bikenh

Don't let this get to flaming mtb versus road. Not interested in that. Don't care about which method of biking is superior or any other crap. I'm a straight roadie only and have been for a long time.

I'm thinking of swapping out to sandals versus full shoes. Want something that dries a lot quicker than regular road shoes. The worst part about riding in the rain isn't riding in the rain but having the squishy feet for the next several days since the shoes don't dry worth a darn, especially when you are wearing them all day long everyday.

Most sandals have the two bolt pattern as the standard clipless option. The two bolt pattern is standard mtb pattern while three bolt pattern is standard road pattern(at least that is how I'm taking it right now). Yes, from what I've seen you can use an adapter the convert a three bolt cleat so it can be used on the two bolt pedals.

What I'm wandering is what if any noticeable difference is there between the two bolt mtb pedals and the normal SPD/Look style three bolt pedals.. The one difference I have read, I believe correctly, is that you can clip in from the top or bottom of the pedal on the two bolt pedals(SPDs) while only from the top on the three SPD/Look three bolt pedals. That would be a real nice plus in zero light clip in situations. I was in that scenario twice last summer while on a bike trip doing an overnight ride and had to stop to go to the bathroom in the middle of nowhere. Trying to clip back in with the Look pedals was rather fun to say the least when all I had was a handlebar mounted headlight...don't laugh too hard

What are the advantages and disadvantage of both. I've been using both SPD and Look road(3 bolt) pedals for eons now so I have a good reference with them but no knowledge of the two bolt SPD pedals.

I guess one big question that would seem natural to come up would be do they stay in position on the shoe or since you don't have a third bolt do they have a tendency to move around on the shoe. Not an easy question to explain what I mean but I think you may get the drift of what I'm asking as one possible disadvantage.

Also do the two bolt cleats wear faster than the three bolt cleats? I can't seem to keep cleats alive very long at all. When I typically get off the bike its for short intervals(going to bathroom, filling up a water bottle, etc), not long duration ventures off the bike so I generally don't bother to put cleat covers on or I would be spending more time taking them on and off then actually using them.

Thanks in advance.

DrIsotope

The 2-bolt SPD cleats last a long time. I generally only unclip one foot when stopping, so that cleat wears more quickly, but will still last 12k miles or more. A big part of why they last so long is the shoes extend below the cleat, so when you walk, the cleat isn't touching the ground.

brianmcg123

Buy two pairs of shoes.

Miele Man

For really long rides a lot of people prefer the longer wider support of the three hole system. Others prefer the versatility of the recessed cleat of the 2-hole system and also the much wider choice of footwear with the 2 hole system.

Clipping into the three hole Look style pedals should be instinctive and you should NOT need to look atthe pedal to do so. You do need totap the top of the hanging pedal to bring it up level for the foot to engaged just as you do with toeclips. MTB style pedals are designed more for step on and in the pedal.

Cheers

Flip Flop Rider

try a boot dryer, they are pretty cheap and your shoes dry fully daily

Miele Man

An old army trick is to undo the shoes so that the tongue can be pulled out as far as it can be and then remove any insoles before hanging the boot/shoe upside down/sole up so that he heavier damper air can be replaced by warmer air. That helps a lot.

Cheers

PaulRivers

Advantages of 2 bolt that come to mind:
- Like OP mentioned easy to find 2 sided pedals so you can clip the second foot in without looking (to be fair speedplay does this with 3/4 bolt shoes)
- Much better at handling walking around in mud, muck, grass, dirt - and still clipping in. 2 bolt shoes are designed to be handle dirt and grime, 3 bolt road shoes are not (I don't know of any that are)
- Room for tread alongside the cleat so they're decent to walk short distances in while off the bike. Most 3 bolt cleats are metal and slip around a lot, again to be fair speedplay has some sort of grippy thing you can put on the bottom and leave on all the time.

Advantages of 3 bolt pedals
- The primary purpose of clipless is keeping your foot attached to the pedal, 3/4 bolt cleats are slightly better at keeping your foot attached at high cadence - like racing and sprinting. If you're considering sandals I doubt you'd ever run into a case where this would be a problem.

TenSpeedV2

After having a pit bull clamp down on my foot once while riding, the thought of anything other than a cycling shoe would never happen. The thought of wearing any type of sandal and possibly having one of the teeth sink into my foot, that is frightening. The experience was bad enough and I was lucky to walk away with no damage to my foot. I cannot see where a sandal would be stiff enough to comfortably ride in, clipless or not.

fietsbob

One difference : the pocket in a Spud shoe is surrounded by rubber .. so there is a potential for all the force to be concentrated on your foot right over the small area of the cleat, even though the design
is to have the edges of the pocket supported on the pedal ends .
Cleat still will wear walking on pavement and Gravel.

Cannot be too deeply recessed or it wont engage with the pedal Mech.



But Look External cleats are wider and the sole is Hard ..

Lake or, one of those companies, tried a Spinning class shoe .

a rubber rim around a 3 bolt cleat so You could walk on the Floor of the Classroom. & not fall on your keister ..

it passed.
Maybe the fashion conscious didn't like the Frankenstein's boots look of that shoe sole design..

ramzilla

Just get some MKS platform pedals and fuhgetabowdit.

sheltonlp

Have you tried a waterproof shoe cover to help prevent getting wet? I can't imagine it would be comfortable riding with a wet foot in a sandal for any distance no matter what your cleats are...

Camilo

I didn't read the thread and won't even comment except to mention that I have some SPD sandals and they work great on my road bike.

For the wet shoes thing, just buy a shoe dryer. I've had one for about 10 years and use it daily in the winter to dry my XC boots and often in the summer to dry rain - or more often sweat - from my bike shoes. They're not expensive. Mine looks more or less like this.

bikenh

The only problem is the time when I would most often have the problem of riding in the rain is when I'm not around, err on a long distance bike trip where I stealth camp out every night. No plugins so no way of being able to dry out the shoes other than while riding during the day. Don't want to be carrying around a shoe dryer, just extra necessary space to carry it and the extra weight. In the same respect given what someone else said I don't really want to be carrying along two pair of shoes with me on a bike trip. The past four years I've only had the shoes I have on my feet with me. I don't carry spare shoes, even walking shoes. I just walk through stores in my cycling shoes and don't think a thing about it. Granted a month of two ago I finally found myself ending up on my butt once because of slipping on a store floor I had walked across countless times...almost did it second time several days later.

bikenh

Trouble with platform pedals is you can't pull up with them and I do that quite often when climbing since I quite often stand up to climb. I like the extra pedaling dynamics of clipless pedals that you don't get from platform pedals or even toe clips.

Camilo

Yea, obviously I wouldn't suggest a boot dryer for an unsupported multi day ride, but for at home at the end of a wet or sweaty ride.

I've also found the dryer to really do a lot to reduce or eliminate normal stinky shoe odor since dry shoes incubate less odor-producing stuff.

I bought a fairly cheap pair of Nashbar sandals many years ago and have been very happy with them, and they're very comfortable for just walking around. I think the more expensive ones are better quality, but I don't know it makes a difference in performance. Give a pair of sandals a try, sounds like they're just what you need.

Tony Marley

I use my SPD sandals for all my bikes, and they work great. Solid sole, nice and wide, and they dry quickly following rains.