Cycling Specific Shoes - How big a difference do they make?

Scrappaman

Dear all,

Having recently purchased my first road bike I have been out on a few hard rides with friends, all of whom have advised me that the first item on my bike shopping list should be cycle specific shoes and SPD pedals.

These seem to be a pretty expensive investment and what I'm essentially looking for is some input as to whether or not they make enough difference to my riding to justify the £130 that they seem to cost!

Everyone's experience will be different and I'd really appreciate anyone's input - even if it is just to say 'yes - they are good'!

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Thelittlesthobo

Apart from the performance imporvement you will find that you will also get better comfort from the much stiffer soles.

Just come back from a 50km ride on what are basically football trainers on flats. The sole of my feet after about 30km was starting to ache. My shoes are on order and i have the pedals ready

CiB

Difference = huge; look at around £60 as a start point for shoes, not £130.

MTB pedals such as Shimano 520 / 540 (I think) will do as good a job, at a lower price point.

cougie

Huge difference. But you wont need to spend £130.

mikeyboy12345

You'll be astounded by the difference - best upgrade you'll ever make for performance and comfort! If on a budget you should be able to get pedals and shoes for £65-70. I started with £50 Specialized MTB shoes, but for pure road riding I upgraded to the S-Works road shoe. 4 times the price, but definitely better value in terms of improved comfort and performance.

fludey

They make quite a difference, if you shop around you will start out less than that. I paid £50 for my shimano shoes and got a set of 105 pedals for £30, have a look on eBay for pedals but your best to go to a shop for shoes for fitting etc

Wacky Racer

Take it from a new roadie that it really does make a vast difference. Much better power because of the stiffer soles, and being clipped in. I'd used flats for trail riding for many years, so it was quite unnatural for me to switch to being clipped in, but I bit the bullet and spent about £115 on pedals and shoes and apart from a couple of shin scrapes when I was first getting used to clipping in they have added another 20% to my ride. I wouldn't switch back to flats now.

Evilbug

a great difference, as a relative newbie I started suffering with foot pain due to no support whilst riding, I bought some spd pedals and MTB Lizzard and not looked back so far

Philby

They will also keep your feet in the most efficient and effective pedalling position, give you greater stability and enable you to transfer power from your legs to the bike more effectively.

BikeSwan

When I first started using SPD pedals years ago I was very surprised at the difference that they made. I would highly recommend them. I would look at the cheaper options first (Shimano M520 SPD, Time Roc Atacs, etc), and unless their is a good deal in a store, buy online because it's a lot cheaper. Make sure you get standard pedals and shoes (Shimano, Time, Crank Brothers, etc) because spares and overall product knowledge is a lot more available than specialist stuff.

lifeform

Yep, as above - the best upgrade on a new roadie.

Plus points;
- massive improvement in climbing as you're pulling as well as pushing
- huge acceleration difference for the same reason
- more stability when really grinding as you're bolted to the bike
- better power transfer than trainers
- less knee/leg problems as you're forced to ride with the correct leg positioning
- no hot feet

Negative points
- you can't walk very far
- you'll soon discover that traffic bollards aren't for leaning on :oops:

fludey

Just as another note I started on spd mtb shoes as I had them on my kona, but as I got more into the road bike I bought some road shoes and pedals.
Whilst the improvement was not massive I did find them better on longer rides as the load bearing is a bit more spread, I also found with the double sided mtb pedals I sometimes brushed the ground when pedaling through a corner.
So if your starting from scratch got straight for the spd-sl or equivalent IMO

nick_cooper

I got dhb R1 shoes (wiggle) and some of those Shimano reversable pedals for a hybrid. I do a fair few miles - Roadie on order - and noticed a massive difference.

whatawaste

I got some clipless shoes and pedals for my 50th birthday! put them on for two days and got fed up with falling off at every junction/traffic light/crossing! back to the toe clips for me.

I did only use them on the 5 mile commute to work and when under no pressure could easily slip my feet off/out of the pedals.... but pedalling uphill to the red light and trying to get my foot out whilst keeping going .... ended up looking like i'm having i fit as i try to release my foot before i hit the floor (again) with my (left) knee!

After 5 falls over 2 days on to the same knee i gave up!....(anyone wanna pair of secondhand shoes/cleats and pedals?)

Might try them if i go out for a 50km ride but after using toe clips for 27 years i actually didn't notice that much of an 'improvement' on my commute (but then again i'm a crap cyclist)

thecryof

Being able to "Pull up" on the pedals as well will give an unbelievable amount of forward thrust. Think of it as scraping mud from beneath your shoes when pedaling. Incredible power difference especially on these light bikes.

pottssteve

whatawaste - persist!

Make sure the tension is on a very light setting on the pedals to begin with. Practice clipping in and out (you could do this in a doorway so you have something to hold onto, then progress to an open bit of land like an empty car park).

When unclipping on a hill, anticipate and change down a couple of gears before you have to stop. This means you don't have to push so hard on the pedals to keep moving forward slowly and unclipping is easier. It's also then easier to clip in again when you set off.

It does take practice but it's worth it.


Steve

benno the red

got to agree with all of the above posts really

i'm fairly new to road riding and was unsure re pedals and shoes but bit the bullet and got some Shimano 520 pedals from Go Outdoors for about £22 and got some Spesh shoes off ebay for £40 .

Without doubt the best addition to my kit , amazing difference to performanmce .

Go for it you wont regret it

t.m.h.n.e.t

Had mine on for the first time last night,after a few minor saddle adjustments I really did notice the increase in power.

Just changed down early before junctions and had one foot out well before.No falls

dcurzon

i'm trying to make the leap also, but on a tight budget...
MTB shoes and m520's is my target.

But seriously, how much difference can they make?

my current commute usually takes around 42-45minutes (PB of 38mins). Would i expect to be regularly beating 40minutes due to the shoes?

t.m.h.n.e.t

dcurzon wrote:

i'm trying to make the leap also, but on a tight budget...
MTB shoes and m520's is my target.

But seriously, how much difference can they make?

my current commute usually takes around 42-45minutes (PB of 38mins). Would i expect to be regularly beating 40minutes due to the shoes?

If not less,you are powering the pedals on the upstroke too and with solid soles more power is transferred smoothly. It wouldn't be unreasonable to say regular <40

anto164

BTW, you shouldn't pull up on cleats. Your knees aren't built to cope with tension!

Sure, you can push and pull at the top and bottom of the stroke, but you're not supposed to pull up on the upstroke.

t.m.h.n.e.t

anto164 wrote:

BTW, you shouldn't pull up on cleats. Your knees aren't built to cope with tension!

Sure, you can push and pull at the top and bottom of the stroke, but you're not supposed to pull up on the upstroke.

Yeah sorry,that's what I meant

dcurzon

righto. 'pre used' shoes bought (BR classifieds )
next to find - cheap pedals...

Squillinossett

Took me a fair few falls when I started using my SPD'd years ago on my MTB, wouldnt consider going out on my Road bike with any other type of pedal on, really is a big, big leap.

SLX01

I despair everytime I see someone riding a half decent road bike in trainers its like taking up running and doing it welligton boots. Cycle shoes and proper cleat pedals are one of the best buys for a novice bike rider.

mbhuw

They make such a big difference! You feel more comfortable and stable on the downhill and can use the upstroke as well as the downstroke on climbing the hills!

racingcondor

I have one other benefit to add. Not dying when you hit some roadworks at 30mph and the road surface is all ruts and holes. Having feet that can't slip off the pedals has it's uses.

As others have said, once you're used to them you'll never want to ride without.

lifeform

I'm a little bemused by the falling off comments

I've still got mine on lowest tension, and have found that they will unclip in panic moments - the action of putting your foot out is roughly the same as required to unclip; moving the foot outwards causes it to pivot on the cleat and unclips. Had a few moments, but yet to faceplant as I've always managed to get my foot out.

I have found that I find it very difficult to unclip with pedal between 10 and 4 o'clock - it's an awkward action with knees bent.

The flipside is that you do think about maintaining momentum much more when you're riding in built-up/busy areas - which I do a lot of.

MountainMonster

I find the people who are normally so worried about falling off, are the ones who have never tried becuase of this worry.

I was talking to a friend yesterday who "mtbs", and he refuses to even try click pedals due to the chance he could fall of. He's also the same one who rides at about 20kmh down a hill because he doesn't want to risk sliding out. What's the point of being a MTBer when you won't even ride MTB?

dcurzon

yeah, so i fitted some M520 pedals last night, reduced the tension to one click less than fully reduced. Went out on my commute this morning with the Spesh BG MTB Sport shoes. (incidentally, £60 covered shoes, pedals and cleats for anyone else looking to get set up cheaply).

No comedy fall off's.
click in and click out is easy.

just need to get cleat positioning set up just so.

wasnt any quicker or any slower than usual.

rolf_f

My commuting set up consists of M520 pedals (cleats included) - £20. Aldi cycling shoes - £20. The latter are a bit squeaky but they otherwise as new after a good 3000 miles. So, basically, £40 investment to see if it works.

As with 99.9% of clipless users, I wouldn't go back!