Touring pedals and shoes for sportives??

allmountain76

Im new to road biking coming from MTB. Ive just bought an Isaac Ultrasonic to do the Fred Whitton on in May. Pedals wise i was looking at putting on touring (Shiamno A600) pedals on and using a recessed cleat shoe (RT80) with as stiff as sols as available in an RT shoe.

Will i get major burning in the balls of my feet with this set up on a sportive? Reason being is i dont want to be clanking around like a metal footed duck if i have to walk some of the passes. Believe me im under no illusions that Wrynose / Hardknott will be a walk!!

Also, i could use my more casual 661 SPD shoes for leisurely rides in baggy shorts!

Cheers for any advice.

Rich

ba68

I have RT-81's which are just the newer version I think. I've worn them for 50+ mile rides and they are very comfy, no real problems once you get the strap tightness right. A word on sizing though, I'm normally a 42.5 - 43 (size 8 1/2) but the RT-81's are a 44 and are spot on, general advice was to go up a size. I use them with A530 pedals.

simon_e

As long as the shoes are comfy you should be fine. SPD shoes and pedals are perfectly good enough for most people most of the time. Some prefer the single-sided type e.g. Shimano A520/A600 claiming it offers a larger platform for the shoe while others say that's irrelevant with a reasonably supportive sole and use double-sided ones like Shimano M520 with no problems.

BTW this subject comes up regularly - some recent discussions:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12736557
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12751318
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12627701