Switching from MTB to Road pedals

mark8191

My Specialized Tour SPD shoes are pretty worn and I thought rather than buying something similar I could use it as an excuse to try road shoes/ pedals.

Anyone made the shift and prefer road or wish they'd stuck with MTB clipless?

monkimark

Depends what you use them for.
I use mtb style because I use them for commuting and like to be able to walk like a human (and not destroy the cleats in the process).
I have used road style cleats in the past and can't say I noticed any difference but plenty of people will tell you that the larger platform gives better power transfer (it may do, I never noticed) and prevents sore feet from the focused pressure of smaller pedals (which has never been an issue for me)

mark8191

monkimark said:

Depends what you use them for.
I use mtb style because I use them for commuting and like to be able to walk like a human (and not destroy the cleats in the process).
I have used road style cleats in the past and can't say I noticed any difference but plenty of people will tell you that the larger platform gives better power transfer (it may do, I never noticed) and prevents sore feet from the focused pressure of smaller pedals (which has never been an issue for me)

I mainly ride road for fitness and avoid bike paths. Never really had any discomfort from smaller pedals either.

oxoman

Tried road pedals but couldn't get on with them as I needed to walk from the bike sheds to changing rooms etc. Switched to SPD,s and not looked back since.

fenix

I use road pedals on the summer bike and SPD style in the winter.
Longer rides in the summer so there's a marginal gain there.

It's ok walking in speed play cleats with the surrounding cover but SPDs are easy to walk in too for cake stops

mobile_rab-01

I use both SPD and SPD-L. Can’t say I notice any significant difference in ride quality... SPD maybe marginally easier to clip into.

DeVlaeminck

I prefer road - Look Keo - it's not night and day but then again walking a short distance in road shoes isn't a huge problem either. If the only walking you do is into a cafe or similar I'd go with road - if you had to walk 100 metres at the end of a commute or something that would not be ideal.

ugo.santalucia

I use both... SPD are much more versatile... road pedals give you a firmer platform onto the pedals if you want to sprint or chuck down 600 Watt on the pedals on a hill.

thistle_

Had some guy at our club TT telling me I shouldn't be riding in SPDs and should get some proper shoes. Beat him by a couple of minutes even though I'm a fatty. Haven't seen him again since.

I've only tried road clipless at the velodrome on the hire bikes and they were awkward to walk in, but felt more secure for riding hard. I think MTB clipless pedals have a bit more float on them which might be more comfortable sometimes?

joe_totale-2

thistle_(mbnw) said:

Had some guy at our club TT telling me I shouldn't be riding in SPDs and should get some proper shoes. Beat him by a couple of minutes even though I'm a fatty. Haven't seen him again since.

I've only tried road clipless at the velodrome on the hire bikes and they were awkward to walk in, but felt more secure for riding hard. I think MTB clipless pedals have a bit more float on them which might be more comfortable sometimes?

Yeah, MTB pedals have more float which isn't great for my knees, they prefer the more fixed position of road pedals.

I also find the larger platform of road pedals more comfortable on long rides as I can get hot spots on my feet with MTB pedals.

zest28

I prefer road clipless pedals because they provide better support and stability. I always got knee issues with MTB clipless pedals.

Even on my gravel bike I use road clipless pedals :P

amrushton

I use both. Candy for commute and road for other times. Just easier.

prawny

I flit back and forth between the two, but I’m not commuting at the moment so I’m on SPD SL. I prefer the cheap double sided last forever nature of mtb pedals, but after a couple of weeks use I get a little bit of lateral rocking with mtb pedals that no amount of tension can cure. I don’t get that on road pedals so I use them if I can.

Also road shoes look cooler and work better for me in the winter. Booties+toe covers+overshoes = toastie feet.

s1mples

SPD for road bike as they are so cheap and easy to use. Fatties Flatties for mountain bike, they hurt when you get it wrong. I should change them to SPD's as well!

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Until last summer, I'd been using a 2006 (pre-QC issue) set of Time ATAC XS Carbons when using clipless and a pair of Shimano SHM121G shoes. I then bought a set of Time XPro10s and a pair of DHB Dorika Carbon shoes and got the initial cleat position setup wrong, spending weeks letting my bow legs and dodgy knees recover.

Now I'm happy with the newer setup, but besides suffering from "hot foot" almost never now, the gains from a firmer sole and bigger cleat are hard to quantify for me, because I don't think I've put the old setup back on the road bike since.

darrell1967

I’ve used SPD from day 1.

I do a lot of commuting and they are ideal for me. My 3 roadbikes have them.