Pedals for road touring

navarone

I've just bought my first road bike (after road cycling on a mountain bike for over a year) and am looking into doing some long multi-day cycling trips.

I'm really struggling to decide which pedals to get. I'm drawn to spd's as it means i can get away with only needing one pair of shoes but every bike shop I goes in says they're for mountain bikes only and I should get Looks or SPD-SL's, but people on these forums seem to disagree with them.

Would I notice much difference, I'm really struggling????

night_porter

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12704762

Wooliferkins

OK up front. Ive been touring for 20 years. Most of my club mates use SPDs ie 2 hole MTB cleats. You can walk on them in the right shoes. Pure road cleats are blx for touring in and wherever has told you they're the way forward I would say are race orientated and think "touring" is peak bagging post race season. Most MTB systems will do you fine. Personally I think Shimano is over engineered/priced and under quality. But I ride with many people who disagree with my thoughts where pedals are concerned. I rode clips/straps for years until I moved to Speedplay Frogs. The male part of the join is on the pedal and the female on your shoe. It is a 2 bolt sytem so with shoes with a bit of tread you don't skate or bugger up the wooden floors. Free float and the easiest insert exert known to man why would you mess around with all the screws and springs in an spd system. MTB systems are the way forward for touring and road cleats are for racing and the sportive crowd (ne'er the twain will meet)

unixnerd

I use spds as I have three bikes and don't want three pairs of shoes.

Look at Shimano A520 pedals for the road bike, they look nicer and are lighter than doube sided spds.

Wooliferkins

Double or single sided doesn't matter. SPD road you cant walk in without waddling or going A over T spd 2 hole with mtb/touring shoes you can. How they bolt you to the pedals is immaterial

navarone

Thanks for the advice, I've not used this website much but it's great to get quick replies from other cyclists.

I've decided on SPD's and it's a toss up between the A520's and the M520's, both use the same clipping system but the A520's are single sided (doesn't make much difference for road use) and offer a slightly larger platform so may go with them.

Thanks again :-)

irezumi

I toured New Zealand by pushbike, riding in anything that hasnt got recessed cleats would be a pain for touring.

Also bare in mind if you're touring and take road specific shoes you will need another pair to walk about in. With SPD's you can use them as your only pair of footwear which saves on space and weight.