Moving to Road pedals from SPD

rollingscone · 06-06-2014 8:50pm #1

So I'm trying to figure out what to do with my 50 euro Wiggle Voucher and I've expressed a certain disatisfaction with the contrast between my lovely delicate looking Tifosi and my fugly Shimano M088 SPD shoes.

So one thing I'm considering is using my voucher to buy a set of DhB R1.0 Road shoes and getting a pair of Keo pedals from a mate that offered them to me before.

I've googled teh internetz and there doesn't seem to be much consensus other than road shoes look better on a roadbike but you can walk in SPDs...oh and that road shoes are harder to get into.

There seem to have been similar discussions here 2 or 3 years ago, but none more recent.

So yay or nay?

Inquitus · 06-06-2014 9:07pm

Road pedals are much better than MTB SPDs, the power transfer is much better, the rigid soles spread the load better, in my experience it feels much smoother and much less power is wasted in the transmission. If all you are concerned about is the cycling side of things it's no contest,

as_mo_bhosca · 06-06-2014 9:12pm

Just bought a pair off those dhb road shoes, making the move from the M088s. Yet to take them on a spin but have set them up and sat on bike with them. All I've noticed so far is that they seem a bit harder to clip out of. More resistance, still not a difficult task. Comfy shoes though, not hard to get into at all. Wide enough for my extra wide feet.

padjo5 · 06-06-2014 9:14pm

Personally, an SPD and a tidy looking MTB shoe (eg s-works) are the way forward for road biking! You have the convenience of being able to walk around comfortably, easy engage, comfy shoes.
The argument that the road cleats spread the pressure over a bigger area of the sole of your foot is mostly faf as a decent MTB shoe sole will be stiff carbon, spreading the pressure on the whole sole, irrespective of the cleat size.

I've been using this system for few years having used standard Look Keo/road shoe combo also. Only reason I see to go for road shoe is aesthetics, which are obv hugely important too!

That's my experience anyway.

Use your voucher for lighter/tidier pedals/shoes!

Ole Rodrigo · 06-06-2014 9:17pm

MTB shoes on a road bike are a serious crime against all that is good and true. IMHO, of course.

Inquitus · 06-06-2014 9:19pm

padjo5 wrote: »

Personally, an SPD and a tidy looking MTB shoe (eg s-works) are the way forward for road biking! You have the convenience of being able to walk around comfortably, easy engage, comfy shoes.
The argument that the road cleats spread the pressure over a bigger area of the sole of your foot is mostly faf as a decent MTB shoe sole will be stiff carbon, spreading the pressure on the whole sole, irrespective of the cleat size.

I've been using this system for few years having used standard Look Keo/road shoe combo also. Only reason I see to go for road shoe is aesthetics, which are obv hugely important too!

That's my experience anyway.

Use your voucher for lighter/tidier pedals/shoes!

The point of contact on spds is much smaller than on road pedals, physics says this helps spread the load on your feet, its science not faf. Road shoes are better for road cycling if you are unconcerned with walking around etc. horses for courses obviously, but there's reasons the Pro's use one not the other!

Raam · 06-06-2014 9:21pm

What do you need to be walking for if you have a bike?

padjo5 · 06-06-2014 9:32pm

Physics debate time! If the sole of a shoe is very rigid (as in rigid carbon) any force from below will be spread evenly across the entire surface, irrespective of whether one is standing on, for example, a point of a nail (SPD) or a flat floor (Look Keo or SPD SL)......would one suggest this is not accurate!?

Inquitus · 06-06-2014 9:39pm

padjo5 wrote: »

Physics debate time! If the sole of a shoe is very rigid (as in rigid carbon) any force from below will be spread evenly across the entire surface, irrespective of whether one is standing on, for example, a point of a nail (SPD) or a flat floor (Look Keo or SPD SL)......would one suggest this is not accurate!?

Carbon's not rigid enough for the difference to be anywhere close to immaterial.

padjo5 · 06-06-2014 9:57pm

Carbon is not rigid?? I'll be sure to stay a few lengths back from your bike in the next A4 race so!

The soles on decent MTB shoes are absolutely rigid, zero flex, same as good road shoes.

OP, maybe see if you can try cycle in a few different shoes/cleats as that really is the only way to know what's comfortable/best for you.

Inquitus · 06-06-2014 10:02pm

padjo5 wrote: »

Carbon is not rigid?? I'll be sure to stay a few lengths back from your bike in the next A4 race so!

Put your foot against the side of your frame some day while holding it and give it a good push with your foot and watch it flex for inches.....

Carbon is rigid, but not so much so that a small spd point of contact is as good as a road pedal, that's just science, feel free to continue believing the world is flat....

Tenzor07 · 06-06-2014 10:05pm

If walking is your concern.. Or clipping out/in very quickly.. then go for the MTB Spd's/shoes..

Inquitus · 06-06-2014 10:07pm

Tenzor07 wrote: »

If walking is your concern.. Or clipping out/in very quickly.. then go for the MTB Spd's/shoes..

Exactly and that's why MTB and commuters should go with SPD's but if you are only concerned about on bike performance without a regular need to clip out then road pedals are the way to go.

carthoris · 06-06-2014 10:14pm

I find road shoes far more comfortable on the bike compared to MTB shoes, they are lighter, stiffer, and less stuffy. MTB shoes are better for walking but on an average spin the amount of time spent walking is negligible (between 2-5%) so I give more consideration to comfort on the bike than off it.

doozerie · 06-06-2014 10:24pm

If you go for rigid (carbon) -soled MTB shoes then they are not so easy to walk around in as those with soles that flex. Personally I'd find that an odd half-way house if using them purely on the road. Sure, the cleat is recessed so you are not sliding around directly on that but for the little that I walk in my road shoes that's a minor inconvenience at worst. For me, MTB shoes are great for off-road, where you may to have put your foot down at any moment, on the road it's road shoes all the way.

Also, I much prefer the engagement between road cleats and road pedals (I used Look for years, Speedplay for the last few years) to that between SPD cleats and SPDs.

LennoxR · 06-06-2014 10:33pm

Have always found spds to be much more practical to be honest. Coffee/food stops, putting bike on the train, just general looking around, they all require walking. On top of that spds are much quicker to clip and out of, being double sided.

I always feel a bit like an upturned turtle wearing road shoes whenever I have to stop. And, per above, with a decent mtb shoe there's very little sacrifice in power. Yes it's against the 'rules', but so is keeping spare tubes in a saddle bag ffs. Feck the rules!

doozerie · 06-06-2014 10:42pm

LennoxR wrote: »

Have always found spds to be much more practical to be honest. Coffee/food stops, putting bike on the train, just general looking around, they all require walking. On top of that spds are much quicker to clip and out of, being double sided.

I always feel a bit like an upturned turtle wearing road shoes whenever I have to stop. And, per above, with a decent mtb shoe there's very little sacrifice in power. Yes it's against the 'rules', but so is keeping spare tubes in a saddle bag ffs. Feck the rules!

Speedplay are double-sided road pedals, and not the only ones either, but even my single-sided Looks were very quick to clip into when I used them. That's just down to what you are used to, neither pedal type (road or off-road) wins there.

As for the 'rules', they are just nonsense and most people recognise them as that. I don't care about the rules - I have a saddle bag on my race bike, I carry a pump on my race bike, my shoes are black, yada yada. Personally my preference for road shoes on the road is because I simply find them better, full stop.

Inquitus · 06-06-2014 10:43pm

LennoxR wrote: »

Have always found spds to be much more practical to be honest. Coffee/food stops, putting bike on the train, just general looking around, they all require walking. On top of that spds are much quicker to clip and out of, being double sided.

I always feel a bit like an upturned turtle wearing road shoes whenever I have to stop. And, per above, with a decent mtb shoe there's very little sacrifice in power. Yes it's against the 'rules', but so is keeping spare tubes in a saddle bag ffs. Feck the rules!

Again this is all about not being on the bike. If you get on your bike, cycle, then get off, road shoes are much better. If your cycling consists of lots of walking then SPDs may well be more convenient.

LennoxR · 06-06-2014 10:47pm

Inquitus wrote: »

Again this is all about not being on the bike. If you get on your bike, cycle, then get off, road shoes are much better. If your cycling consists of lots of walking then SPDs may well be more convenient.

Yeah well obviously each to their own, but I switched back to spds from Look, not because I do that much walking but because it's nice to be able to should anything go wrong. Also I find I develop knee pain more easily with road pedals (though of course that could have been to do with dodgy set up).

And like I said I found the power difference was negligible.

CramCycle · 06-06-2014 10:58pm

You can get cleat covers for most road cleats, if the shoe has a heel stub like diadora shoes then walking is not that bad. Non slip anyway.

rollingscone · 06-06-2014 11:44pm

Hmmm, my next quandry is are they pretty enough to justify the hassle.

One of the customer reviews suggests that they may not be less bulky than the M088s.

DaithiMC · 07-06-2014 12:04am

Personally I think there are SPD pedal geometries which are close enough to road pedals to deflate arguments of spreading loads across surfaces etc... That particular difference would not be noticed by mere mortals. These, http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-pd-a520-touring-pedals/, or the A600 version combined with http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-r064-road-cycling-shoes/ or the RT82 would cover most activities on a road bike, the RT82 also gives you the walking aspect and the way the cleat is inset into the sole also means that there is actually more contact area with the shoe to the pedal than even Look cleats - but as I said, not that a mere mortal would be able to notice that difference transferred to performance.

mamax · 07-06-2014 12:27am

I have spd pedals on my road bike and for solo spins I use my road shoes but a day out cycling with a few friends where we are likely to make several stops I will wear my mtb shoes, use whatever you feel more comfortable with, I'd agree with LennoxR and feck the rules

CramCycle · 07-06-2014 12:49am

rollingscone wrote: »

Hmmm, my next quandry is are they pretty enough to justify the hassle.

One of the customer reviews suggests that they may not be less bulky than the M088s.

I have had Shimano, Diadora and the DHBs. The DHBs were functional but were no better than any MTB shoe on the bike in terms of comfort. If you want road shoes over MTB shoes, I would avoid them and pick something else. Also the sizing was wide for me.

Inquitus · 07-06-2014 9:30am

DaithiMC wrote: »

Personally I think there are SPD pedal geometries which are close enough to road pedals to deflate arguments of spreading loads across surfaces etc... That particular difference would not be noticed by mere mortals. These, http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-pd-a520-touring-pedals/, or the A600 version combined with http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-r064-road-cycling-shoes/ or the RT82 would cover most activities on a road bike, the RT82 also gives you the walking aspect and the way the cleat is inset into the sole also means that there is actually more contact area with the shoe to the pedal than even Look cleats - but as I said, not that a mere mortal would be able to notice that difference transferred to performance.

You might as well have a road pedal as one of them, its one sided, road shaped, in fact the only difference is it has the SPD system to latch on, and those are road shoes without a recessed cleat so walking is not going to be much improved.....agreed that setup probably only loses a smaller fraction to road shoes / pedals, but it also has all the same limitations!

outfox · 07-06-2014 10:39am

doozerie wrote: »

Also, I much prefer the engagement between road cleats and road pedals

+1 on this. I find the road shoes easier to clip in an out, and the clipping action is much smoother. Of course this could be due to wear and tear on the SPDs.

DaithiMC · 07-06-2014 2:29pm

Inquitus wrote: »

You might as well have a road pedal as one of them, its one sided, road shaped, in fact the only difference is it has the SPD system to latch on, and those are road shoes without a recessed cleat so walking is not going to be much improved.....agreed that setup probably only loses a smaller fraction to road shoes / pedals, but it also has all the same limitations!

Yes, no denying that but the OP has a choice to completely change system and probably spend more rather than keeping the system he has and is used to with these versions. The RT82 shoe gives the recessed cleat and is definitely easier to walk around on, its more of a halfway house between a road shoe and an MTB shoe so probably more suitable for sportive riding IMO.

Lumen · 07-06-2014 2:32pm

MTB shoes are designed to be less stiff.

I use Sworks MTB shoes and they're adequately stiff but they also cost almost 300 euro at RRP. My road shoes cost half that and feel similar. I've used cheaper Spesh Comp MTB shoes before and they were super floppy.

SPDs are fine but they don't have the same snappy engagement and security as Speedplays or whatever.

rollingscone · 07-06-2014 9:42pm

Thanks for all the feedback guys, based on the reading I've done on the DHB shoes, including the carbon soled version I think I'll hold off the transition to big boy pedals until a time when I'm less poor.

Thinking I'll use my voucher for something like this http://www.wiggle.co.uk/tifosi-carbon-seat-post/

mirv · 07-06-2014 10:46pm

Just go for it. There's a guy in Rathmines who is flogging off DMT cycling shoes for peanuts (30-35e) if you're Dublin based. Both road and mtb styles, and both nylon and carbon soles. Really friendly guy, you'll find it on adverts.ie easily enough if you search for DMT, and it'll be more confidence inspiring fitwise to try them on in person if you can.

rollingscone · 08-06-2014 1:16pm

Tried on some plastic soled Bont shoes in my LBS, so much prettier than my M088s but I can't afford them for now.

@Mirv apparently DMT only shod smaller people than me.

T-Maxx · 08-06-2014 6:04pm

Yeah had a look myself - sizes only up to 41.

Raam · 08-06-2014 6:14pm

I've got size 45 DMT.

rollingscone · 28-06-2014 5:53pm

Question. Do I really need to go to Carbon soles to feel an improvement in stiffness over my M088s?

Also what's the fit like on Diadora shoes?

Moving to Road pedals from SPD

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