Best road shoe and pedal match

kenniff

Are any shoes and clips better than others,types,makes.
Bare in mind im a newby please
cheers
ken

Monty Dog

The biggest factor is whether you plan on walking around in your shoes a lot e.g. for commuting i.e. use MTB pedals and shoes.
Road pedals and shoes are generally lighter and provide a greater feel of power transmission - the downside is they're less good for walking around in.
Finally, set your budget - you could spend from £50 to over 500!

pbt150

All the different companies use slightly different sizing and will fit differently. For a first pair of shoes I'd recommend trying on several different makes/models/sizes in your local bike shop till you find the pair that fit. The buy a sensible, robust pedal depending on if you want road or mtb.

louthepoo

i debated the same, i walk a bit with the shoes and wanted the comfort of having a double sided pedal so went for spd's with mtb shoes. Cant compare to the others as i haven't tried them

skdotcom

Apologies for hi-jacking this thread, but I have a similar debate. I currently use MTB SPDs on a hybrid bike, and have some Specialized BG Expert MTB shoes, which I really like and find v.comfortable.
I've just bought a road bike, and cant decide whether to get SPD -SL pedals, and therefore another pair of shoes, or to get some higher spec SPD pedals and continue to use my existing shoes.

Any opinions on what to do?

gjw2309

i am having this desicion to make at the moment as well and i am between the Shimano R 540 SPD-SL:
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop ... L_2246.htm


and the Outland Keo Road pedals:
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop ... s_1983.htm

unsure which to go for the outland set seems to have an adjustable spring which is good for a begginer like me but shimano is a much more known name

father_jack

skdotcom wrote:

Apologies for hi-jacking this thread, but I have a similar debate. I currently use MTB SPDs on a hybrid bike, and have some Specialized BG Expert MTB shoes, which I really like and find v.comfortable.
I've just bought a road bike, and cant decide whether to get SPD -SL pedals, and therefore another pair of shoes, or to get some higher spec SPD pedals and continue to use my existing shoes.

Any opinions on what to do?

Go for SPD-SL. I have SPD A520 for the tourer, and SPD-SL for the roadie.

skdotcom

Father Jack wrote:

skdotcom wrote:

Apologies for hi-jacking this thread, but I have a similar debate. I currently use MTB SPDs on a hybrid bike, and have some Specialized BG Expert MTB shoes, which I really like and find v.comfortable.
I've just bought a road bike, and cant decide whether to get SPD -SL pedals, and therefore another pair of shoes, or to get some higher spec SPD pedals and continue to use my existing shoes.

Any opinions on what to do?

Go for SPD-SL. I have SPD A520 for the tourer, and SPD-SL for the roadie.

So you've got two pairs of shoes?

My MTB shoes are not compatible with SPD-SL, and they cost £130, so are pretty good. Is it really worth paying say £40 for SPD-SL pedals, and another £130 for shoes, or is my money best spent on decent SPD pedals for my road bike?

father_jack

yeah. Two bikes, two shoes. It's worth it. I'd go SPD for MTB/tourer/commuter, and SPD-SL for proper road bike. You'll understand once you do it.

oh there's look that's road pedal never used them, also time and probably a few more.

TMR

skdotcom wrote:

Is it really worth paying say £40 for SPD-SL pedals, and another £130 for shoes, or is my money best spent on decent SPD pedals for my road bike?

You don't need to spend £130 on SPD-SL shoes, you can get decent ones for £60 or so.

dennisn

IMHO I think you're over thinking this(making more of it than there is). Get a good fitting, comfortable pair of shoes(brand names be damned). As for pedals, all of them hold your foot in pretty much the exact same position on every pedal. Most of todays clipless pedals are basically the same thing, so no big deal there. Buy what you can afford and / or what you like the looks of(i.e. you want top line pedals - go for it). Comfortable shoe is the key though.

skdotcom

dennisn wrote:

IMHO I think you're over thinking this(making more of it than there is). Get a good fitting, comfortable pair of shoes(brand names be damned). As for pedals, all of them hold your foot in pretty much the exact same position on every pedal. Most of todays clipless pedals are basically the same thing, so no big deal there. Buy what you can afford and / or what you like the looks of(i.e. you want top line pedals - go for it). Comfortable shoe is the key though.

The way I'm looking at it is :

I've got comfy MTB shoes already, they are light weight, carbon, and rigid - so not much different from road bike shoes.
Whilst I agree with the post above that I dont need to spend £130 on shoes, I already have £130 MTB shoes, so getting a pair of £60 road bike shoes would be a downgrade?

I think 'd get more benefit from decent SPD pedals for my road bike ( I currently use M520s on my hybrid) and continuing to use my existing shoes.

Does this make sense, or am I missing something fundemental about SPD-SL that means they are a much better option?

Scrumple

specialized bg basic model, and 105 spd sl pedals
done!

skdotcom

Scrumple wrote:

specialized bg basic model, and 105 spd sl pedals
done!

Yeah, but as I said before aint my Spesh £130 MNTB shoes better than £60 road bike ones?

Spending more on decent SPD pedals seems the sensible option, but no-ones really giving a reason to suggest otherwise.

TMR

skdotcom wrote:

The way I'm looking at it is :

I've got comfy MTB shoes already, they are light weight, carbon, and rigid - so not much different from road bike shoes.
Whilst I agree with the post above that I dont need to spend £130 on shoes, I already have £130 MTB shoes, so getting a pair of £60 road bike shoes would be a downgrade?

I think 'd get more benefit from decent SPD pedals for my road bike ( I currently use M520s on my hybrid) and continuing to use my existing shoes.

Does this make sense, or am I missing something fundemental about SPD-SL that means they are a much better option?

It reads as though you've already made your mind up. Ultimately, only you know what you want. Why not buy the SPD pedals and give it a go? If the MTB shoes don't cut it, then you can sell the SPD pedals on eBay and buy SPD-SL and some shoes.

skdotcom

The Mad Rapper wrote:

skdotcom wrote:

The way I'm looking at it is :

I've got comfy MTB shoes already, they are light weight, carbon, and rigid - so not much different from road bike shoes.
Whilst I agree with the post above that I dont need to spend £130 on shoes, I already have £130 MTB shoes, so getting a pair of £60 road bike shoes would be a downgrade?

I think 'd get more benefit from decent SPD pedals for my road bike ( I currently use M520s on my hybrid) and continuing to use my existing shoes.

Does this make sense, or am I missing something fundemental about SPD-SL that means they are a much better option?

It reads as though you've already made your mind up. Ultimately, only you know what you want. Why not buy the SPD pedals and give it a go? If the MTB shoes don't cut it, then you can sell the SPD pedals on eBay and buy SPD-SL and some shoes.

I suppose deep down, i think SPD-SL pedals will look better on a road bike , and am a little bit concerned that putting MTB pedals on a road bike will be frowned upon by other roadies!

But, I'm also a tight fisted git, and dont want to get another pair of shoes unless there is really a benefit.

I really am torn between the two options.

tigerben

Save the cash and stick with the SPD's if you are happy with your current shoes. I'm not sure you would notice sufficient difference between your decent SPD shoes and SPD-SL - assuming that this is your first road bike. You can always upgrade in the future....

invincible

reading the thread i think the best thing would be to buy some cheap spd's & see how you go with them, if you dont like or feel you want road spec shows in the future you've only lost £20

Erudin

gjw2309 wrote:

i am having this desicion to make at the moment as well and i am between the Shimano R 540 SPD-SL.....

I've got these, the only pain with them is the plastic body cover (Y-45F06000) is a consumable part (4 in pic below) and wears out. I would have got the Shimano 105 PD-5700 which look more durable had I known.