Look or spd sl pedals

davegriffiths

Just about to venture in to road pedals, after getting numb feet on road bikes with spd pedals and mtb shoes also tried Shimano a520 touring pedals which helped but same problem after 2 hours
Would be grateful for any advise

Strith

Pedals probably won't be the cause of numb feet, it's more likley to be other things like wrong kind of shoes, too tight, saddle design, your posture or just bad circulation. Do you move around on the bike? wiggle your toes, stretch etc.

There's not much difference between look and spd sl imo. For the record I use spd sl and they do the job fine.

Gizmodo

davegriffiths wrote:

Just about to venture in to road pedals, after getting numb feet on road bikes with spd pedals and mtb shoes also tried Shimano a520 touring pedals which helped but same problem after 2 hours
Would be grateful for any advise

I have Look pedals but only because that's why the shop stocked when I bought my bike and shoes. I get the impression that they are both similar in terms of performance, the difference comes in your choice of shoes. As both Look and SPD-SL are 3 hole systems, you can use either with the same shoe choice.

davegriffiths

Thanks for the help ,my local specialized store advised me to look at road shoes and pedals because they have a larger contact patch and spread the load over a bigger area
Any advise on shoes ,I went to Specialized because I have their mtb shoes and thought it would make sizing easier
Shoe weight etc not my main consideration I am going end to end in august so comfort is top of my list

Strith

Your local specialized dealer is full of shite.
Specialzed shoes are very good and very popular, but I would suggest you try on as many different brands as you can to find one that feels best. I rode sidis for years before I tried shimano and realised I was using the wrong shoe, they look rubbish but they fit me spot on.
I use road shoes, but you don't have to. Try lots on and pick whichever fits best.

davegriffiths

Ha ,yes I must admit they seem to give different advise everytime you speak to them

danlikesbikes

Try on as many as you can. Different brands will fit you differently even in the same size.

As for the numb feet could be anything but I used to always do my too tight (I now realise) and my toes would get numb after an hour or so.

stueyboy

Danlikesbikes wrote:

As for the numb feet could be anything but I used to always do my too tight (I now realise) and my toes would get numb after an hour or so.

+1 one for that advise.

Shoes too tight and try to wiggle your toes every 10 minutes or so and they won't get as numb

prawny

As above, probably more likely to be shoes than pedals.

I've recently bought shimano SPD SLs because they were cheaper than looks. Still get numb feet though. I'm saving pennies for some custom insoles

Pumpkin Positive

davegriffiths wrote:

Thanks for the help ,my local specialized store advised me to look at road shoes and pedals because they have a larger contact patch and spread the load over a bigger area
Any advise on shoes ,I went to Specialized because I have their mtb shoes and thought it would make sizing easier
Shoe weight etc not my main consideration I am going end to end in august so comfort is top of my list

It's my impression that MTB shoes have a smaller contact patch than road pedals. I used SPD's for a my first year or so of road biking and switched to SPD SL's because my feet were suffering numbness. I suppose it might just depend on the specific shoe but perhaps the guys in the LBS are not 'talking sh1te'. Road shoes have a much more rigid sole than MTB shoes so it seems natural to suppose that they might be a better bet for transferring power and preventing numbness.

davegriffiths

I can now confirm that my local specialized store were correct ,Ive gone spd sl pedals and Specialized shoes and no numbness after 3 hours

simon_masterson

Pumpkin Positive wrote:

Road shoes have a much more rigid sole than MTB shoes.

It just so happens that some shoes drilled for SPD cleats are fairly flexible and designed to be walkable for commuting, touring and 'leisure riding', but they are not all like that: it depends on which shoes you buy. Top-end MTB racing shoes are essentially treaded equivalents of their road racing counterparts; indeed some of them share the same soles, I believe. It's not as if MTB riders don't care about this stuff!

davegriffiths

My specialized pro road shoes have a much stiffer sole than my Pro mtb shoe

Nik Cube

I couldn't be arsed to read all the replies ( despite my mild OCD - beer has won the day)

Yes road pedals make a massive difference and what the feck is spd l shite you mentioned just go and get some look pedals and be a man

My work is done

simon_masterson

Nik Cube wrote:

I couldn't be arsed to read all the replies ( despite my mild OCD - beer has won the day)

Yes road pedals make a massive difference and what the feck is spd l shite you mentioned just go and get some look pedals and be a man

My work is done

If you mean in speed, would you care to quantify that?

For those of us that like to use our bikes for more than just weekend jollies, SPD pedals are very practical. But don't take my word for it, there's this little known Scottish guy called Graeme Obree who likes them...

nawty

I have Look pedals on my road bike and SPD's on my commuting hybrid.

As long as the soles of the shoe are stiff enough I don't think you could really tell the difference in performance but the SPDs are definitely easier to click out of. Fit of shoe is FAR more important than anything else.

I just picked up a pair of SPD SL pedals, just to see how they are - hopefully I'll get to try at the weekend.