Road Bike - MTB pedals or road pedals?

seamus

So I initially fitted MTB pedals to my road bike when I got it primarily because they were cheap and I already had a pair of MTB shoes.

But they are cheap. They rust quite quickly after rain and the right-hand pedal bearings are screwed after just 3000km. They also make a bit of noise under stress.

So would I be better off now buying road pedals & shoes (not cheap), or just getting a better pair of MTB pedals?

petethedrummer

Surprised they didn't last too long. I had the same pedals on my road bike since last autumn with no issues. Do you leave your bike outdoors much?

I went back to SPD-SLs last week and felt I was able to put more (of my limited) power down. Sure its up to yourself. No harm in trying the road pedals. But It will be a bit more expensive buying new pedals and shoes rather than another set of €20 pedals.

seamus

petethedrummer wrote: »

Surprised they didn't last too long. I had the same pedals on my road bike since last autumn with no issues. Do you leave your bike outdoors much?

My bike lives outdoors, so yes

I went back to SPD-SLs last week and felt I was able to put more (of my limited) power down. Sure its up to yourself. No harm in trying the road pedals. But It will be a bit more expensive buying new pedals and shoes rather than another set of €20 pedals.

Yeah...might just service the pedals and get another 5k out of them before going for road gear.

ednwireland

i wouldnt be taking pedals apart,tried that on spds (lying in the shed rough bearings) twll you i wont be doing that again, the smallest bearings i have ever seen - they are in the bin now.

haave shimano never heared of caged bearings ?

btw i run m520 n the commute no bother with them

although i did just send back some look keo max 2's

blorg

I'm surprised by that. I have several pairs of Shimano SPDs and find them extremely reliable. The oldest are M515s almost a decade old and still going as well as the day I got them with absolutely no servicing.

I have those same M520s on my commuter albeit only a few months now and they have been absolutely grand.

I'd consider sending them back under the warranty.

To be honest I think road pedals are only really necessary for racing.

irishmotorist

I've had black/silver m520s for a couple of years and they've been great. I got a pair of m540s last year and they were ticking from the start (which I only recently identified as the pedal, I thought it was elsewhere in the drivetrain). I think I was unlucky with the m540s but must bring them back to see if they'll swap them for me.

Good reliable pedals IMO.

blorg

I have M540s as well; I think you must have just been unlucky.

I've used M515, M520, M540 and M770 (XT.) Functionally they seem pretty identical, the only difference is the weight and finish. M540 up don't have pedal flats; they use an allen fitting. The claimed weight difference between M540 and M770, incidentally, is 2g. Parts appear identical with just a different finish. I think the M770 has helium injected into the axle to save the 2g.