Just bought a second hand road bike off eBay, picking it up tomorrow night, but it's only got flat pedals at the
moment. I always use SPDs on my mountain bike, and same for road riding I've done in the past. My question is, is it worth getting proper road pedals and new shoes to match, or should I stick on another set of SPDs?

I'm planning on doing long rides (~100 miles/day). Money's tight, so is there anough benefit in comfort and/or weight from getting road pedals, with the extra cost? If there is, any recommendations onwhat to lookout for, it would be second hand if possible, I'll be scouring the classifieds!

SPDs. I have 'em on road bike plus MTB. Have no idea why you would need road pedals/shoes – SPDs seem to work just fine.

I bought new Look Keo pedals and Spesh road shoes when I bought a new road bike. They are fine and at the time I had cash to spare. If you are short I wouldn't advise you bother going for road set up. Maybe when you have some cash you could get a pair of racier spd shoes to get the look and save weight.

If you've got decent/stiff MTB shoes, they'll be fine – I do this on my commuter as it makes walking about at each end easier.

If your shoes arent particulalry stiff, you MIGHT notice pressure points on long road rides with SPD as the cleat area is relatively small – in which case either go for stiffer soled MTB shoes, or investing in road shoes and pedals with larger cleats might be a good idea. Try the SPD's first and see how you get on…..

It varies from person to person but i find that if the sole of the shoes are stiff enough then i can ride just as long and as comfortable on SPDs as i can on SPD SLs and have never had a problem with hotspots. I used to alternate the pedals and shoes depending on what sort of ride i was doing (if it was more leisurely and involved cake stops etc then i prefered the SPDs for the easier walking off the bike). Now i find most of my riding is SPD, they might be slightly less efficient but i cant say i notice it much – i waste more time changing the pedals about than would save while on the bike.

SPD's will be ok as long as you don't intend to do prolonged climbing. Plus you'll be able to walk normally 😉 . If you're only intending to do 100 milers in this country and short climbs such as the Bwlch etc then no probs.

If you are looking at long mountain climbs in heat (Marmotte stylee) I would strongly advise a road set up. The sole burning thing is just not funny.

Thanks for the feed back guys, think they're the answers I wanted to hear! I wouldn't say my shoes are particalaly stiff, but i've done c2c and lejog in the past with them (mtb with road tires) and never felt any pressure points. SPDs it is.

Any benefit from getting anything other than the basic ones? Weight difference is negligable, and never had issues with the basic ones i've got.

Any benefit from getting anything other than the basic ones? Weight difference is negligable, and never had issues with the basic ones i've got.

Presume you're talking pedals? If so, no, not really. Yes, pricey ones are lighter with better quality bearings etc, but (assume you're thinking of getting MTB ones), they don't take the battering from mud/pedal strikes/kack building up everywhere that they do off-road and will go on forever with even basic maintenance. I'm running, IIRC, some cheapo M520's on my commuter. Does 100+ miles a week year round and survives quite happily on an annual regrease.

Awesome, thanks again

Get a pair of these – they are SPD, but have a platform which provides better support to your shoe, they also look better on a road bike than mtb style spd peddles.

Road bikes have a lower bottom bracket than MTBs and sometimes double sided pedals can just clip/ HIT the road, on roundabouts etc.

i use flats on my road bike.