Clip-in shoes. What's the difference?

Shocker33

Hi,

I'm considering on purchasing some clip-in shoes for the first time. My first pair is probably going to be a relatively cheap pair, to see if i enjoy them before splashing out on something expensive.

So my question is....

What should i be looking for? Any certain features and/or technologies/designs?

Apart from build quality, is there much difference in them between prices? So if i spent an extra £10-£20, would i actually see a difference?

Also what is the difference between MTB and road clip-in shoes? I've noticed the obvious thread difference but is there anything else?

Cheers for any help in advance.

Sprool

starter pair: Muddy Fox SPD cleats for £20, medium stiff soles plus MTB-type sole treads, will get you up and running, so to speak. They are real entry-level but they saw me through my first 1500 miles of road cycling with no discomfort.
Road-specific ones will generally have a stiffer sole, be lighter weight and no tread so the cleat is exposed to the surface you walk on. There is also more choice with SPD-SL style cleats on road shoes though a lot of posts here say they tend to wear out faster than SPD. What pedals have you got? Are they spd or spd-sl type?

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nolight

I recommend at least bicycle shoes with the micro-adjust buckle to tighten the shoes.

I have only used road shoes with SPD-SL pedals. What I heard is that MTB pedals are easier to clip in and out while road pedals are better for long distance efficiency due to larger area, so it depends on how much cycling you do or how serious you are about cycling.

For some people, sometimes just having road pedals go with road bikes is enough reason since it feels right.

Wily-Quixote

I'm going to buck the trend and say: buy the best shoe/pedal you can reasonably afford right now.
Why?
Well I know no-one who has tried clipless shoes and pedals who has gone back to toeclips and sneakers and/or sneakers and flats (except for short commutes or downhill riding). Without exception everyone I know who has bought cheap pedals and shoes has almost immediately upgraded to 'proper' shoes and pedals.

However, in saying that, the pedals I don't feel are that important: you can buy shimano spd pedals relatively cheaply and they won't perform that much worse than xt/xtr pedals.
However, I believe shoes make a huge difference. Cheap heavy flexible spd sneaker style shoes are not nearly as secure, efficient or comfortable for long distance/duration riding as a good pair of stiff soled mtb or road shoes.

You don't need $400 sidi race shoes... you can ride 200km with comfort and efficiency in $100 shimanos. How do I know this? in the 1990's all road and mtb shoes had fibreglass reinforced plastic soles, yes even the tour riders. You can get the same technology now for $100 or less.

'proper' road pedals vs spd pedals is also a non-issue, spd pedals have a smaller cleat and more lateral rotation over the pedal body otherwise there is a very small performance disadvantage. They have the advantages of being cheap, the cleats last years, you can walk in them and if you have a road and MTB you can use a MTB shoe for both (if you have spd pedals on both).

So my advice, get these:

http://www.wiggle.com/?s=shimano+m520

and these:
http://www.wiggle.com/shimano-m088-spd- ... ike-shoes/

or if you want road oriented shoes, these:

http://www.wiggle.com/shimano-r064-road-cycling-shoes/

If you suddenly start racing A grade/cat 1 or whatever they call it in the UK you can, of course, spend $1000 on a new shoe/pedal combo and 3 times that amount on a new bike. For anything less these will see you through. You 'can' ride huge ditances in sneaker style shoes, or flip-flops if you so desire, but stiff soled light dedicated riding shoes will really add to comfort and efficiency, the pedal system less so.

If you feel that you will in the future get right into dedicated road riding then get the dedicated road pedal and shoe combo. Buying cheap and nasty now is money wasted, not money saved.

dartmoorscottydog

+1 to Wily Quixote

cattytown

Wily is pretty accurate there. I'll also add that if you get decent peals/shoes and don't get on, you can always seel them on the classifieds here.

Paul.

diy

If you do go the SPD (as in MTB style) option then you need to mate them to some MTB style shoes (ideally something XC) oriented.

I think a lot of people who have tried SPDs and found them odd compared to road pedals have done it with road oriented shoes.

I would totally agree with the spend the money on the shoes idea (particularly the micro adjustment). Having said that - I found Lidl's cycling shoes to be excellent (at 12-20 quid and I have done a few 100km+ enduros in them without any problems.

SPDs also give the option of multi-release (the cleat) which means they un-click more naturally.

I would say its shorter faster rides that demand road oriented shoes, as its here that they can make a difference when you are focused on time/speed/power

simon_masterson

diy wrote:

I would say its shorter faster rides that demand road oriented shoes, as its here that they can make a difference when you are focused on time/speed/power

Can they?

goonz

Couldn't have put it better myself Wily, think that pretty much sums it up.

Anonymous

+4 Wily

Get some expensive ones in a sale. Chainreactioncycles might be worth a look.
I would also go down the MTB route but I would get Crank Brothers 'egg beater" pedals (either plain or Candy 1's which have a platform) as they are mega easy to clip in/out. That combo should be both a good introduction to clip-ins, and something you do not 'need' to upgrade from.

Try to get shoes with either a stiff nylon or carbon sole, and preferably with a ratchet type top strap.

Avoid cheap ones that look like trainers with 3 straps! lol You will not enjoy them and either give up or have to buy another pair.

Mate of mine has just done exactly that. Went into rubbish LBS and wasted his cash. Think he has Shimano 520's which he struggles with a bit, and he was planning to buy new shoes after first outing on his trainer type ones :-(

slowbike

If you're just going to ride and ride then ride some more then a road style cleat & pedal will be fine. If you're intending to do a little more touring then the spds have the advantage as the cleats last far longer when walked on.

A decent pair of stiff soled shoes that fit comfortably is the primary bit - the secondary is the pedals you attach them too.

AchillesLeftKnee

On the subject of shoes, try and try on a few pairs from different manufacturers before picking one. The stiffness of the shoes means they're not going to give much over time, and as with normal shoes, the manufacturers interpretation of shoe sizing tends to vary.

Anonymous

Pedals are kind of secondary I guess (as they are a lot easier/cheaper to replace if you get the wrong ones) but the shoes are useless without them, and being able to use (ie clip in/out) correctly is pretty important.

Wife had shimano's with her first road shoes and never got on with them. Now even I will say that its probably more her fault than the pedals, but at the end of the day why risk it?
She swapped to eggbeaters and said it was much better for her.
I think its better to get foolproof ones first, rather than have any hassle clipping in or worse still falling sideways before clipping out :shock:

My mate has used his shimano's on at least 4 rides but he was still taking ages to get them clipped in and catch up with the group last Sat. It seemed to make him want to avoid stopping which is not a good thing IMO.
My brother gave up on his too

I am only trying to give my experience rather than have a go at people with shimano's so dont take it the wrong way

goonz

When you say Shimanos do you mean SPD or SPD-SL?

Anonymous

goonz wrote:

When you say Shimanos do you mean SPD or SPD-SL?

MTB ones (SPD?).

Wives were 520's and guessing mates and brothers are too?

goonz

Carbonator wrote:

goonz wrote:

When you say Shimanos do you mean SPD or SPD-SL?

MTB ones (SPD?).

Wives were 520's and guessing mates and brothers are too?

Interested to know why they didn't get on with them...did they loosen the tension spring to its lowest setting to make clip in/oout as easy as spossible?

Anonymous

Agree it is poss not the pedals. Not sure about tension, I will check with mate on Sat. Sure I have mentioned it though.

I have only used eggbeaters (from having a mountain bike) so cannot comment on 520's personally, Although I do find them a bit heavy, clunky, overly complicated and may clog up/need maintenance.
Even if they did need to loosen screw (would have thought it would be a good idea if they supplied it loose?) its still 3 real world examples that possibly show they are a bad choice for a newbie.

I have only used eggbeaters (from MTB days) and by comparison they seem light, simple and easy to use/maintain without any performance downsides.
The candy version look a little more road bikey (IMO) and have a bigger contact area.
I have always planned to get some road shoes/pedals, but the cost is too prohibitive right now and the carbon MTB shoe/Candy 1's seem more than capable to me.

goonz

Interesting, can I use normal SPD shoes with eggbeater cleats or would I need different shoes?

I did like the look of those but not sure why I didnt get round to trying them.

Anonymous

Pretty sure yes, just same 2 hole fixing.
You can get different versions of the eggbeater cleat, and a shoe protector too.
I use the 'deluxe' one as its a little bigger.


I used standard eggbeaters at first (just got same as I had on MTB) which seemed fine with rigid carbon soles, but then felt that a platform might be better for a little more power transfer (?) and as I said, thought they looked a little bit better on a road bike.

lostboysaint

goonz wrote:

Interesting, can I use normal SPD shoes with eggbeater cleats or would I need different shoes?

I did like the look of those but not sure why I didnt get round to trying them.

You use "normal" MTB shoes with Crank Brothers cleats. Decide whether you want them to be a narrow or wide angle release (how far you twist your heel) as this makes a difference as to which shoe you put each cleat on!

Anonymous

Oh, yes, and that too ;-) Very simple to use.
I have always had on easy release. Never really felt the need to change.

Oh, and you can get different coloured Candy's

lostboysaint

Carbonator wrote:

Oh, yes, and that too ;-) Very simple to use.
I have always had on easy release. Never really felt the need to change.

Oh, and you can get different coloured Candy's

They're both easy, it's just how far you twist the heel! I think it's 15deg or 20 deg. I always set mine at 15 deg (on the MTBs, I have to confess to running SPD SL on the road bike, although if CB did a road specific pedal I'd probably buy it!)

Anonymous

Yes, I really like CB stuff too.
I meant easy as in less to do (not turn heel as much) rather than effort/force.
Guess it makes no difference for road use anyway so would be no point in having a 20 degree release angle.

Think I might sell the MTB (bike) and get the Lake/Speedplay combo I am after ;-)

goonz

Im drooling over a SIDI/Speedplay combo just feel so comfortable with the SPD especially for commuting that I cant justify it yet. My best bike once I buy it will definitely come with that combo, but then that bike will only come out on a dry weekend.

diy

Just to add - mult-release don't require much of a twist either.

I think my road bike has 540s they came with the bike (bonus for me) I have XT on my other bikes. Functionally there is little difference between the 5xx (deore) the 7xx (XT) and the 9xx (XTR). Road bikes don't put the same demands on them as MTBs with jumps and swamps to contend with.

Anonymous

goonz wrote:

Im dribbling over a SIDI/Speedplay combo just feel so comfortable with the SPD especially for commuting that I cant justify it yet. My best bike once I buy it will definitely come with that combo, but then that bike will only come out on a dry weekend.

Is yours a Speedplay specific shoe/titanium Speedplay dribble too

goonz

Carbonator wrote:

goonz wrote:

Im dribbling over a SIDI/Speedplay combo just feel so comfortable with the SPD especially for commuting that I cant justify it yet. My best bike once I buy it will definitely come with that combo, but then that bike will only come out on a dry weekend.

Is yours a Speedplay specific shoe/titanium Speedplay dribble too

Dont, i'm drooling already...

Anonymous

goonz wrote:

Carbonator wrote:

goonz wrote:

Im dribbling over a SIDI/Speedplay combo just feel so comfortable with the SPD especially for commuting that I cant justify it yet. My best bike once I buy it will definitely come with that combo, but then that bike will only come out on a dry weekend.

Is yours a Speedplay specific shoe/titanium Speedplay dribble too

Dont, i'm drooling already...

It's only the colour to decide for me.
I am worried that if I order both options, I will not be able to send one back :shock:

goonz

Still waiting on some pics of your blinged up Focus!

Anonymous

I cannot upload. Even VGA seems too big a file :?

whitestar1

Wily-Quixote wrote:

http://www.wiggle.com/?s=shimano+m520
and these:
http://www.wiggle.com/shimano-m088-spd- ... ike-shoes/
or if you want road oriented shoes, these:
http://www.wiggle.com/shimano-r064-road-cycling-shoes/

+1
I agree mostly with Wily-Quixote. The cheapest options to you is the M520 pedals and that price can vary from £20 to £25. Got mine from Decathlon for £19.99 and the MT32 for £39.99. That's the best I think you can do. I rode for two years with this setup and that was with my first bike in 30 years! They are still in use on my MTB but I have moved on to SPD-SLs now.