Is lighter weight a factor in clipless pedal/shoe combos?
 

I've been following the numerous threads about wheel weight and trying to get my head around the science of it all, whether it makes an appreciable difference in performance or not. I can't remember seeing any threads on shoe/pedal weights though. I've been using spds and mtb shoes for my first 2&1/2 years of road riding and am considering upgrading to a true road setup using either Looks or Spd-sl and specialized comp shoes. I added up the weight for my current setup, spesh tahoe shoes and shimano pda520's and get 1115 grams.The Tahoes are especially heavy at 800g. The spesh comp shoes are 540g, spd-sls around 300 depending on level and Look keos around 250g depending on level. The combos for road setup range from 780g-850g, a difference of an avg of 300g.

My question is, am I overthinking this? I'm 65, don't race, but do like to push hard at times and have completed a few long challenging rides. Do folks who have used both setups notice an improvement in their performance and attribute it to the weight difference. My ride is steel at about 20lbs. Intuitively I'd think weight at the pedal area would be big but I feel the same about wheels which I'd like to upgrade at some point, and the opinions around here from the experienced riders seem to be all over the map about that.

My present setup is showing signs of wear so I'll likely upgrade anyway, not only dependent on the weight issue. I'm hoping road shoes might help with some foot comfort issues I'm experiencing.My biggest concern is walking around off the bike with the road pedal setups as I don't mind walking in spd shoes.

It sure if fun to upgrade even if you don't see improvements.

Lighter is better. Always.

Weight savings on your shoes or pedals is no different than anywhere else. Hard to imagine how 300 fewer grams is going to make you enjoy riding your bike more but each to his own.

I personally wouldn't bother. I also ride a road bike with mtb shoes and pedals and like being able to walk around without trashing my shoes/cleats. Yes, you can get marginally better power transfer with road shoes but I weighted the pros and cons and decided to stick with mtb setup when I got a better pair of shoes recently.

And as far as comfort issues. Shop around, get a high quality pair of mtb shoes (if you take that route) and it shouldn't matter. I got these when I upgraded and really like them.
X-PROJECT 1.0 - 2014 - Pearl Izumi

I got 2014 ones before they included Boa but I knew that and didn't want to pay that much extra for shoes.

You're dealing with a less than one percent savings in weight. You won't be able to tell a difference, ever.

While you'll look more like a roadie, you'll a little silly to non-cyclists when you waddle into Starbucks wearing road shoes. Which is more important?

Looking like roadie waddling on road cleats is one of THE most important things to a true roadie. Only non-roadies are troubled or embarrassed by it.

Shoes are like saddles: Comfort is more important than weight. Find shoes that are comfortable. Then, if you want less weight, their more expensive versions are normally lighter. For instance, a Basic Sidi shoe is just as comfortable as their top of the line shoe. The cheaper shoe has carbon composite sole, while the more expensive has full carbon soles. They will be stiffer and lighter. Realistically, for the typical rider, the cheaper shoe is just as comfortable for a fraction of the price.

Exactly.

I tried mtb pedals and shoes on my road bike and the stance just felt too narrow.

Road cleats and pedals allow for adjustment side to side, which wasn't possible with mtb cleats and pedals.

I have wide feet also and was fortunate enough to find road shoes which were wide enough.

Sidi shoes are very narrow so those don't work for people with wide feet.

They sure look cool though
http://cdn.velonews.competitor.com/f...1/9O5B7084.jpg

Comfort and performance are more important than weight when it comes to shoes and pedals.

I always point out the pedals are connected to each other via the cranks, so the weight isn't very important since gravity is helping pushing one pedal down as much as it's resisting the other pedal going up.

Not quite. Shoes and pedal weight will be different than say something like a saddle or handle bar. Any weight that rotates makes more of a difference than weight that doesn't. Not saying that the shoe pedal combo is going to benefit the OP one way or the other but there is a difference in rotating weight.

Technically yes, practically no. Do the calculations if you like but the amount of rotational energy stored in a set of shoes and pedals rotating at 120RPM is negligible.

A bike shop owner was trying to convince me that the rotational weight of cycling shoes made a big difference.

Odd thing is, it looks like he weighs over 300 lbs. himself. I was going to ask him how saving half a pound of rotating weight from his shoes would benefit him vs losing say, 100 lbs of fat from his body? Obviously I didn't ask.

i don't think it will make any discernible difference in your performance, but if you've got the money and inclination, it can be pleasant to try out something new. and it's unlikely that you will ever feel that you will know the answer by asking others for their advice and opinions. good luck. :)

That's about where I'm at, ready to try something new and I can swing the money, will set some of our home remodeling expenses back a bit but it seems to work out. I'm mostly retired but need to supplement each month anyway and have some good paying projects on the horizon. Tried on the Spesh comp road shoes today and they were comfy,quite a bit more so than my 3 yr old MTB shoes. Had them on in a couple sizes for at least an hour at my LBS. Found a fabulous deal online on some 105 carbon SPD-sl's and shared that with my LBS who agreed I should go for that if that's what I wanted, that they couldn't come anywhere near that price.I shared that I felt funny not buying from my LBS as they've treated me so well over the years but they seemed cool with my decision. It's a great shop and I mostly always happily pay a bit more through them to keep up the relationship, but this deal was off the scale better than they could do. Thanks for the good wishes and great advice, I've got to find out for myself.
I'll be heading downtown to pick up the shoes this afternoon.

Thanks for all the good and contrasting advice to all who've responded.Maybe I won't see much of a difference in performance but I'm mostly interested in foot comfort anyway.Time will tell if I made the right decision.

The answer depends almost completely on one thing. Are you going to think about this weight while you are riding? If yes, your current 300+ grams WILL slow you down. If not, you can pull out a calculator after a 60 mile ride, then decide it the 57 extra seconds you spent out on the road was an issue.

If you race uphill, that weight is real. If not, it all depends on the state of your head. I rode Cycle Oregon on its two hilliest rides in recent years on a fix gear. Wore so-so shoes with great fit, used Shimano 600 semi-platform pedals and modified them with weights under the toeclips and a big steel tab in back to assist pickup. Didn't weigh the shoes or pedals, but I guarantee you the total was impressive. And I finished every ride, never walked and climbed 67,000 feet over those two weeks. And if I had to do it again, I would use the same, no changes. The system worked, very well. And being able to get rolling uphill and clipped in with the fix gear and the toeclips was worth the weight invested several times over.

Ben

Yes, but ... the effect of rotating weight is a function of the RPMs and the radius squared. Pedals have a radius of your crank length of less than 7". Rims. by comparison are almost twice the radius. So a gram on the rim or tire have almost 4 times the effect of that same gram on your pedal BEFORE you take RPMs into account. Say 20 mph and pedaling at 100 RPM. The wheel RPM will be more like 250. So the inertial effect of an additional gram will be roughly 250/100 X 4 ~= 10 times that of the same gram added to the pedals. I think we can safely ignore the effect of rotating weight of those pedals.

Ben

Hey Latif- what's up??

Don't forget the arch supports.

Jay

Hey Jay, good to hear from you! Maybe we can ride together some day! I already have a set of the Spesh blue supports. Just picked up the shoes and fixin' to order the clips when I saw your post.

I signed up for the Davis DC in May....

I used to think shoes didn't matter much, until I bought a pair of carbon Sidi. I didn't realize how much energy I was losing to flex of my nylon based soled shoes. Less fatigue, more comfortable and I noticed an uptick in my rpm.

Ride 100 miles and there will be a noticeable difference in energy expended. The greater the distance ridden, the more it matters.

1) any weight anywhere on the bike makes a difference.

2) you are way overthinking this.

The best advice is to either 1) ride stuff that is reliable and will last you a long time, or 2) try things out to see what you like if you are interested in optimizing performance. The lightest pedal I've ever seen is a dude wrapping a sneaker sole around a bare pedal axle. But I imagine there are probably disadvantages to that setup...