would wear the Cannondale shoes. Maybe your feet will feel more stable on the pedals if you move the cleats back a bit - try it before you spend lots of money on new pedals and shoes.

palu

I have Specialized MTB shoes and if I have walk around, it's the only pair I'll wear. I agree with the MTB suggestion.

BarracksSi

The mostly-back-upside is that those same cleats will work on plain Eggbeater and Candy pedals. CB told me via email that they'll continue Quattro cleat production.

Probably the main difference between those pedals and the Quattros is that the Quattros have a narrower Q-factor; at least I know they're narrower than the Eggbeaters, but I can't say for sure in comparison with the Candys. If a narrower Q is needed, you can get a short spindle kit for the Eggbeaters.

Shimagnolo

I have the A520's on my road bike.
Note that the platform around the perimeter makes it *impossible* to use winter booties with rubber soles.
Also, it is always necessary to look at the pedal and push it in to position with my toe before clipping in.
When the time comes to replace these, I will probably get another set of double-sided XT's as on my touring bike.

The Weak Link

I like the A520's with my Sidi Bullets.

The A520's are weighted so the SPD portion flips towards you, but it doesn't always work. They're pretty light as well.

terrymorse 

If you really like a road pedal/cleat system and still want to be able to walk around, there is one shoe that will accommodate a road cleat and is still walkable. it's made by Lake:



The info on the Lake website:

https://www.lakecycling.com/cx125-p-97.html

The shoe is a bit heavy with all the rubber needed to recess the cleat, but otherwise it's a decent shoe. I just weighed mine: 420 g without a cleat.

UGASkiDawg

I don't have any problems on my Specialized Road Pro's with SPD-SL cleats. I wouldn't want to walk miles on them but walking around town is not a problem.

Amani576

+1 to the SPD-SL suggestion. I wear Shimano R131's with those and can walk pretty well with them. I kinda like the 3-beat sound they make when I walk too.
-Gene-

Shimagnolo

Aahhh...Useful info to add to my notes. I had no idea such a thing existed.

flatlander_48

Someone who responded to a thread that I started actually measured his E/B's and his Quattros. The Quattros were about 1/8" shorter...

Camilo

Time cleats are very similar in "walkability" to the SPD-SL with the stacked up tripod of bumpers surrounding the cleats. Both are just fine for short errands and breaks while cycling, although I'd probably use MTB + good SPD pedals if I was actually using the bike for errands and shopping. For commuting, the SPD-SL or Times (and maybe even the Keo grip cleats) are fine for my route which involvesjust stops and starts.

Flash

All,

Thanks for all the great tips. Lots of options to investigate here. cheers