spd sl

pe1ter

would ther be much difference in proper road shoes with 105 spd sl pedals compared to what im using now shimano m520 with mountain bike spd shoes :?

smoggysteve

Not really, would work just as well, personally I prefer proper road shoes for road bikes. I find them more comfortable on long rides. MTB shoes can be a bit sweaty after a long time.

mroli

@pe1ter - what do you mean by difference? Do you mean, will it make you quicker?

It depends what you are comparing really. The advantage of SPD SL pedal really is that it spreads the pressure of the pedal across a wider part of your foot. This could make the shoe more comfortable if you are cycling long distances. Of course, this comes at the disadvantage of the fact that the cleat will not fit within a recessed tread on your shoe which will make it harder to walk in/more expensive in cleats.

I'm guessing the SPD SL pedal could be lighter, but the differences will be minimal and will not give you a notable performance uplift that way.

The other difference of course is shoes. A lot of MTB shoes are a bit more flexible than road shoes and are therefore "less effective" at power transfer as some energy goes into flexing the sole rather than into turning/driving the pedal. However carbon soled MTB shoes can be just as effective.

As smoggysteve posted - I find road shoes more comfortable for the type of riding that I do - but I certainly do not ride my cross bike and think "oh, I'm going much slower because of my shoes/pedals".

Calpol

I switched to SPD SL a few weeks ago. I find them much more comfortable for longer rides. Partly thats due to £100 shoes vs my trusty DHB M1s but I really notice that there is much better feeling when pushing hard or climbing out of the saddle.