SPD or SPD SL ?

bunnerscj

Hi all,

Got SPD pedals fitted to my road bike and dont really want to change to SL's as I use shoes for both this bike and my MTB

Need some new shoes, old ones are for MTB, fancy some new ones for road that aren't covered in mud !

Question : Is it worth buying SL shoes and fitting them with a shimano cleat adapter to fit from SL to SPD, concerned that road shoes are lighter but with the adapter, should I just buy MTB shoes for road use which have SPD functionality ?

What you reckon ?
Ta

soveda

I found using MTB cleats on road shoes a right PITA. The pedals are designed so that the tread of the shoe presses on the pedal as well as the cleat pressing and so I could really feel the cleat through the shoe and it felt unstable.
I changed to a road cleat and it's much better.

Not realy helpful mind you as I use Crank Bros pedals:

original egg beaters on the MTB
Candy Cs on the road bike

The road shoes are Mavic Avenir shoes, not really much stiffer than the Specialised Comp MTB shoes I had before.

So to summarise: Get new touring/MTB shoes if you want to keep the same pedals, just be aware you'll never be Euro-cool:

calvjones

If you race, get SLs. If you don't I think the extra functionality of MTB shoes and SPDs is very useful. For example, did the tour of flanders this year in SPDs and suffered no 'hotspots'. Having recessed cleats meant that when I was forced to stop on the 25% Muur because of stopped riders in front, getting back on & cycling to the top was easy, unlike the riders in road shoes who were royally shagged

I suspect the stiffness/lightness of 'pure' road shoes is overrrated unless you put big watts down (which I don't). Just my 2 penn'orth

careful

Soveda said

So to summarise: Get new touring/MTB shoes if you want to keep the same pedals, just be aware you'll never be Euro-cool

I agree with that. I have some racing shoes with SPD adapters - they are awkward to walk in and the lighter shoe makes no difference. I also have racing shoes wth SL cleats which I use on a different bike - I find no advantage and they are a pain to clip in sometimes.

GyatsoLa

I've alternated between SPD's with mtb shoes and Look Keo's on my roadbike. The performance benefits of SL type pedals are very minor unless you are racing or doing a real endurance day with lots of climbing. For convenience regular spd's are perfectly ok for general riding.

gabriel959

I have only used SPDs + Shimanos SPD 520 pedal and have noticed somethimes lack of power transfer (and I am not mario cipollini!) and lack of a platform - the platform bit is easily solved by buying a more expensive pedal but I am not so sure about the power transfer. I have just bought SPD-SLs for my new bike but haven't been able to try them yet!

thedaffodilfish

I have spds on my commuting hack/bike about town and theyre great for that purpose - park the bike and walk about without sounding all clippy-cloppy and balancing like a girl in heels. On the other hand I have SLs on my road bike and personally I find the broader, flat pedal with an external cleat to by more comfortable on long distance rides, and (i think) improved power transfer. Also they look cooler and more roadie

I wouldn't change if you're only concerned about weight of shoes etc.