Pedal compatibility and advice

jteighty
jteighty Posts: 120
edited July 2009 in Road buying advice
Hi,

I'm looking at getting my first set of SPDs. I've decided to get the shimano PD-M324 double sided pedals. I'm not sure how cleats work; Are all shoes compatible with all cleats? (I think this pedal takes the SH-51)

I'm looking at the following shoes. Are they all compatible and which ones do you recommend?

Diadora Aero
Adidas Vueltano
Gaerne G.Ala 2007
Gaerne G.Air 2008
DHB R1
Shimano R075
Diadora Ergo Plus

Thanks


JT80

Comments

  • turkeytickler
    turkeytickler Posts: 640
    No they are not universally compatible.

    to be pedantic, the compatibility relationship involves three components;

    pedal (will have bindings to accept a specific type of cleat (e.g. SPD, SPD/SL)
    cleat (different formats = different shoe base fixings)
    shoe (can be drilled to accept cleats for any combination of cleat formats are either road (SPD/SL etc) with no tread, or mountain / touring / casual (with a tread and recessed cleat) - depends on the model)

    Ignoring the non shimano variants, current shimano formats are;

    - SPD (2 bolt cleat) mountain bike / touring/ casual use
    - SPD SL - 3 bolt cleat strictly for road use and hard to walk in the shoes

    the two are incompatible with one another although some shoes (fairly rare) have drillings to accept many formats

    if you want to use a "road" platform, alternatives are look, mavic and numerous others but be prepared to look like you are walking with a wet fart in your pants in the process. if you want to walk in the shoes for any distance, SPD is the shimano choice.

    any shimano shoe model starting M will be drilled to take SPD cleats and any starting R will be drilled to take SPD SL respectively.

    you might come across SPD-R too but this is an old format and is strictly road use only as per its suceessor SPD SL.

    there are plenty non-shimano manufactured SPD compatible shoes and pedals

    PD-M324 pedals would work with M075 shoes (not R075s) if that helps....

    hth
    someone else could probably have put this more succinctly - i blame red wine :)
  • jteighty
    jteighty Posts: 120
    edited July 2009
    turkeytickler wrote:
    No they are not universally compatible.

    to be pedantic, the compatibility relationship involves three components;

    pedal (will have bindings to accept a specific type of cleat (e.g. SPD, SPD/SL)
    cleat (different formats = different shoe base fixings)
    shoe (can be drilled to accept cleats for any combination of cleat formats are either road (SPD/SL etc) with no tread, or mountain / touring / casual (with a tread and recessed cleat) - depends on the model)

    Ignoring the non shimano variants, current shimano formats are;

    - SPD (2 bolt cleat) mountain bike / touring/ casual use
    - SPD SL - 3 bolt cleat strictly for road use and hard to walk in the shoes

    the two are incompatible with one another although some shoes (fairly rare) have drillings to accept many formats

    if you want to use a "road" platform, alternatives are look, mavic and numerous others but be prepared to look like you are walking with a wet fart in your pants in the process. if you want to walk in the shoes for any distance, SPD is the shimano choice.

    any shimano shoe model starting M will be drilled to take SPD cleats and any starting R will be drilled to take SPD SL respectively.

    you might come across SPD-R too but this is an old format and is strictly road use only as per its suceessor SPD SL.

    there are plenty non-shimano manufactured SPD compatible shoes and pedals

    PD-M324 pedals would work with M075 shoes (not R075s) if that helps....

    hth
    someone else could probably have put this more succinctly - i blame red wine :)

    You explained it well, thanks. Are all the shoes I have listed racing? When you say racing do youu mean 3 pin? If so would the PD-M324 accept it?

    I think that the Diadora Aero accept 2 pin acc to picture, is this true:

    http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=25914

    The Diadora Ergo also seem to:

    http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=25911

    Regarding the Adidas Vueltano I'm not quite sure:

    http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=19721

    If what I have said is correct, which one out of the 3 above would you most strongly recommend?

    Thanks

    JT80
  • turkeytickler
    turkeytickler Posts: 640
    jteighty wrote:
    turkeytickler wrote:
    No they are not universally compatible.

    to be pedantic, the compatibility relationship involves three components;

    pedal (will have bindings to accept a specific type of cleat (e.g. SPD, SPD/SL)
    cleat (different formats = different shoe base fixings)
    shoe (can be drilled to accept cleats for any combination of cleat formats are either road (SPD/SL etc) with no tread, or mountain / touring / casual (with a tread and recessed cleat) - depends on the model)

    Ignoring the non shimano variants, current shimano formats are;

    - SPD (2 bolt cleat) mountain bike / touring/ casual use
    - SPD SL - 3 bolt cleat strictly for road use and hard to walk in the shoes

    the two are incompatible with one another although some shoes (fairly rare) have drillings to accept many formats

    if you want to use a "road" platform, alternatives are look, mavic and numerous others but be prepared to look like you are walking with a wet fart in your pants in the process. if you want to walk in the shoes for any distance, SPD is the shimano choice.

    any shimano shoe model starting M will be drilled to take SPD cleats and any starting R will be drilled to take SPD SL respectively.

    you might come across SPD-R too but this is an old format and is strictly road use only as per its suceessor SPD SL.

    there are plenty non-shimano manufactured SPD compatible shoes and pedals

    PD-M324 pedals would work with M075 shoes (not R075s) if that helps....

    hth
    someone else could probably have put this more succinctly - i blame red wine :)

    You explained it well, thanks. Are all the shoes I have listed racing? When you say racing do youu mean 3 pin? If so would the PD-M324 accept it?
    Thats a lot of research to ask me to do :-)

    The PD-M324 pedals are SPDs, NOT SPD SLs.

    What you need to check against each shoe is whether they will take SPD Cleats or not. Just because they are "road" shoes doesnt necessarily mean they only take road cleats....

    out of interest, your list of shoes is largely road shoes - what is your intended use and what bike are you putting this on?

    road shoes tends to be the road racing format as opposed to shoes that will be perfectly usable on a road as well as off road.....
  • jteighty
    jteighty Posts: 120
    turkeytickler wrote:
    jteighty wrote:
    turkeytickler wrote:
    No they are not universally compatible.

    to be pedantic, the compatibility relationship involves three components;

    pedal (will have bindings to accept a specific type of cleat (e.g. SPD, SPD/SL)
    cleat (different formats = different shoe base fixings)
    shoe (can be drilled to accept cleats for any combination of cleat formats are either road (SPD/SL etc) with no tread, or mountain / touring / casual (with a tread and recessed cleat) - depends on the model)

    Ignoring the non shimano variants, current shimano formats are;

    - SPD (2 bolt cleat) mountain bike / touring/ casual use
    - SPD SL - 3 bolt cleat strictly for road use and hard to walk in the shoes

    the two are incompatible with one another although some shoes (fairly rare) have drillings to accept many formats

    if you want to use a "road" platform, alternatives are look, mavic and numerous others but be prepared to look like you are walking with a wet fart in your pants in the process. if you want to walk in the shoes for any distance, SPD is the shimano choice.

    any shimano shoe model starting M will be drilled to take SPD cleats and any starting R will be drilled to take SPD SL respectively.

    you might come across SPD-R too but this is an old format and is strictly road use only as per its suceessor SPD SL.

    there are plenty non-shimano manufactured SPD compatible shoes and pedals

    PD-M324 pedals would work with M075 shoes (not R075s) if that helps....

    hth
    someone else could probably have put this more succinctly - i blame red wine :)

    You explained it well, thanks. Are all the shoes I have listed racing? When you say racing do youu mean 3 pin? If so would the PD-M324 accept it?
    Thats a lot of research to ask me to do :-)

    The PD-M324 pedals are SPDs, NOT SPD SLs.

    What you need to check against each shoe is whether they will take SPD Cleats or not. Just because they are "road" shoes doesnt necessarily mean they only take road cleats....

    out of interest, your list of shoes is largely road shoes - what is your intended use and what bike are you putting this on?

    road shoes tends to be the road racing format as opposed to shoes that will be perfectly usable on a road as well as off road.....

    I intend to use them for comuting and for weekend rides. I plan in the future to do a bit of long distance riding for example london to paris.

    I have edited my post above to bring down my choice to 3 options. (I think they are all SPD compatible)

    Thanks

    JT80

    P.S my list is just a compilation of shoes I have found cheap in the sales. Shoes that I may be interested in.
  • turkeytickler
    turkeytickler Posts: 640
    looking at the photos of the soles they do all look likely to be compatible but i wouldnt part with your cash on the strength of my guess. you need to check with the manufacturer or with CRC.

    also, to be honest, because each manufacturer is slightly different in their sizing, what would fit like a glove for me at my "standard" size might be an instrument of torture for you at your equivalent, so unless you are familiar with shoes from each manufacture dont go by size alone. i would only ever buy shimano shoes over the web because i know their size 45 fits me. no idea what sidi / dhb / diadora size 45s would be like...

    my advice.... there are few things in life its best not to compromise on, 1. a bed since you spend 8 hours a day on it, and shoes being another. go to your lbs and try some on, buy the ones that feel the nicest and be prepared to spend what it takes within reason. otherwise your feet will hurt and you will be miserablen :-(

    Best of luck :-)
  • dru
    dru Posts: 1,341
    I went thorugh the same things just yesterday.

    I ended up going to a local LBS and getting my shoes fitted properly and ended up buying the Shimano R076 for a great price (£53 down from £70)

    I was going to buy 'online' some 44's - good job I didn't as only the 45's fitted which would not have been what I wanted to get without a fitting :)

    HTH

    Dru.

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