Road or MTB pedals for commuting?

I have Eggbeaters on my commuter. Good for quick entry and release at lights…
But now I’ve started riding with panniers I’m getting sore feet and I’m guessing it might be the extra weight. I have Specialized MTB shoes which are pretty stiff but the pedals are tiny so there’s a lot of force going through a very small area…

So I’m thinking about Eggbeater Candy’s with the bigger platform.
Or should I go for road pedals despite the fact they’re harder to get in and out of quickly…

What’s your solution?

how far are you riding? my commute is 16-17 miles, i use road pedals on a road bike. I accept that it is a pain walking but i don’t have to walk very far.

If your commute includes a train section it might make sense to have shoes you can walk easily in etc….

I’d stick with a wider platform mtb pedal. The shoe/boot types are more practicable for commuting for one thing.

Depends on the commute. If there’s a lot of stopping and starting through town and/or you need to walk about/get the train then MTB. If you basically ride nonstop straight to your place of work then road ones would be fine.

I commute on my road bike (with Shimano 105 SPD-SL road pedals / Specialized Sport BG road shoes)

and also commute on my hybrid (with Shimano 520 SPD and Shimano MTB shoes)

no difference at traffic lights as I trackstand on both bikes

only real difference for commuting is ability to walk properly in the mountain bike SPDs if I get the rare puncture, or need to walk with my bike for any reason (like road works requiring a walk 200M down the pavement with the bike)

for riding itself? the road SPD-SL is a much more efficient platform when really putting the power down, the MTB pedal system actually feels very unstable in comparison

I always ride with mountain bike pedals and don’t have problems you describe. Using Time pedals, or speedplay frogs, with very stiff (ie expensive) Specalized shoes.

I’d try the Candy’s. You can always sell them on if they don’t solve the problem and they’re surely the most ecconimical thing to try. You’ll at least get some new cleats with them, which is always a good thing with eggbeaters.. 😉

I used to commute 24 miles a day in MTB shoes as I would often nip to the shop on the way home and walk around quite a bit when I arrived at work. I trackstand at lights and if you’re not walking at all- straight into work, change, no regular stops on the way back, I’d swap to road shoes and pedals. I can really tell how much happier my feet are on road rides with proper SPD-SLs where I used to get agonizing foot pain.

Got Shimano a 520s and these http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/PESHM530/shimano_m530_spd_pedals which I prefer for commuting as they’re double sided cleats.I use the MTB shoes i already had on both rather than get road shoes and pedals.Depends how serious you are about road riding and how much you want to spend really.

I do it with road pedals and shoes. A bit more faff clipping in (about 130 sets of lights to do it at!), but more comfy, worth it IMO.

32 or 40 miles a day in SPDs and Mtb shoes (shimano ) .
Never had a set of road shoes for a very long time,as I didn’t like walking like a penguin or looking like Bambi on ice when crossing wet floors. 😀

20 mile each way commute here and I ride a road bike or cx bike with guards depending on the weather. I use spd’s on both of those bikes. In road shoes the walk from the bike shed to the office entrance would be a pain, the walk across the marble floor would end up with me on the floor, riding when its icy would be a pain, I prefer to ride with one foot unclipped when there are icy patches and traffic light clip ins would annoy me with road pedals.

I’ve not had any feet related discomfort issues in 7 years of commuting by bike.

I do have road pedals on my proper road bike though.

30 miles round trip commute, on a road bike with time mtb pedals. I have a long walk from bike storage and my keo road cleats would be dead in a week. In my last job, very short walk so was using road pedals.

I think problems with sore feet are more likely to be related to your shoes than the type of pedal. If you are using a sufficiently stiff soled shoe, it shouldn’t really matter how small or large the pedal platform is – the load will be spread across the sole of the shoe.

I use SPDs with stiff soled MTB shoes for commuting and long distance touring, and have never had any problems with foot pain. I use SPD SLs with road shoes on my road race and TT bikes, but I think the efficiency gains over the SPDs and MTB shoes are relatively small.

35 mile round trip here using road pedals and shoes (Time RXS). If I ever get round to buying a commuting bike (currently use bling carbon) then I’ll use MTB pedals. I’d like to get some proper winter boots for the commute and general MTB use, plus I have to walk about 300m from bike storage to office so road cleats are uncomfortable. I keep some flip flops in the bike locker but it gets a bit chilly this time of year!

Road. KEO pedals and cleats. Plus cleat covers for walking. KEO cleats are soft, and I normally wear the left one every three months. I have also worn out one set of cleat covers! Still a nice pedal though.

I use PD A600 pedals on my roadbike. SPD single sided mechanism with a pedal suround for extra support. It means I can wear MTB shoes so I can walk off the bike, and no hotspots with stiff-soled Spesh Carbon Experts in summer, Northwave Celsius in winter. At 60 quid they seemed like the perfect solution, although a bit of internetting should find you some cheaper. . There’s a slightly heavier version, the PD A520 for about 25-30 quid. They’re billed as touring pedals, but I find them perfect for commuting.