Road shoes and pedals.

Stoo61

I have been road riding from mountain biking since the summer and figure i should look into getting some proper road pedals and shoes.

However i have NO idea what i'm looking for, can someone recommend a shoe and pedal combo that is fairly cheap and fairly high performing. For instance are there any stock answers to this question?


Cheers.

rick_chasey

Shimano SPD-SL, or the Look pedal systems.

Stoo61

Do Shimano SPD - SL Pedals only work with Shimano shoes?

rick_chasey

Most shoes work with both.

They should say if they don't.

Hairyside

No, they will fit any shoes with the 3 bolt pattern on the sole. It is the cleat/pedal system that differs between SPD SL and Look etc...

bilirubin

Fairly cheap does not always come with high performance so you will have to compromise somewhere.
I am fairly new to cycling shoes and clipless pedals so to avoid wasting money in case I did not get on with them I went for a pair of Northwave Vertigo's and Look Keo pedals and I got change out of £110.00.

Hope this helps

sub55

bilirubin wrote:

Fairly cheap does not always come with high performance so you will have to compromise somewhere.
I am fairly new to cycling shoes and clipless pedals so to avoid wasting money in case I did not get on with them I went for a pair of Northwave Vertigo's and Look Keo pedals and I got change out of £110.00.

Hope this helps

cost is all relative

gavintc

The answers on here are correct. Essentially, you need to make the decision as to whether to follow the tourer/mountain bike (SPD) route in which the cleat is recessed into the shoe allowing the shoe to be used for walking or the road shoe that locates the cleat external to the shoe and makes walking more than a few yards a little bit awkward.

Almost all roads shoes can be used with almost all pedals. Choose your shoes, and then look at the pedals. The two do can be chosen separately. The cleat specific to the pedal will almost certainly come with the pedal. There are a very wide rang of pedals. The Look Keo and SPD SL are the most common, but there are others; eg. Speedplay

briantrumpet

gavintc wrote:

Essentially, you need to make the decision as to whether to follow the tourer/mountain bike (SPD) route in which the cleat is recessed into the shoe allowing the shoe to be used for walking or the road shoe that locates the cleat external to the shoe and makes walking more than a few yards a little bit awkward.

I'm still on SPDs and am wondering whether to move onto SPD-SLs. Any thoughts? - are they really that much more efficient? I like the practicality of SPDs, and don't get sore feet, even on 100-mile runs. Will I be able to go faster, or go further more easily? Or will they just make me look more like a proper cyclist??

rdt

briantrumpet wrote:

gavintc wrote:

Essentially, you need to make the decision as to whether to follow the tourer/mountain bike (SPD) route in which the cleat is recessed into the shoe allowing the shoe to be used for walking or the road shoe that locates the cleat external to the shoe and makes walking more than a few yards a little bit awkward.

I'm still on SPDs and am wondering whether to move onto SPD-SLs. Any thoughts? - are they really that much more efficient? I like the practicality of SPDs, and don't get sore feet, even on 100-mile runs. Will I be able to go faster, or go further more easily? Or will they just make me look more like a proper cyclist??

The main choice is between soft-soled shoes and very stiff soled shoes, and between pedal systems with no/little float and those with lots of float.

It's the softness of the shoe that may involve a tiny loss of efficiency, through energy used to flex the sole and be dissipated as heat, although the main effects will relate to comfort and feel. A soft soled shoes on a small recessed cleat system (e.g. SPD) may have a greater chance of causing hot-spots, due to the pressure being concentrated in one point, and will give the rider the perception of being less solidly "connected" to the pedals.

Pedal systems with greater float may also make the rider feel less "connected" to the pedals, but in efficiency terms, unless your feet are slopping and rocking around all over the place due to very bizarre pedalling form, any energy losses should again be tiny. And for those who require it, the benefit of the float to the knees will far outweigh any possible tiny inefficiencies.

In summary, the "efficiency" line is largely a crock of marketing sh1t invented by manufacturers in order to sell more product. And cyclists are suckers for stuff like that as we know.

If you find recessed-cleat pedals/shoes work for you, and don't cause any comfort problems, then I'd stick with them, for their obvious practical advantages.

briantrumpet

rdt wrote:

In summary, the "efficiency" line is largely a crock of marketing sh1t invented by manufacturers in order to sell more product.

Well, that's my general impression, so it's interesting to hear it from someone else. I quite like having the bit of float, though still aim to keep everything tracking straight. And it's nice to be able to get off the bike and walk like a vaguely normal person.

LeicesterLad

I got some Shimano SPD-SL (entry level, but perfectly good enough for all abilities) from ChainReaction for £24 and a pair of DHB R1 Shoes from wiggle £50, all fit together fine, shoes actually quite a high standard for the price, cant go wrong if its your first venture into pedals and shoes, although im sure there will be different opinions, many road bikers prefer SPD's especially on a commute.

simon_e

briantrumpet wrote:

I'm still on SPDs and am wondering whether to move onto SPD-SLs. Any thoughts? - are they really that much more efficient? I like the practicality of SPDs, and don't get sore feet, even on 100-mile runs. Will I be able to go faster, or go further more easily? Or will they just make me look more like a proper cyclist??

As I type, the very next thread below this one in the same forum is about this very subject:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12736557

briantrumpet

Simon E wrote:

briantrumpet wrote:

I'm still on SPDs and am wondering whether to move onto SPD-SLs. Any thoughts? - are they really that much more efficient? I like the practicality of SPDs, and don't get sore feet, even on 100-mile runs. Will I be able to go faster, or go further more easily? Or will they just make me look more like a proper cyclist??

As I type, the very next thread below this one in the same forum is about this very subject:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12736557

Ah, excellent, thanks - I'd missed that somehow. I think I'll be sticking with SPDs, both for the practical reasons (walking, etc.) and given that I've had knee niggles, they're probably a little more forgiving. From the other thread, it seems I'm not totally alone in preferring them for road use.

ride_whenever

You could always get some nicer shoes for your current setup instead!

I suggest sidis!

briantrumpet

ride_whenever wrote:

You could always get some nicer shoes for your current setup instead!

I suggest sidis!

I've just bought a bike I didn't intend to (see below), so think I'll make do with some Shimano RT31s for now, till the structural deficit has been erased from the UK economy.

ride_whenever

Ooooops!

These things happen!

briantrumpet

ride_whenever wrote:

Ooooops!

These things happen!

Well, £1000 off a Super Six ... it would have been silly not to...

ride_whenever

Well exactly, so how much would have to be off a set of sidi ergo 2 to make them worth while?

Nifer

briantrumpet wrote:

Simon E wrote:

briantrumpet wrote:

I'm still on SPDs and am wondering whether to move onto SPD-SLs. Any thoughts? - are they really that much more efficient? I like the practicality of SPDs, and don't get sore feet, even on 100-mile runs. Will I be able to go faster, or go further more easily? Or will they just make me look more like a proper cyclist??

As I type, the very next thread below this one in the same forum is about this very subject:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12736557

Ah, excellent, thanks - I'd missed that somehow. I think I'll be sticking with SPDs, both for the practical reasons (walking, etc.) and given that I've had knee niggles, they're probably a little more forgiving. From the other thread, it seems I'm not totally alone in preferring them for road use.

I have stuck with MTB SPDs for my road bike - I find them really easy to slip in and out of when I'm commuting.

briantrumpet

ride_whenever wrote:

Well exactly, so how much would have to be off a set of sidi ergo 2 to make them worth while?

They might be good, but cost about two-thirds of what I paid for the tank (aka Giant Defy 4) that I use for commuting. I'd need lots of convincing (and probably lots of alcohol) to spend £200 more than the Shimanos. I can remember when Mars Bars were 3p.

ride_whenever

Hehe, i had an irresponsible splurge on some dragon 2 (the mtb ones but in red) and i basically wear them all the time.

In fact I currently have them on now...

mudslinger

I was in a similar position in that I was using MTB shoes & pedals on my road bike. I took the plunge & bought some DHB carbon sole shoes & SPD-SL pedals due to vanity as I had a new white road bike (it looked wrong using muddy MTB shoes) & I believed the hype about efficiency gains. After using them twice there are no efficiency gains (MTB shoes are pretty stiff), clipping in a much more a PITA & probably more uncomfortable. So if I could go back in time I'd buy some nice white stiff MTB shoes purely to satisfy the vanity aspect

paulbox

Great thread, I'm currently thinking about buying a road bike and am glad that I'll be able to use my existing mtb shoes without looking like a complete knob.

Got some nice cf soled Bontrager shoes a couple of months back, very comfy!

Nifer

I got some lovely nike SPD shoes for a fiver at a bike jumble, and a week later scuffed the knackers out of the carbon fibre sole by staying in the pub too long after work on a Friday (you know those days when you just stop "for one" and end up phoning your other half at 10pm to come and pick you up? I had to buy him a chinese takeaway on the way home to make up for it).