SPD shoes: Cheap and cheerful worth it?

I’ve been tempted by SPDs for a while, but always preferred to do my riding on both road and MTB with flats and (on road at least) toeclips. However, yesterday’s fun at Cannock made me think more seriously about being attached to my bike in a way that was less easy for me to slip off the pedals, so my thoughts turned to SPDs again.

Big question though, just how much difference is there between shoes at the cheaper end of the market (think last year’s Shimano MT21s) and something that’s a bit newer (like the Mavic Alpine All mountain jobs)? I know you usually get what you pay for, but would the difference between a more expensive pair of shoes be that noticeable?

Weight, fit & comfort, style, durability…

Get something cheap if you haven’t tried clipless before! Or borrow some. See if you like being clipped in before spending big money.

im sure the more expensive ones are better, but im coming up to three years of riding in my shimano mt51 shoes so its not like the cheap ones are painfully bad. try to try a pair on before you shell out for them though.

I rode for years in a pair of cheap Decathlon jobbies, I’d still be using them if I could be arsed to drill the cleats out. 🙄

Thanks for the advice all.

I’m probably going to go for some if I can hide the purchase from my wife, then try them out on the road bike to and from work for a bit until I get back from foreign climes and go off on holiday.

Amazingly, the pedals are the easiest choice… Shimano M520. Cheap, sealed bearings, what else do you need?

What size do you take??

“barge” or so I am old repeatedly by my wife.

shoes for me are anywhere between 12 and 13 depending on how they fit (Vans trainers = 13, Merrells = 13, issue boots = 12). I don’t know how any of those translate into Euro sizes, but I would guess about a 48. Strangely, the two pairs of 48 Shimano I tried on in the shop at Cannock seemed tight, but I was wearing thick socks.

EDIT : Just seen the bit about large feet! Doh!

I have some UK size 9.5 SPD boots + pedals for sale – perfect as an introduction to clips 🙂

This is where I hate being tall and having large feet. All the cheap, decent SPD shoes I have seen on eBay, CRC, Wiggle, etc seem to be in normal sizes. You want “freak” or “flipper” size and they are either out of stock, or not on sale.

Damn you feet!!!

Speaking of which, anyone know if the Specialized Tahoe shoes come up large or small?

Sod it… Just done a bit of shopping and bought some Tahoes and Shimano M520s off Evans Cycles for cheap.

Will try them out on the road bike initially to get used to them.

i bought a pair of these after my expensive (not mentioning the brand) ones fell apart.

Ill never buy anything else now. Really comfortable for long rides. and take the rock smashing and scraping that Spain dishes out day after day. The only “issue” was the sole coming away near the cleat after 2 years of abuse. A bit of triaction glue and its all fixed.

The reason I got these and not the cheaper ones is I wanted a velcro strap to cover the laces.

I did look at those, but no one seems to have large sizes in.

I’ll see what happens when the Tahoes show up. If they don’t feel right, I can get them back Evans easily enough. Maybe they will have more stock of larger sizes at that point.

Decathlon sell them.