Thread: SPD or flats?
View Single Post
Old 04-29-16, 10:49 AM
  #24  
revcp 
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA
Posts: 1,257

Bikes: 2017 Salsa Carbon Mukluk frame built with XT, 2018 Kona Rove NRB build with Sram Apex 1,2008 Salsa El Mariachi, 1986 Centurion Ironman

Mentioned: 11 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 286 Post(s)
Liked 100 Times in 65 Posts
The Free Riders are fabulous on grip. 5.10 was originally a climbing shoe company. They discovered that their soft grippy soles worked well for cycling. For earlier posters, I still don't get the need for SPD on hills for touring. Flats are fine. With my flats I'm fine spinning at 90-95 on level roads and climbing steadily in lower gears. If I stand on tour it's to stretch, and climbing out of the saddle is the only time, apart from sprinting, that I would pull up on my pedal, and if I pull too hard I pop out anyway.

I get the "SPDs are what I like" argument, and I can even buy the "they keep my feet and knees aligned" argument, but for flat ground, hills, bumpy road, etc., SPDs have no advantage over a good sticky sole and pinned flats.
revcp is offline