SPD or Look?

johnk123

Hi guys,

Long time lurker and extractor of information on this forum, but first time poster.

Looking to make the move from the toe straps on my Giant Defy 3 to proper road shoes and cleats. Have read tonnes of online material about each, and asked my experienced cycling friends so decided to hear your input too.

What do you think are the pro's and con's of each?

Also, if anyone would like to throw their two cents in on pair of shoes to recommend then that would be great!

Don't mind spending the money on good kit that will last me well into the future, so I want to get this decision right.


Any advice would be greatly appreaciated. Top forum going on here and I have learned much from it in the past so no doubt you will point me in the right direction once again!

Lumen

It's a very personal choice.

IMO buy the cheapest pedals of the type that you want and spend the remaining budget on shoes.

I have used pedal types SPD, Crank Bros, Look, Time, and Speedplay, and shoes from Shimano, Sidi and Specialized.

My currently favourites are Specialized shoes and SPD (MTB) or Speedplay (road) pedals.

Khannie

I've only used the keo's myself. They suffer from being slightly awkward to get clipped in to from a standing start (e.g. at lights). I've altered my cycling to either avoid stopping at lights (by slowing down well in advance) or holding on to a nearby lamppost / traffic lights / railings / whatever instead of unclipping.

The slight disadvantage of this is that you have people who you've previously overtaken just nipping in front of you again at lights (wtf is wrong with you people!?!? I'm going to overtake you again!!) forcing you to overtake them again.

Anyway, the point of all this rambling is this: I think you can get double sided spd pedals. While I haven't used them, I can imagine them being easier to clip into from a standing start than the keo's.

Whatever you choose, you're sure to find a big difference. I wouldn't go back to clips and I only used them for a few months.

**Timbuk2**

I love SPDs myself - very easy to get in and out of, double sided so moving off from lights is no problem, and the cleats are small so if you buy MTB shoes the cleat can be recessed into the sole of the shoe, meaning it doesn't protrude which makes walking easy (and it means that walking won't wear down your cleats as much as it will with large road cleats).

If you do go for SPD, I'd recommend the M520 pedals. They are cheap but very sturdy! The more expensive ones aren't necessarily better / more reliable, usually they're just lighter in weight.

Cookie_Monster

I have a pair of Look Keo's, as the pedals were free with the bike. They are ****e.
I've gone through one set of cleats already and the second set are on their way out. They just wear away to nothing and quickly too if you do even the smallest amount of walking on them.

helimachoptor

Double sided SPDs for me, cant fault them.

cdaly_

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

I love SPDs myself - very easy to get in and out of, double sided so moving off from lights is no problem, and the cleats are small so if you buy MTB shoes the cleat can be recessed into the sole of the shoe, meaning it doesn't protrude which makes walking easy (and it means that walking won't wear down your cleats as much as it will with large road cleats).

If you do go for SPD, I'd recommend the M520 pedals. They are cheap but very sturdy! The more expensive ones aren't necessarily better / more reliable, usually they're just lighter in weight.

^^ This ^^

TinyExplosions

You's are all wrong, OP said:

Don't mind spending the money on good kit

So he clearly wants



and a pair of



the user-replaceable parts make them a worthwhile investment...

Lumen

Nah, you want the Limited Edition 50th Anniversary Edition.

TinyExplosions

Lumen wrote: »

Nah, you want the Limited Edition 50th Anniversary Edition.

Na, they're a bit to flashy...

petethedrummer

Are you asking the difference between Shimano and Look or MTB(SPD) and Road(SPD-SL, Keo etc..) pedals?

I use shimano for no particular reason, they are what the shop gave me when I bought the bike.

I uise MTB pedals for commuting and road pedals for weekend training and spins.

blorg

It depends on your use of the bike. For racing, road system. If you will only be using the bike to go on long spins and will not be walking off the bike AT ALL then a road system is better, although when not racing it is marginal. Any other use, MTB system.

Lumen

blorg wrote: »

If you will only be using the bike to go on long spins and will not be walking off the bike AT ALL then a road system is better

Cleat bras.

CptMackey

I use the look keo, with northwave shoes. I like the pedals. Don't have any major issues with starting from lights etc. I find them comfortable and reliable. Easy to get out of in a hurry. Never used any other system other than toe clips so can't comment on them.

Head The Wall

I have m520 SPDs on my road and mountain bike with shimano MTB shoes and specialized road shoes. They're easy to get in and out of, cheap and even though they are MTB spds I don't notice any difference between them and a road clipless system

**Timbuk2**

OP, you probably know this, but SPD-SL is entirely different to SPD. Normally SPD on its own refers to the MTB SPD (which look something like this). SPD-SL is a type of road pedal, much more similar to Look Keo's than they are to SPDs, they look roughly like this (the large triangular things are the cleats).

SPDs are possibly the most common clipless pedal type - they are 'technically' MTB pedals but they are used also on road / touring / hybrid bikes etc. In fact, even Spin bikes in gyms (a type of stationary bike with a flywheel) tend to have SPD pedals on one side, toe clips on the other! Some shoes may be advertised as 'SPD Compatible' which does not necessarily imply that they are SPD-SL compatible!

johnk123

Just to wind up this thread (and for anyone else in the future who searches this thread)!

Went for the Look Keo in the end and could not be happier! The difference a proper road setup has made is amazing! Having spent the last couple of months with just my regular training runners and the standard toe straps I am just annoyed that I didn't get my act together and get setup sooner!

With regards to the SPD-SL vs Keo dilemma I can't offer more advice than the guys above me. They have the experience of both and can comment on that. All I will say is that if you are training regularly on your bike then the move to a "proper pedal setup" as I think I may have put it, is a no-brainer.

Thanks again to everyones input above. Really helped a lot. The cycling bug has just kicked up a level once again... this sport is addictive!

32yg

SPD simply because they're cheaper and they work just as well

agentgreen

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

I love SPDs myself - very easy to get in and out of, double sided so moving off from lights is no problem, and the cleats are small so if you buy MTB shoes the cleat can be recessed into the sole of the shoe, meaning it doesn't protrude which makes walking easy (and it means that walking won't wear down your cleats as much as it will with large road cleats).

If you do go for SPD, I'd recommend the M520 pedals. They are cheap but very sturdy! The more expensive ones aren't necessarily better / more reliable, usually they're just lighter in weight.

Can anyone recommend a reasonable pair of cycling shoes that goes with these?

Thanks.

furiousox

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/sonoma-shoes-ec010934?query=specialised

Unregistered.

johnk123 wrote: »

Just to wind up this thread (and for anyone else in the future who searches this thread)!

Went for the Look Keo in the end and could not be happier! The difference a proper road setup has made is amazing! Having spent the last couple of months with just my regular training runners and the standard toe straps I am just annoyed that I didn't get my act together and get setup sooner!

With regards to the SPD-SL vs Keo dilemma I can't offer more advice than the guys above me. They have the experience of both and can comment on that. All I will say is that if you are training regularly on your bike then the move to a "proper pedal setup" as I think I may have put it, is a no-brainer.

Thanks again to everyones input above. Really helped a lot. The cycling bug has just kicked up a level once again... this sport is addictive!

Are you getting rid of your old pedals with the straps?