Whats up Bike Forums,

So after doing a ton of research (a lot of it on this forum!) I finally pulled the trigger and bought a new Cannondale CAAD10 with 105 groupset. I hesitated a lot between the CAAD10 and the Allez but finally decided on the Cannondale since I liked the shop better and they made me feel super welcome and took care of me really well. I also bought a saddlebag with everything I need to change a flat tire. I'm going in for the fitting on Thursday afternoon.

The bike comes with the standard pedals and I've been reading a lot about road bikes with mountain bike shoes and pedals and was wondering if you guys had any suggestions?

I know literally nothing about pedals and have never even tried clips but people around these parts seem to love em so I figured I should get some Ideally I would like to keep the costs to a minimum as the bike itself was way more than the 900-1000 (Canadian dollars that is) that I had initially set (and had the wife agree on :O ).

Should I buy online? Is it much cheaper? Is it complicated if I know nothing about pedals? Will all MTB pedals fit with all shoe models?


So many questions! Thanks for the help and can't wait to start riding!

R540 spd sl pedals, comes with a pair of cleats, get it online for about 35 bucks. I don't think you can go cheaper than that.

I have always used Mtn shoes and pedals, but that makes one a complete Fred....so be it :-).

Bill

You have a road bike so get road bike pedals and shoes.

Look Keo Classic are reasonable prices. I think my Sidi Zypher shoes were under $150us

I have two pairs of these and have seen for as low as $27 usd lately. For a road pedal you definitely won't get cheaper and they have the same design and function as all other Shimano road pedals. Pair with some R087 shoes and you can be up and running for about $100 all in. MTB pedals and shoes are also an option. MTB shoes have recessed cleats which makes walking easier but shoes are generally not as stiff. If you are not planning on walking much in the shoes, I'd get a dedicated road shoe. I've had both.

I use these shoes:

Shimano SH-M089 MTB Shoes

And I'm happy with them.

I just have to remember not to pull the middle strap (velcro) as tight as I can. Because, if I do, I get hotspots on my feet. But if I pull it to just the right position, it feels very good.

GH

I've been happy with Speedplay both road and Mtn.

Speedplay, and you'll never go back. Specialized Comp road shoe is reasonably priced @$160.00, and extremely comfortable.

I use look keo 2 max and fizik shoes. Either way I would put off the fitting until you decide or at least find out if you can come back AFTER you have your new shoes and cleats setup on the bike. For me my shoes / pedals where always a pain because I started off on cheap ones. One thing I learned is it's worth the extra $$$ for a good seat and shoes.

If you're not planning to do much walking I'd suggest getting road shoes. R540's or 550's are good, inexpensive ones. If you like to match them up with your groupset then go with the 5800's. You can probably get them online from one of the UK retailers for under $100. You could order a pair of shoes at the same time. You'll save a bit of money ordering on line anyway.

Nothing wrong with MTB shoes on a road bike. I have it on my commuter. It makes for walking around the grocery store that much easier.

There's a lot of debate over whether clipless makes you no faster or a little faster (some studies have shown no improvement, but they're testing indoors) and most of the point of clipless other than fashion is just in keeping your foot attached to the pedal.

I know I went through several pairs of clipless shoes, pedals, and ended up back at wearing good regular shoes with good regular pedals.

Just fyi.

For your other questions, it's a lot cheaper usually to buy pedals and cleats online, but I'd always buy shoes either in person where I could try them on, or through somewhere that lets me ship them back as shoes need to fit.

I just bought some Ultegra 6800 pedals today and some giro sottos road shoes first time using clipless pedals and shoes fell in the middle of the road cause i forgot o was wearing them my GIRO shoes are so comfy i forgot to unclip LMFAO scratched my left pedal damn it


OH yeah the ultegra pedals are awesome feels smooth stiff light they feel awesome.

I think where clipless really helps is in spinning. When I try to spin without clipless, my feet will slip, or I won't be as smooth as I want to be.

Also, if clipless didn't give some type of advantage, then why don't more professionals just use platforms?

GH

They're definitely the most thorough system we have for keeping your feet attached to the pedals, while still being able to get out in a crash or sudden unexpected need to stop.

Just the attachment to the bike is enough for road racers, and these are people who drop $10k on a new wheel set to shave off 100 grams. I keep reading that some mountain bike pro racers do not use clipless, if it made a huge advantage in efficiency you'd never see that.

I'm not trying to get into "one is bad and the other is good" debate, I'm just saying that if you went over budget to get the bike you really wanted (the OP's situation), that getting clipless is not at all some sort of "absolutely have to have right now" thing that some people get the impression it is.

I can agree with this. I rode my bike for about a month before getting the clipless pedals. I wanted to make sure I had confidence in my cycling skills before I firmly attached myself to the bike.

GH

Yep I have these and they're awesome. That said, on my other bike I have Shimano R550s and they're just as awesome, and a whole hell of a lot cheaper!

If you don't know anything about pedals and shoes, then work with your LBS to get it right. The difference between speedplay and look or shimano is essentially personal choice unless you need a lot of adjustability, then it's a speedplay game. The main thing here is that setting up a pedal system is more important than the changes between the systems and getting properly fit in a shoe is also more important than where you buy the shoe. Done right, it works great. Done wrong, and you can pretty much cause significant pain in any part of your legs, foot or back. The adjustments are subtle but they matter.

Shoes are a huge deal to get right. Most cycling shoes tend to run narrower than other athletic shoes. Road shoes need to be sized to fit closer to your foot and it is not what you have in your street shoes. Pay attention here - shoes that don't fit can be excruciatingly painful and it likely won't be evident in the store where you try them on.

Road vs Mtb systems is basically about walking comfort vs pedal platform size and stability. A road rider tends to pedal in the same position for a longer period of time, hence the cleat/pedal combined platform size is more important because of the repetitive pressure in the same place and in the same way on their feet/legs. An mtb rider varies their position more so there is more tolerance for a smaller platform in a tradeoff between varied position, walking and pedaling. I prefer road pedals given a choice, but on my adventure bike (use on vacations and back roads), I go with mtb pedals. For mtb pedals, it's pretty hard to beat the new speedplay offering (syzr pedals) because of the adjustability in float and because using them does not depend on the tread on the mtb shoe - the shoe is basically out of the equation. I have a pair and really find them to be a major step up for me over the Time ATAC pedals I had which I found to be a major step up over the Shimano SPD cleats I started with on my mtb. For road pedals, speedplay has a lot more adjustability and it's easier to position the cleats but you will be required to do a little more pedal maintenance (lube) than with look or shimano. I've had them all and I now much prefer speedplay because I have some needs in pedal side to side spacing (Q factor) that cannot be accommodated with other systems like Look or Shimano. In most cases, road pedal systems are a case of "tastes great/less filling."

Using regular shoes on typical pedals is not great. They are not meant for that kind of narrow pressure on your foot. If you are doing any real mileage, at some point, you'll regret not having the stiff sole and platform that a pedal/shoe system gives you.

J.

As a guy who has done his own fitting, I would recommend waiting a bit on clipless pedals and here is why:

They add another variable to your bike fit that can complicate things. I would recommend riding a few weeks minimum with platforms and getting the rest of the bike fit properly for you, and then introduce the pedals.

For example, it would be much easier to diagnose a knee pain problem if you can say, "I rode for three weeks on platforms with no pain, but when I switched to clipless, I started having pain" versus "I just got this new bike and my knee hurts when I ride it."

Just my .02

Wow thanks a ton for the great info! I really appreciate your time. As I feared, pedals & shoes are way more complicated than I thought!

After reading your comments, I think I'll start riding with the normal pedals to get used to the bike and use that time to decide what kind of pedals/shoes to get. It will give me some time to save up some cash as well. I think road shoes will be better now that I think about it since I probably wont be doing much walking in them. I was under the impression that MTB shoes were more comfortable on the bike and I have pretty wide feet so that's why I thought they might be good.

Getting the bike in two days, can't wait to start putting some miles on it!

Remember, you'll need to re-adjust the saddle height when you switch to cycling shoes - almost always lowering the seat. Cycling shoes are designed to be as close to the pedal spindle as they can make them to be and they don't have the thick sole non cycling shoes do. You'll almost certainly be too high when you switch to cycling shoes. Also, lowering a seat often entails moving the saddle aft on the rails since because of the seat tube angle the seat comes closer to the handlebars as you drop it.

MTB shoes are almost always a respin on an equivalent road shoe when you are looking at all but the lowest end shoes. Usually the even are virtual copies of each other except for the sole. So you won't find that one is considerably wider or fitting different than the road version. The good news is that when you find a road shoe that fits, you can usually go look at the same mtb shoe.

FWIW, I take a dead nuts normal width shoe (i.e. not wide or not narrow). I have a heck of a time finding cycling shoes wide enough to be comfortable for the mileage I put in to the point where I'm pretty much resigning myself to looking at custom shoes. Width isn't the only issue for me, but finding wide shoes can be tricky. There are a number of spd based shoes that are set up for commuters but that is not going to have the stiff sole you'll probably want when you start putting in lots of miles.

There is nothing more fun than a new bike except for a new bike you've gotten a bunch of miles on and you and it understand each other.

J.

Thanks for the reply John, I'll keep that in mind when I decide to get the shoe/pedal combo. For the next few weeks, I'll just enjoy the moment with my new bike and standard pedals. It's all I've been thinking about the last few days and I can't wait to feel the wind on my face. 19 hours and I get to officially call her mine. So close, yet so far