MTB or Road Shoes

[Rustybucket]

Morning everyone

I currently have some specialized MTB shoes which I use for both my Hybrid (commuting) & Road (weekend) bike. Is there much difference between Road & MTB shoes? Is it worth getting new shoes & pedals for my road bike will I notice any difference?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[I like Skol]

Personally, if you are running a mixed fleet like yours then I would suggest sticking with the MTB SPD system. I have 3 bikes, an MTB, a commuter hybrid and a faster road bike and all have the MTB type SPD pedals fitted. This suits me as I only need 1 type/pair of shoes and the MTB shoes are much, much more practical for walking about in safely when off the bike.

I think you would definitely notice a difference by swapping to SPD-SL pedals and shoes and the differences won't necessarily be an improvement.

 

[HorTs]

I've been looking at SPD vs SPD SL recently.

I came to the conclusion that it doesn't really matter.

For me I went for SPDs because I want to be able to walk in them reasonably normally.

There were plus points for SPD SLs - people had mentioned reduced hotspots and better power transfer.

 

[ianrauk]

If you want all the gear for your club runs, then get road shoes/cleats.
If you are happy with MTB SPD's then stick to those.

There is very little difference between the 2 these days.
MTB shoe soles are now just as stiff as road shoes.
As in regards to reducing hotspots and better power transfer, that's debatable imo. If you have hotspots on any cleat system then they are not set up properly.

 

[Rustybucket]

Currently only go out with friends or on my own at the weekends - not in any clubs yet. Thinking might join one this year thou.
Ok sounds like not worth getting any new shoes then for now. Think I will spend the money on a new helemet instead!

Thanks for your comments!!!

 

[lesley_x]

Much prefer spds, can walk in them, feel a lot more stable. I'm not sure what you would gain by changing really.

 

[atomic]

I've got a mixture of both, 'mtb' SPD shoes for commuting so I can walk from the bike sheds into work. But I have SPD-SL shoes for my road bike as they were cheaper for vented shoes which I find better for longer rides.

SPD-SL is no fun to walk more than a short distance in unless you've got super hero balance skills.

 

[HLaB]

With my Spesh bg MTB sports beginning to look old, I decided to get more wear out of my SPD-SL shoes and tbh I cant see them (SPD-SLs) being any better than a good stiff soled pair of SPDs with touring pedal (eg A520s), comfort or performance wise and the SPDs are far better for movement off the bike. My head say go back to the spds for recreational rides but I've become a victim of fashion I'd always use spds for the commute however.

 

[buggi]

my mtb shoes look like my road shoes. Hardly any difference in design except for the tread which cleat is recessed in my mtb shoes, which means i can walk around in them. I bought a little accessory for my road shoes that recesses the cleat too so i have spd cleats on both shoes and spd pedals on all my bikes. DHB shoes from Wiggle

 

[Rustybucket]

Think I will keep my current MTB Shoes then, it seems there is not much to be gained from upgrading yet.

Going to get this with the money instead:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/kask-mojito-road-helmet-fluoro/ Thanks again everyone!!!!!

Im having a yellow & white theme running with my Boardman Carbon - before I get called a tart .....

 

[Doyleyburger]

Glad someone started this thread as I was contemplating getting some road shoes rather than my spd's.
I have been told the same......that they are harder to walk in. However I get on my bike to ride, not to walk !
Think I'll stick to my current pedals and shoes then if the general consensus is that there isn't much difference in terms of performance

 

[cyberknight]

Currently only go out with friends or on my own at the weekends - not in any clubs yet. Thinking might join one this year thou.
Ok sounds like not worth getting any new shoes then for now. Think I will spend the money on a new helemet instead!

Thanks for your comments!!!

I use mtb style cleats on club runs /sportives as do some of the other riders and the cleat type does not affect performance enough to warrant buying a new system just to be like the "boys".
I use A 600 pedals on the nice bike that are single sided .

and m530 double sided on the others.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Do you like walking like a duck?

 

[VamP]

Just in case people are getting an impression that there is a consensus that off-road and road pedal/shoe systems are no different from each other, I am putting forth my considered opinion that they are in fact quite different, and well suited to each other's area of expertise.

If people are happy to compromise on-road performance to facilitate other activities, such as walking, that's fine, but it's a stretch to then say that SPDs perform just as well as SDP-SL for road riding.

 

[Leodis]

Use SPD for commuting and Look for road bike, horses for courses.