Spd sl cleats

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On the TCR Pro I have bought there are ultegra spd-sl pedals fitted, on my Fastroad I have spd pedals fitted which I seam to get on with ok , how easy is it to adapt to the spd sl cleats and pedals or do I change them for spd's and use my own shoes

I got in the purchase a set of road shoes ( unluckily they do not fit me ) and clips to match the pedals and a set of new clips in the box ,do I buy shoes or spd pedals

Cheers
Chris
 

vickster

Legendary Member
Do you want to be able to walk normally off the bike? If so swap the roadbike pedals to SPD

Otherwise you need two pairs of shoes (or you could swap the other pedals to SPD SL)
 

Will Spin

Über Member
I found that SPD and SPD-SL pedals to be very similar as far as clipping in and out is concerned. The SPD double sided pedals may be easier to clip into as you don't need to worry about which way up the pedal is. As far as walking in the shoes is concerned in my experience the SPD shoes are only easier to walk in if they have a recess in the sole. I have some road shoes which will take SPD cleats but they don't have a recessed sole, and walking with the SPD cleats is almost dangerous, however the shoe is much more stable for walking if I fit the SPD-SL cleats as they are wider and give a more stable platform.
It's probably easier to stick with the SPD type, unless you don't mind buying another pair of shoes. One other consideration though is that there seems to be more choice of road shoe available if you use the 3 screw cleats (e.g. SPD-SL).
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Here's a different take from one who went over from mountain biking to the road 9 years ago: SPDs are fantastic for mountain biking and touring where you may be off and walking from time to time and where you need a quick easy clip-in to get moving on a hill or in muddy conditions. However because the sole of the shoe has to have a well to accomodate the cleat, they can be chunky and heavy and the pedals are also quite heavy.

SPD-SLs are correspondingly useless off road or if you need to walk, apart from short waddles to the cafe. However the shoes and pedals are generally lighter and less chunky and the pedals give you a much flatter, more stable and even platform. Climbing hills out of the saddle they excel as with stiff soles you really can't feel the pedal pushing up into the sole of the shoe. If you are becoming serious about road cycling where light weight, comfort for long spells in the saddle and svelte looks become more important, stick with SPD-SL. You can use SPD cleats with road shoes but I think this is actually dangerous off the bike, having seen my neighbour slipping around with this combination.
 
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Freelanderuk

Freelanderuk

Über Member
Here's a different take from one who went over from mountain biking to the road 9 years ago: SPDs are fantastic for mountain biking and touring where you may be off and walking from time to time and where you need a quick easy clip-in to get moving on a hill or in muddy conditions. However because the sole of the shoe has to have a well to accomodate the cleat, they can be chunky and heavy and the pedals are also quite heavy.

SPD-SLs are correspondingly useless off road or if you need to walk, apart from short waddles to the cafe. However the shoes and pedals are generally lighter and less chunky and the pedals give you a much flatter, more stable and even platform. Climbing hills out of the saddle they excel as with stiff soles you really can't feel the pedal pushing up into the sole of the shoe. If you are becoming serious about road cycling where light weight, comfort for long spells in the saddle and svelte looks become more important, stick with SPD-SL. You can use SPD cleats with road shoes but I think this is actually dangerous off the bike, having seen my neighbour slipping around with this combination.

Many thanks for the reply , going to the LBS tomorrow to see what shoes they have in and try a few on
Thanks
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
Here's a different take from one who went over from mountain biking to the road 9 years ago: SPDs are fantastic for mountain biking and touring where you may be off and walking from time to time and where you need a quick easy clip-in to get moving on a hill or in muddy conditions. However because the sole of the shoe has to have a well to accomodate the cleat, they can be chunky and heavy and the pedals are also quite heavy.

SPD-SLs are correspondingly useless off road or if you need to walk, apart from short waddles to the cafe. However the shoes and pedals are generally lighter and less chunky and the pedals give you a much flatter, more stable and even platform. Climbing hills out of the saddle they excel as with stiff soles you really can't feel the pedal pushing up into the sole of the shoe. If you are becoming serious about road cycling where light weight, comfort for long spells in the saddle and svelte looks become more important, stick with SPD-SL. You can use SPD cleats with road shoes but I think this is actually dangerous off the bike, having seen my neighbour slipping around with this combination.
I think that this advice probably isn't as relevant anymore. I use SPD pedals, and whilst the shoes are certainly a touch heavier, they have stiff soles and the pedals weigh comparably to ultegra ones.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Really? Are you sure? I recently weighed a set of Shimano mountain bike shoes and SPD pedals and a pair of Shimano road shoes and SPD-SL pedals and was surprised to discover that the road setup was half the weight of the mountain setup.
 
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Globalti

Legendary Member
After many years of using SPDs I've realised that the cleats and the pedals do wear quite fast, especially if you ride in muddy conditions. This means that the fit becomes more and more sloppy and eventually you can be clipped in but the shoe can be wobbling around on the pedal because the area of contact is small. With SPD-SL you have a bigger area of contact and the generally cleaner condiitons mean the cleats don't wear so fast although lots of walking will quickly ruin the little coloured polymer pads. I also suffered from hot spots in my early road riding days but a set of Specialized BG insoles and better-fitting shoes sorted that out, as well as becoming habituated to the long spells in the saddle I suppose. I have recently gone back to using those better fitting older Shimano shoes but this time with the BG insoles and I have realised that my fancy new Specialized shoes weren't actually fitting very well. See this thread: https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/what-ive-learned-about-shoes.238136/

Going back to the older shoes is suiting me so well that I've suddenly mined a new seam of enthusiasm for cycling, they really are an excellent fit and very comfortable with no slopping around and no hot spots.

Edit: the only downside is that you have to take great care when walking on smooth floors, even last Saturday I almost went over in my LBS. Carpeted floors are much safer.
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
GCN did a test of power loss comparing spd vs spd sl , unless your puting out pro level watts and the shoes have the same stiffness they basically said the power loss between the 2 systems was so minimal as not to worry about it so just ride what your happy with .
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
Really? Are you sure? I recently weighed a set of Shimano mountain bike shoes and SPD pedals and a pair of Shimano road shoes and SPD-SL pedals and was surprised to discover that the road setup was half the weight of the mountain setup.

My go to SPD shoes weigh about 700g (Size 50) (340g per shoe) and the pedals themselves weigh about 280g - Ultegra pedals are around the 250g mark, and unless you are spending a fortune on shoes, I can't imagine that for a pair the weight is going to be substantially less than that. Comparing road shoes at the same price point, the weights are comparable - within 50g (given that they quote the weight for the smallest size available).
 
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