MTB Clipless: Will they laugh at me?
 

Mostly a tongue-in-cheek thread, but I'm seriously addicted to my cheap MTB SPD clipless pedals. I love the double-sided entry; I love my quick velcro shoes for tri bricks, I love my sandals in the summer and the girls who laugh at my tan lines...

Do all the roadies that s****** up their jersey sleeves at me know something I don't? Do the complicated one-side-entry blue-yellow-and-pink-shoed crowd manage save 3g on pedal weight or something? These feel good and deliver great power on the upstroke (even in the sandals!), so what more could a novice roadie want?

Nothing, had I the chance to go back to the beginning, I would have chosen to ride MTB clipless for my rec rides rather than settling on road shoes and road clipless. But, for me the road shoe system works out well for me now since I race with ym university team.

I love using Shimano M520 double sided mtb pedals with SPD sandals. Rain, cold (with wool socks), extreme heat and total walking comfort.

Al

If you start looking around you will see that quite a few roadies use MTB shoes and pedals. There are pleanty off Eggbeaters, Speedplay FROGS (me included), and a few SPDs out there. The easy click in is great. And you can walk easier at the end. It is also a good way not to have to put down the extra $$$$ right away when buying a bike.

If you are going to do any serious distance, you might want to think about stiff, cross country racing, MTB shoes.

OK, you might get some funny looks from the sandels.

I ride with road pedals but they are also double sided. I couldn't stand single-sided pedals. I don't see a problem with people using any pedal they want as long as they're happy with them. As far as Speedplay Frogs go, I used to have them on my roadbike before switching over to the Zeros. I know plenty of people who use them on roadbikes and actually very few of the MTBers I know of would use them on their MTBs. I wouldn't consider them a viable choice for an MTB pedal to be honest. I think they'd make great touring pedals though.

Undeniable fact: road shoes are more efficient, but are probably best when the most walking you usually do is out of your garage or front door to hop on the bike, then off again when you're done riding. Sounds like your riding is pretty mixed and walking is part of the equation. So let's say the ignorant few might have a chuckle at your expense? They matter becaaauussssee...?

Paid $14 (USD) for my MTB pedals and have, at times, used them on my road bike. Didn't pay a lot more for my road pedals and love them - less numbness due to larger platform than MTB's.

If they work and you like them be embarrassed for all the poor saps who paid a fortune for their pedals and don't like them.

I'm pretty new to road cycling. Help me understand. What is the exact difference between a road and moutain bike shoe/pedal? I have Wellgoes (sp?) that came on my new Bianchi Giro road bike. They are double sided SPD type pedals. I happen to have a pair of specialized shoes that I bought 5 years ago when I got my Gary Fisher mountain bike. These shoes have/had a rubber flap that I cut off to expose the screws for the SPD cleats. I couldn't afford new shoes so I use these on my road bike. I realize they are heavier, but I now looooove the SPD set up. I want to move my Welgoes to my GF (it just has platforms with a cage), and I want to get new pedals for my Bianchi. I was wanting to get double sided SPD type pedals, and some day I will buy better road shoes. But what is the real difference? Are double sided SPDs not considered road worthy? I saw the Look pedals and think I would prefer to stick with one type for both bikes.

Thanks,

Steve

If you get a large platform pedal like Looks, you can get away with a cheaper shoe and not have hot spot problems.

When talking about pedals, it's always best to distinguish between the four basic parts.

1. Pedals
2. Cleats
3. Mounting pattern
4. Shoes

SPD pedals accept Shimano-style/compatible SPD cleats. There is a variety of flavours of SPD pedals and each accept their own respective cleats. Technically SPD pedals are Shimano MTB pedals. There are also clones of that design which can be found from other manufacturers such as Wellgo but the design strictly originated from Shimano. What most of them have in common however is that they use the SPD-style mounting pattern which is the side-by-side two-hole arrangement. When many shoe manufacturers print that their shoes are SPD compatible, what they mean is that they have drilled their shoes for SPD-style mounting pattern. Many non-SPD cleats will also work with this mounting pattern. Almost all MTB shoes are drilled with SPD-style mounting patterns. Some road shoes are drilled to accept SPD cleats too since there are some road cleats which use the SPD-style mounting pattern.

Most road shoes are also drilled for Time (4-hole) and/or Look (3-hole) mounting patterns. Some shoes are only drilled for one type of pattern. These were patterns that, much like Shimano's SPD, were standardised based on the introduction of those pedal systems a long time ago. Many different pedal manufacturers produce cleats which adhere to one of these types of mounting patterns. For everything to fit and work properly, you must find a pedal (which will determine cleat) and shoe combination that have compatible mounting patterns.

Road cleats are generally larger than their MTB counterparts but they were also not really designed for walking on and thus not designed to be recessed into the shoe. Many of these cleats can be damaged if walked on so cleat covers are necessary for any amount of offbike activity. Additionally, due to the size and shape of road cleats, walking on them can be tricky at best. Running or negotiating stairs with them can be treacherous. Think walking around in skates. However the size of the road cleats allows them to more efficiently distribute loads and thus produces less chances for hotspots.

Generally speaking, cleats that use SPD-style mounting patterns are prone to giving their users hotspots because they have a relatively small contact area between the cleat and the shoe. This is further ascerbated if the shoe has a relatively flexy sole. A very stiff sole is required to prevent hotspots with SPD-type cleats.

SPD pedals themselves are known for being prone to clogging and jamming under really muddy offroad conditions. This is due primarily to the design of the SPD bindings which why most MTBers prefer other pedal systems such as Crank Brothers Eggbeaters or Time ATACs which have a more open body design that allows the mud to clear. Additionally, SPD pedal designs are known for having too little free-float thus they try and lock your knees into a certain position. This can be bad for some people. SPD pedal designs also couple release angle and tension. Once you overcome tension, you release. Other pedals systems make these independent. First you have free float until you hit tension or release angle. Some pedal systems have all three and each can be independently adjusted. This is to say that your feet are allowed some amount of free float before they hit a tension region. Then you are in restricted float until you get to the release angle at which point you release. Such a system is superior especially for offroad riding where you need to be able to move the bike around underneath you but still not inadvertantly release.

Most offroad pedals as well as MTB SPD pedals are double-sided and offer things like multiple entry/release methods making them more user-friendly for cyclists who continually have to mount/dismount. Road pedals are generally designed assuming the rider will spend the majority of his/her time attached to the bike so they usually only have one side and one entry/exit method. There are some road pedals that are double sided however. These include Speedplay Zero and X series pedals, Crank Brothers Quattro, Coombes Pro Pedal System and the BeBop Pedal System. Most road pedals have a lower stack height meaning they place the foot closer to the spindle vertically thus making them more efficient. Some have adjustable float and adjustable release angles too.

Most road shoes are designed with very stiff soles to start with. They are also designed to not have much tread. And due to the nature of road cleats, they're designed to expose as much of the cleat as possible thus they're pretty unfriendly to walk around in. With road-specific shoes, you pretty much walk around on your heels and look like a duck.

That pretty much covers the basics. I'm sure others will chime in on points I might have overlooked. There are also plenty of related threads both in the past and recently on this topic. If you do a search, you'll find ones that are more specific to a make and model of pedal and/or shoe.

Don't worry if they laugh or not. I'm riding MTB clipless and a triple, and as long as i'm beating most or all of the field in the level i'm able to race (collegiate b's currently, but i'm in colorado so collegiate a's is all but pro, lol), im pretty happy. But seriously, although money can buy speed in cycling, which upsets me horribly, the one thing i want to bring to the sport of cycling for myself from running is to let my legs do the talking. If people are going to laugh at me, they can laugh at my legs, otherwise i'll just laugh as i ride past.

Note the Eggbeaters on both the road and the mtn. bike (in the background). For one, I'm conserving some money. Two, I plan to stick with eggbeaters on 3 of my bikes (road, gearie mtn, singlespeed mtn.) since the cleats are interchangeable and I can have 1 or 2 pedal rebuilt kits on hand for all of the pedals, rather than worry about different designs and parts from different manufacturers.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...t/P4180095.jpg

I personally find flailing around on expensive carbon-soled shoes with cleats that make them walk like reverse high-heels to be part of the road riding experience. It also means no matter how steep the hill kicks up, I'm not getting off to walk, because I cant walk.

No one said being a roadie was going to be easy, or elegant.

I use MTB SPD pedals and a pair of MTB Shimano shoes and nobody has ever laughed at me. Hell, I don't think anyone's even noticed it. Who goes around staring at people's shoes/pedals? ;)

That's an ugly looking chainline right there. :D ;)

I tend to look at situations such as this one in this manner. The type of person who laughs at me for doing "X" is the type of person who's opinion doesn't mean a thing to me.

I don't get it (**********?). Ugly because I'm on the big chainring?

Ugly because I was on the big ring and big cog? I was tweaking the shifting and degreasing the chain (and that's the story I'm sticking with!!!) :D

Khuon covered most of the points regarding MTB vs road pedals and cleats. One point I would add is cornering clearance. You can get a few extra degrees of lean in single-sided road pedals than in thick double-sided MTB pedals if you pedal through a turn.

RFM

nope

Deda Power-D cranks and Time ATAC XS? Mmmmm... that's yummy! What discs do you have there? I'm assuming they're mechs. What's your dropout spacing on that bike? Are those cranks compact? Is this a cyclocross our touring rig? Okay... I should stop now. Maybe you should just post a picture of the whole bike. ;)

If I had known when I got this Sidi Iron/Look A5.1 shoe/pedal combination, what I know now, I would have gone with Shimano SPD M520 Pedals for the dual sided entry and Shimano M038 Mountain Shoes or Shimano SD60 Cycling Sandals, or both the shoes and sandals, instead.

This Sidi/Look combination is great on the bike, but I'm tired of having to wait and put my shoes on right before I get on the bike, then having to take them off again right after I get off the bike. I'm also tired of having to walk around in my socks.

As for the people that would laugh at a set-up that works for you. They deserve to be pointedly ignored. They're not worth your time to ride with.

I got the SPD-M520 pedals and M038 shoes when I first got clipless last year and got a set of m520s for my mountain bike too. I'm tempted to switch to the PD-A520 single sided design - I get to use the same shoes then but with a larger platform to avoid hotspots on longer rides.

I first bought the M520 and M038 shoes. A week later I bought the Sandals. I haven't put on the shoes since. I've ridden centuries, 4hr trail rides, single track, commuting, everything in those sandals. Even in the wet snow up north with thick wool socks and an outer waterproof sock. But as soon as its over 57deg, no socks.
Al

I use EggBeaters on all my bikes. Fixie/SS has a set of Quattros the new road version, MTB has the MTB SS ones, Performance Recumbent has the MTB Triple Ti ones, touring recumbent one has the MTB chrome model and the Trek 970 will get Quatros as soon as I get a chance to install them. I have Lake Road shoes, Specialized BG Team Road shoes, some Lake lace up casual MTB shoes, a pair of Lake MTB shoes and some old but very comfortable EQUS casual MTB shoes and a pair of EQUSTAR sandals. All have EggBeater cleats. I use all the shoes. I ride in all kinds of weather and my MTBin' can be messy. So I have shoes drying while I have shoes to ride with. I use the MTB shoes the most since they have a recessed cleat and are nice to walk in. For fast competitive riding I like the Specialized Road shoes. Sandals are sooo cool in the summer for commuting. People that laugh at my shoes are usually looking at my heels as I dust em'. Riding different bikes is fun, but different pedals on them would be a hassel. I like the EB's they function well, shed mud, are easily serviced, have enough float for me, easy in/out and you can change the release angle if you know where the file the cleat.