Originally Posted by
Burton
And for the record - I personaly own both SPD and SPD SL pedals - and mostly prefer to use BMX style platform pedals with screws for grip myself most of the time. Maybe if I was competing things might be different - but major convenience compared to extremely minor performance gains on a tour or commute works out for me just fine. You can use whatever you want and I won't lose any sleep over it.
I had a pair of road shoes and shimano mtb shoes, they were nice to ride in but not really a lot nicer, but I got hot spots with mtb shoes on the small road pedals, esp after 50km. I donated my shoes and pedals to the co-op and now just use thick soled keen sandals (of which there is actually an spd version) and big bmx pedals with screw-in pins. Handy for stopping to wander around, not marking up floors, etc. This combo worked fine on my last 1000km trip, did 180 on the last day all smiles... I also commute in work boots so it was easy for me to leave the clip/clipless world behind. The workboots are really stiff anyway with the plate in the sole.