[Closed] SPDs on a road bike

Never used road pedals to compare 🤷🏻‍♂️

But never felt my SPD’s are holding me back.

Same when riding, but then i use super stiff XC shoes.

easier to clip in an out of in traffic, easier to walk longer distances

I use SPDs. No problems, and being double sided they are easier to clip back into.

Use what you prefer, my cx commuter has burgtec penthouse flats fitted, works for me. 😊

Thanks chaps.

What shoes do you use? I have XTR race - I’ve tried them with my Specialized shoes but they aren’t really stiff enough.

I did put my SPD cleats on a pair of road shoes which tale both two and three bolts but it wasn’t easy clipping in an out.

Use them on my winter/commuter. Easier to get in and out of, plus I've got MTB winter boots and not road ones. MTB XC race shoes the rest of the time.

Confirmed Look Keo/super stiff roadie shoes on the other road bikes. I don't think the MTB pedals really hold me back on the winter bike.

EDIT - I've got Northwave XC shoes - near/at the top of the range but I bought them because they were heavily discounted and I know Northwave fits me from the winter boots. I'd suggest looking at discounted stuff, order a few if you don't know your fit and send back what you don't like.

single-sided SPD Touring pedal (i can walk and chew gum at the same time so i can deal with single-sided pedals) and stiff-soled XC shoe just as good as a specific road pedal

the extra platform that the pedal provides makes all the difference, eliminating the 'yaw' you can get with normal double-sided mtb spds

You just need some stiff soled mtb shoes. I use Specialized S-Works Trail shoes for commuting on my Slate and they are stiff enough for 40 mile road rides etc.

Edit: Using XT Race pedals

I use SPDs on the road, makes swapping bikes/shoes so much easier, although I have used road clipless systems in the past.

The only thing I've noticed really is that for long, hard road rides then road systems let you clip in tighter and the larger contact area can reduce 'hot spots'.

the larger contact area can reduce ‘hot spots’.

I use Crank Brothers Candys to avoid this.

Hot spots depend on the shoes.

I swapped from road pedals to spd’s last year and have done a few fast 100mile road rides with no issues or hot spots.

I like stiff shoes so go with xc race shoes generally but also have winter boots with carbon soles.

i did a 70 mile road ride yesterday in 30c heat with ritchey wcs pedals and giro republic shoes. They shoes aren’t really that stiff but fine even when tramping along.

my 50 mile time was 2 hours 30.

Aye, I'm not Imelda friggin Marcos

I've yet to try any 3-bolt couples setups, but the Time sale at Merlin has peeked my interest.

Currently using 2006 Time ATAC XS Carbons with same year Shimano SHM21G(?)s on my road bike.

I run candy’s on all my bikes, road, commuter, mtb, fatbike just makes it easier, although I’ve struggled to find a good mtb shoe for the road bike.

Tried both, prefer spd because road cleats are a pain to walk in after events and at feed stops etc., I like double sided pedals, and don’t see any loss of efficiency.

I use cheap as chips 520s on my commuter and some marginally less cheap 540s (I think) on my road bike. Both do the job and last well. I used to just use specialized Ryme shoes, and they were fine for many century rides, but recently got sworks mtb shoes, which are much stiffer. Don’t think makes a huge difference - I didn’t get hotspots with either. Like the fit of the sworks ones.

Was tempted to get something shinier, e.g xt or xtr race pedals, for the road bike, but the max 100g weight saving hasn’t quite persuaded me to do so yet. Would look nicer though.

I have SPDs on my cx and gravel bikes, but you get a lot more positive feel with a good road pedal and shoes, plus the lower stack height has its benefits - you get a bit of side-to-side rock with SPDs that you don't get with a wider road cleat. Most noticeable when you're giving it maximum beans on an uphill sprint in a road race or hill climb - less so for general riding. I do wear SPD winter boots due to more frequent stops / cafe visits.

I wear spd shoes when touring. Perfectly comfortable and allows you to walk about a bit.

I use speedplay pedals on my proper road bikes though. I find proper road shoes tend to just fit a little more snugly and the interface feels better and less loose.

As above, for most riding I use SPDs for walking convenience. With carbon soled race XC type shoes, there is no significant performance penalty. I only use road specific shoes on my TT bike and my old RR bike.

I used Candy’s when I first started riding road, they were fine.

But noticed a big improvement moving to road specific, just all round comfort and felt better planted. Single sided entry really shouldn’t be a problem but there’s always Speedplay if you struggle.

Nothing to stop you using mountain bike pedals of course, commuters and tourers aside I never really get why some folk sacrifice efficiency for the limited amount of time they’ll actually spend walking. Do you really walk that far at feed stops?!

Or maybe you just want one pair of shoes across multiple bikes.

Most of my bikes have Tome ATAC pedals and I've never felt hot spots, but maybe I don't ride gnar enough. I also have some Time road pedals, we've fallen out of love with the expresso pedals so now use Speedplay. If you want some cheap Time road pedals message me.

Do people really find walking in road shoes that difficult? It's not like you're doing more than about 20m at a time!

Personally prefer road pedals to SPD (although I've not tried single sided SPD ala JoB). Feels like a much tighter more positive connection and there's no rattle as the cleats wear. I can get clipped in straight off maybe 95% of the time with no faff, so there's no real advantage to double sided.

It's far from life changing, but the proper thing is just betterer.

Do people really find walking in road shoes that difficult? It’s not like you’re doing more than about 20m at a time!

Just mucks up the cleats for me, though on wet cobbles by the canal they were a little uninspiring....

Just swapped back from SL's on the gravel/commuter as I'm trashing cleats on it, going back to CB Candies unless I'm doing pure road on it

Do people really find walking in road shoes that difficult? It’s not like you’re doing more than about 20m at a time!

That depends on what sort of road riding you are doing. If it's bashing out a 50 mile route as fast as you can, then "proper" road cleats are fine.  If it's a multi-day tour, taking in lots of sightseeing en route, then you might find the amount of walking makes road cleats unwieldy, dangerous and fast-wearing..

Yeah I get that, walking over greasy/muddy cobbles mtb shoes make sense. But not waddling 15 metres for a free energy gel...

Used to commute with SPD's and MTB shoes on my Fixed gear road bike - I had a walk at work between bike parking and office, and road shoes aren't ideal. No problems, and slightly easier having double sided for riding fixed.  Only issues I evr had was worn cleats - far more likely to pull out of them if worn.  I would advise changing - bit alarming on a fixed as one leg is po-go 'ing round and round as you bob up and down trying to get your foot back in at speed.

Single sided on fixed, it’s why track stands were invented! 😂

Thanks all.

i actually have both - Ultegra SL and XTR SPD, I’ve been swapping around on the road bike - clipping in is far, far easier on the SPDs, walking easier on SPDs- power transfer I’m not sure about as my road shoes are carbon sole and my mtb shoes are nowhere near as stiff.

It was really just before I either buy new Ultegra for a new bike or new SPD shoes and wanted to hear peoples opinions.

If if it weren’t such a piaffe (for me) clipping into the SLs I’d be happy' so not sure which way to go?

These are the shoes I’m thinking about.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sidi-dominator-7-mtb-shoes/

I prefer ratchet to boa systems.

Used to commute with SPD’s and MTB shoes on my Fixed gear road bike – I had a walk at work between bike parking and office, and road shoes aren’t ideal. No problems, and slightly easier having double sided for riding fixed.  Only issues I evr had was worn cleats – far more likely to pull out of them if worn.  I would advise changing – bit alarming on a fixed as one leg is po-go ‘ing round and round as you bob up and down trying to get your foot back in at speed.

I do this - only have one pair of bike shoes for the fixie and MTB, so just use SPDs. Shoes are just basic Specialized XC velcro ones, and pedals are 525s I think, with no additional platform. They're OK; over 60km on the fixie I can get hotspots, but I figure it's partly down to shoe fit and cleat positioning (not directly under the ball, etc).

I've also done a couple of Gran Fondos on the fixie and had one come unclipped on a downhill. It was fast, so fairly scary, and just had to hang one leg out until I slowed down a bit...

Never used road pedals to compare

But never felt my SPD’s are holding me back.

This.

If the appearance bothers you I think there are single sided Ultegra SPDs (PD-A600 maybe?)

I've used spd pedals on my road bike for audax up to 500km and road racing and hell even time trialing .

All my bikes have spds so I can use any of my shoes any time.

Never been bothered by hotspots etc.

As for efficiencies..... Any numbers in that -never felt it holding me back but te .I'm not Chris Hoy.

The cleats wearing out very quickly if you walk more than about 2 feet seemed daft to me. Also, popping into a shop makes you feel like even more of a knob if you’re wearing Lycra AND waddling about.

I don’t believe you lose any real efficiency through using spds and a stiff shoe rather than road pedals. If it’s anything at all, I’d be surprised. I seem to recall that there’s not even compelling evidence that super stiff shoes add efficiency. That said, I did just buy some really stiff mtb shoes!!

Fine here. Plastic cleats wearing out in a season or 2 put me off, the wobble doesn't bother me, and if wider platforms were more efficient then they'd be making them for MTBs.

SPDs can feel really cold in winter, plus I find it easier to make small adjustments to my Look Keo cleats due to the size.

I don’t notice any difference actually pedalling though.