Is it worth it to switch from SPD to SPD-SL?

Giraffoto

I've had one pair of SPD cycling shoes for both on- and off-road for ages, but they're starting to crack up and I'm starting to think it may be time to replace them. I've already decided to switch to flat pedals for off-road, so I'm wondering if it's worth going for SPD-SL shoes for my replacements. So far I have pros, cos and questions, can anyone add to this?

Pro
I'd be getting lighter and sleeker shoes than most SPD models
Zero-float cleats
Lighter pedals

Con
Having to buy new pedals

Questions
Is clipping into SPD-SL a different technique to SPD?

slowbike

It's far easier to clip into the doublesided SPDs than the single sided SPD-SLs.
SPD cleats last a lot longer.
It's easier to walk in SPD touring shoes
If you use touring shoes then the tread on the side of the SPD shoe wears out the material on the overshoe


SPD-SL cleats keep your feet more firmly in place.
There's more choice of road shoe.

I've got both - I only use the SPD-SL on the best road bike and the TT bike where I'm less likely to be walking or putting a foot down.

mrb123

The single sided nature of them can take a bit of getting used to if you're coming from SPDS.

TBH I never really got comfortable with clipping in first time in more tricky situations such as in traffic or hill starts. If you don't clip in first time the shoe can easily slip off the pedal.

I know plenty of people use them without any such difficulty, but in my case I changed to Speedplay pedals which are double sided and felt much more comfortable. I still have XT SPDS on my winter bike and really don't think they have many disadvantages over road pedals.

keef66

I've just stuck with SPDs on all the bikes for convenience / ease of use. Not racing or doing an intergalactic mileage though. Touring shoes look like road shoes and are plenty stiff enough but take SPD cleats; best of both worlds.

ddraver

If you re really not using SPDs on the MTB and youre replacing the shoes anyway I'd got for SPD-SL, use the best tool for the job.

However a good set of stiff XC race shoes and SPD pedals are pretty much the same as a full road set up...

homers_double

I had SPD's for ages and have two sets of shoes, one for summer and a set of Gore Tex boots.

When I forst got my road bike I bought a set of £20 MTB pedals for it and carried on for 18 months quite happily. Then a birthday came around and I needed a pressie so got an SPD-SL shoe and pedal set up.

Can I notice the difference in performance? Not really.

Can I notice the difference in comfort? Not really as both good quality summer shoes are circa £100.

Do I notice the diffence in the extra options? Deffinatly as I now swap back to my winter Gore Tex boots and SPD pedals for the winter months.

ugo.santalucia

As Slowbike says, it's down to a better choice of shoes for the road ones... otherwise all the odds are for SPD. I went back to SPD when my commute did involve some getting on and off and I have not looked back yet, even for sunday riding. The fact that those plastic cleats cost 15 quid and wear out rapidly is very annoying

darkhairedlord

I have wonky knees and dodgy ankles. I made these much worse trying to use spd type pedals so swapped to Look type pedals. Much more adjustment to suit my physiology and I get over the walking in cleats problem with cleat covers.
Horses for courses, as they say in the kitchens of Belgium.

lakesluddite

My experience...had SPD to begin with (with touring style shoes), but then thought it would be the logical progression to go to SPD-SL/Look system and shoes, so bought the pedals, cleats and shoes.
Spend the next two months with bruised shins as my feet consistently slipped off the one-sided pedals, walking around like Bambi on ice and having to buy new cleats after 4 weeks, all to look a bit more 'pro'.
Sold the lot on fleabay, went back to SPD and haven't regretted it one bit.
I got these, not sure if they are still available, but they are fairly sleek for MTB style shoes, and are very light and comfortable: http://www.mtbr.com/cat/mtb-apparel-and ... 44crx.aspx

craker

I have to say I've gone the other way than most here. I changed to SPD-SL and instantly found it much more comfortable on the feet; the load is spread over a much wider area of the foot and I no longer get hotspots underneath the ball of my big toe after a couple of hours in the saddle.

I remember questioning other, more experienced riders at the time and they didn't report having similar hotspot issues with their SPDs - both had expensive carbon soled shoes though, perhaps it makes more of a difference on cheaper shoes?

All of my roadies are set up this way, I commute daily and replace a set of cleats a year (on 3 sets of shoes its a bit hard to be accurate). I have to walk the children into school, drive a short distance then cycle. I suppose SPDs are better for those bits, but then I sometimes wear crocs for that and put the shoes on at the start of the ride.

animal72

SPD for me.

Like the convenience of being able to walk about, and being able to wear the same shoes on any of my bikes.

Also have carbon-soled shoes, so don't believe the extra rigidity thing either...

slowbike

craker wrote:

I no longer get hotspots underneath the ball of my big toe after a couple of hours in the saddle.

Hot spots with SPDs are down to the shoe - I've done 100 mile rides in SPDs and there are loads of others who do that and some ... both my shoes are on the cheap side - bottom end Shimano - albeit with ratchets - I'm luckly that I find them comfortable.

step83

Stuck wit hSPD's though im toying with going to some ATAC's. Benefit for me was I knew what I was doing with SPD's I had the shoes just grabbed a cheap set of pedals an I was off. Came in a treat at the end of my last Sportif. We were all parked in a gravelly thing used to teach people to drive rally cars so a mix of sand an gravel. Some people tried to ride it, most walked like bambi trying not to damage the cleats. I just walked through bike on my shoulder crunching gravel underfoot not really worrying.

pastryboy

I prefer the feel of SPD-SL because of the wide platform. That and a bigger choice of shoes are the positives.

Apart from that SPD are a lot better, they last and last and are easy to clip into.

paulbnix

There is also the third option of touring style SDP pedals such as the Shimano A520.
These use normal SPD cleats but are single sided with a much wider platform similar to many road pedals.

bmxboy10

Speedplay Zero all day long.

Bordersroadie

SPD with carbon-sole XC shoes for me, winter bike, summer bike, TT, MTB.

As someone mentioned, you can get light weight single sided SPD (PDA600) and get a slightly wider platform for the shoe than M540 although a carbon sole has effectively zero flex so hotspots are a myth as far as I'm concerned.

Speedplay are a massive marketing achievement, as (aside from the two "advantages" of adjustability and "what the pros use") they are really just a less-practical double sided SPD (a la Shimano M540) but are more fragile, easy to clog with dirt/grit, require more maintenance and need big clumpy cleats - the final irony is that you can buy "cafe cleat covers" for them!

Oh. if only there was an easier alternative, with steel cleats that last forever, recessed into a carbon soled shoe that you can walk on normally. Now let me think. . .

ex-pat scot

SPDs.
I've used them since they first came out.
I have a couple of sets of DA SPDs, one ultegra and one 105 SPD set for the various road bikes.
The other bikes have double sided mtb SPDs.

I've done everything from 24hr TTs through audax, duathlons and years of commutes. It helps that you don't have to think about which shoe set goes with which bike.

SME

paulbnix wrote:

There is also the third option of touring style SDP pedals such as the Shimano A520.
These use normal SPD cleats but are single sided with a much wider platform similar to many road pedals.

I have these pedals as well - love them.

Before I tried cleats I wasn't too sure about them so I purchased some Shimano A530 - SPD's one side and flat on the other. These are still on my commuter. For my new bike I tried SL's but just didn't get on with them, so wanted SPD's again with a 'road bike look' and settled for A520's. And, as many have said, I don't have to fish around for different shoes in the morning.

mcstumpy

paulbnix wrote:

There is also the third option of touring style SDP pedals such as the Shimano A520.
These use normal SPD cleats but are single sided with a much wider platform similar to many road pedals.

+1

ddraver

I ve never seen the point in those, they seem to be the worst of both worlds...

prawny

I use the shimano m530 trail spud pedals on my commuter, they've got the same wide platform of the a520 (I've got some of them too in the garage somewhere) but they're double sided. Very good.

I still like SPD-SLs ans the like though, it's just nice using the pedals designed for the job, I can't really tell a difference though, other than my road shoes are white and look pimp.

gaffer_slow

ddraver wrote:

However a good set of stiff XC race shoes and SPD pedals are pretty much the same as a full road set up...

intersting. i had a friend who was considering switching, and i suggested that as she was considering £50 road shoes and £50 road pedals she might be better off spending £100 on super stiff soled MTB/Touring shoes.

Dont know if it is true, but have a feeling much more of the stiffness/lack of hot spots comes from the shoe

pblakeney

prawny wrote:

I still like SPD-SLs ans the like though, it's just nice using the pedals designed for the job, I can't really tell a difference though, other than my road shoes are white and look pimp.

And there we have it!
SPD and white shoes.

paulwood

I used to run SPD on everything, mountain bike, commuter and road bike, mainly so i could use the same shoes. A new "best bike" last year made me try SPD-SL for a change.

Single sided clipping takes a little getting used to.
I prefer the wider platform of the SL pedals on the road bike where i don't unclip much.
i prefer SPD for the commuter unclipping more often.
SL cleats do wear but as i tend not to walk too far on those rides the cleats have lasted over a year so far.
Different shoes has not been a problem, i tend to have 2-3 pairs anyway for when they get soaked and the best bike tends to come out in the sunshine.

And i think SL pedals look better on a road bike. I'm sure Velominati would agree with me :-)

ddraver

gaffer_slow wrote:

ddraver wrote:

However a good set of stiff XC race shoes and SPD pedals are pretty much the same as a full road set up...

intersting. i had a friend who was considering switching, and i suggested that as she was considering £50 road shoes and £50 road pedals she might be better off spending £100 on super stiff soled MTB/Touring shoes.

Dont know if it is true, but have a feeling much more of the stiffness/lack of hot spots comes from the shoe

I can't really feel the difference between my SPDs and Look pedals in normal riding, If perhaps my inner chimp get's involved in a sprint then I perhaps feel more secure in the Looks. However the MTB shoes are full on race shoes that cost a significant chunk of money even with a massive CRC discount (Top of the range Mavics) and are rock solid underfoot. My more relaxed MTB shoes feel like slippers in comparison

meesterbond

Commuting, touring, CX, pootlingaround town etc I totally get SPDs (although I've always preferred crank bros ones) but if you going out to ride your road bike, or race it then just get the right tool for the job.

Far too much practicality around here.

Alex99

I use SPD-SL on the road. For me the advantages are:

-Better choice of shoes
-The cleat is held without play or slop (fore-aft, or rotation along the axis of the shoe) which I notice
-The position of the SPD-SL cleat (Look would be the same) is very amenable to fine tuning and can precisely be reproduced when you fit new cleats - with SPD I always found this hard going or impossible
-Less weight

Regarding wear... they're not made for walking around, so minimise any walking and they do last quite well.

FWIW, the slop that I found in SPDs really bugged me and is probably the main factor that initially made me change to SPD-SL. I changed to Time Atac on my MTB and they are rock solid.

Giraffoto

So is there a broad (ish) consensus that the main real advantage to SPD-SLs is zero float, and SPDs are just as good if I already have the pedals?

slowbike

yup - basically ...

keef66

Giraffoto wrote:

So is there a broad (ish) consensus that the main real advantage to SPD-SLs is zero float, and SPDs are just as good if I already have the pedals?

And stiff soled shoes...