rusty23503

I am looking at new shoes and curious what is the main difference between the "LOOK" style and SPD type of pedals? Some of the shoes I am looking at only have the 3-bolt LOOK pattern.

Thanks

DXchulo

What shoes are you looking at? Most shoes are going to be compatible with both.

These would fit a 3-hole shoe anyway.

Proximo

If you plan to use your bike to commute in stop and go traffic, SPD is a better choice. The reason is that the soles on most SPD shoes are lugged soft rubber meaning they will grip the pedal even if you miss the clip in. That's one of the major reasons SPD is almost universal on mountain bikes. 3-bolt shoes are more oriented toward racing and the shoes tend to have stiff, slick, plastic or carbon soles. If you miss the clip in, they slip right off the pedal. When taking off from a stop at a light with traffic moving around you, the last thing you want is to have your foot slip off the pedal. For that reason, I use SPD for my commuter bike.

grahny

SPD pedals use a smaller, recessed cleat, which allows you to walk in the shoe very easily (cleat is recessed into the shoe). This is used most often in mountain biking & cyclocross as well as fairly common for commuters. SPD pedal systems are arguably easier to clip in and out of and more diverse in application.

LOOK is a bicycle manufacturer and not necessarily a type of cleat. Their pedal systems use a 3 bolt cleat and the pedal is used for standard road cycling. The cleat is larger and not recessed, so the shoes they are used with aren't as easy to walk in because they are protruding from the underside of the shoe. If you don't plan on doing any walking, or very little, this system works fine. The same goes for Speedplay pedals which are similar in nature (mine are a 4 bolt pattern, but you can get 3 bolt adaptors). You can also get cleat covers for these systems to protech the cleat and also improve walkability.

I use SPD's on my cross & MTB and speedplays on my soloist. All work fine and I have no issues with walking with the speedplays and some cleat covers.

ohsmily

I use Crank Bros Quattro pedals. They are for the SPD type system but you can get an adapter to work with the three hole pattern as well. Even though it is on my road bike (06 Fuji Team), I like the ability to walk around with some semblance of stability when not clipped into the pedals. The slightly rececessed cleat and plastic housing allows for this to some degree.

rusty23503

Thanks for all the responses. I have a road bike and a commuter bike. I use the SPDs on both. With the commuter I use a pair of Cannondale shoes and the road I have road shoes. I was just curious of the benefits of the 3-bolt cleat.

dekalbSTEEL

Look style cleats provide a wider platform to distribute the load across more of your foot. And they're no easier or harder to clip into than SPDs.

3MTA3

at one shop i worked at, the owner always used crank bros pedals & i kept telling him to try the look pedals due to their wide platform. he kept resisting me for months & then he caved in & tried our demo set. he came in to work the next day before we opened & yelled to the staff: "attention everyone! if you have not used look pedals before, get a set & you will never buy other pedals again!" since then that demo set has not left his desalvo.

if you're looking to walk around, don't get look pedals. if you're looking to ride your bike, get look pedals.

Al1943

If you'll search the forum archives you'll find a lot of information and opinions on pedals.

stevecaz

Well, you actually can say that LOOK is a type of cleat. They have the original "delta" cleat and the new "Keo" cleat. But before the Keo version came along it was pretty much identified as the LOOK cleat. And make no mistake, the 3-hole pattern is the LOOK pattern. Just because Shimano abandoned version after version of their SPD system for road use and finally came up with a LOOK copy SL system that uses the LOOK 3-hole system, doesn't mean its now a generic pattern.

Road shoes should no longer come with SPD 2-bolt holes, as they are useless and add 2 big gaping slots in the soles plus of course need for the metal inserts if you do use them. Or in some shoes the inserts are already in and you end up having to stuff something in there to stop the rattling. Since the Crank Bros. have an adpater for the Look 3-hole pattern, that really makes a 2-bolt SPD plate on road shoes a dying system. The SPD system remains the best for MTB and recreational use where you need a shoe with a recessed cleat for easy walking.

umd

Speedplay!

oldspark

My two cents, SPD road bad-SPD MB good.

rusty23503

Thanks again for all the advice. I will be going with the LOOK cleat for the road bike.

aikigreg

BEBOPS Nothing else compares.

Grasschopper

I vote for SPD-SLs and the Ultegra version to be more specific. https://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=D1017