I’m currently riding my road bike with MTB spds and shoes and thinking if buying specific road shoes and pedals will make any difference? Can anyone on here advise if it’s worth doing? Thanks in advance:)

Shoes are much of a muchness, some of the carbon soles will be stiffer than mtb shoes, but they will cost. As for pedals, the larger cleat gives better engagement. and less pressure on the sole. Shimano are easier to clip into than Look, and the cleats last longer. Look are lighter, Speedplay are leftfield, Time a bit less so.

I ride carbon look Keos. The cleats wear fast, the bearing seals stop the pedals from sitting correctly, but once you’ve bought into a system…

I use Exustar ones, I find them more comfortable on long (proper) road rides

I use Speedplay found them reliable and I love the amount of float in them.

Look keo…end of thread.

I’ve got a set of carbons for sale!;-)

If you happy with the SPD’s why change?
I’ve never seen the point of road pedals unless your actually racing, it’s a lot easier walking in the cafe with spd shoes on.

I use spd shoes and a600 pedals, never found a reason to “upgrade” to road shoes/pedals.

A £200 set of shoes and dura ace pedals will be better than a £50 set of mtb shoes and deore pedals.

A good carbon soled mountain bike shoe and xtr pedals will be better than bargain basement road stuff.

Look keo 2 Max composites here. Been superb last couple years.

I used spds when I first got my road bike but swapped to road shoes and pedals. I noticed a definite difference between the two – the road system feels more stable as the shoe/pedal interface is stiffer. Horses for courses.

Proper road pedals are far better for the job than SPDs. I’ve tried both.

I used to just use Time MTB pedals on my road bike but switched to roadie shoes and Speedplay pedals. I do prefer the roady shoes and pedals now as they are stiffer which is more efficient and comfortable on longer rides. They’re a pain in the arse if you have to do any walking though. I have some plastic covers to go over the cleats which helps.

This is another of the perennial questions that pop up on cycling forums.
Road pedals are much better for road riding.

A set of very decent shimano shoes and the new wider platform pedals will cost you under £100 from Merlin or similar, don’t muck about do the job right.

If you’ve got stiff soled mtb shoes, it’ll make FA difference. Load of toss talked about road versus MTB orientated SPD’s. Someone will mention “hot spots” soon….

I notice no discernible difference between the Look Keo’s on my dry weather road bike and the Time MTB cleats on my MTB and wet weather road bike. I’ve got the same Specialized shoe in the MTB flavor and road flavor. Both Look and Time MTB systems give a nice amount of float. The only difference is the road cleats are impossible to walk on and you’ll put yourself at more risk of injury off the bike than on it.

Not sure I believe carbon soles are stiffer. Lighter yes, but the solid plastic soles on a decent pair of shoes like the Specialized ones I’ve got are plenty stiff enough so you don’t notice any flex whatsoever or the smaller area ‘point load’ of the smaller MTB cleat. As for hot spots, I get more of an issue on my road shoes for some reason. I think it’s because I have them tighter as I pull up more on the road bike and want the shoe to be tighter.

Before you make your mind up, do lots of road shoe trying, the pedals are the easy bit (shimano 540rl are great and cost buttons)

You’ll definitely get hotspots if your soles aren’t stiff enough.

I’ve got ‘proper’ road shoes and pedals but if I was buying again now I’m not sure I’d bother. As said above if the soles are stiff enough I doubt there’s much difference really, leaving going road-specific just getting you shoes you can’t walk in.

OTOH the disadvantages of road shoes aren’t so great that I’ll be getting rid of them any time soon. Despite a 4 mile walk a few weeks ago totally destroying my cleats 🙁