Shoes & Pedals for touring?

bigpikle

I'm currently using Speedplay pedals and while they are great, the large cleat protruding from the shoe makes them impractical for walking in off the bike. I'm planning a few short tours and really need a pair of shoes that can double as SPD shoes and 'off the bike' shoes.

Can you please recommend some shoe/pedal combo's that people here use please. Ideally SPD rather than clips.

Many thanks

priory

something like shimano m520 pedals and specialised sonoma shoes, which were the best I have had so far and lasted years

bigpikle

thanks - will go check those out

satanas

IMO you cannot go wrong with the Speedplay Frog MTB pedals, along with whatever MTB shoe fits you and your purpose. They are light, have lots of float (like the road Speedplays), require virtually no effort to enter or exit, and have excellent bearings. I've tried SPDs a couple of times but really don't like the lack of float, or the feel of pulling against the spring when tension is loose enough to enter easily. I have a couple of pairs of shoes, one with a carbon sole which is good for MTB races, commuting and audax, and another pair with more flexible soles which are better if much walking is necessary.

Personally, I hate the one-side-SPD/one-side-platform pedals, but YMMV. IME, they are heavy, have poor ground clearance and it's harder to get in quickly in traffic. YMMV.

blorg

I use Shimano SPD sandals for touring. I also have a pair of Specialized Sonoma shoes and they are decent, quite walkable and look pretty normal for a bike shoe. I have a pair of carbon-soled Specialized Expert MTB shoes which are closest to my road shoes in terms of stiffness; you would certainly get away with a bit of walking in them on a short tour; the other options would be better for longer tours with more walking. Road for comparison I use Sidis with Time RXS.

Pedals are a personal choice but I have always used SPD and like them. I have tried many different brands but Shimano are IMO the most reliable. Second to them out of the lightweight pedals I tried a pair of 300g Xpedos have held up pretty well, but I use Shimano exclusively now. All Shimano SPDs work IMO basically the same, you are just looking at weight between them. There is a weight difference between M520 (415g) and M540 (352g) but that is basically it, XT (M770) is claimed only 2g lighter than M540 and not really worth the extra. XTR (M970) drops 25g but at an extortionate price increase. Note you can get lighter than even XTR for much less money from other brands but again IMO Shimano work better and are more reliable. I have used M515, M520, M540 and XT (M770).

For me on a good bike M540 are the best balance between price and weight.

infopete

+1 for frogs

andymiller

(Duplicate post).

andymiller

If you do go down the Shimano road, the XT and XTR pedals have advantage over the others in the range (or at least, the last time I looked they did - Shimano tends to extend new features down the range as time goes by) in that they attach to the pedal using an allen key rather than a pedal spanner, and you don't need a special tool to pull them apart to clean/regrease the bearings.

cycladelic

I have Shimano XT and my wife has the XTR pedals. Both work great.

We have both used the Shimano sandals for years... it's warm here in Taiwan for over 9 months of the year. However, the ones I bought about 2 years ago failed last weekend. They're not really worn out so that's disappointing. One of the side pieces came out from the sole and I don't think they can be repaired.

I've just seen these sandals - link below - which should be cheaper. I called the company today and they say they should be available in Sept, so I'm going to wait until then and buy a pair. Those Shimano ones aren't cheap - around 60-odd quid.

http://www.exustar.com/product_detail.p ... l=2&t1s=12

Wooliferkins

satanas wrote:

IMO you cannot go wrong with the Speedplay Frog MTB pedals, .

+1

blorg

cycladelic wrote:

One of the side pieces came out from the sole and I don't think they can be repaired.

Same happened to mine incidentally.