SPD's with Road Shoes

[RubyTuesday]

So....when I started riding clipless pedals I bought a pair of Scattante road shoes with SPD SL pedals. So far, so good. I kept the pedals for about a month trying to get used to the SPD Sl's and never did. They did not clip in easy and did not clip out easy. Took one good fall. I finally decided to get a different set of clipless pedals. So I talked to the guy at Performance and he helped me pick out a new pair of pedals. I got SPD's this time and a pair of Shimano Mountain Bike shoes. Being a newbie, I thought you had to have those shoes for the SPD pedals. Performance took back my SPD SL's and my used shoes and gave me a full refund for them and then charged me for my new mountain bike shoes and SPD pedals. Took a long ride on Monday and really did not like the Shimano shoes. I had a hot spot on my baby toe and I have a weird bone below my ankle bone that the shoe rubbed the entire ride. So....went back to Performance and bought my old shoes back. Now I have SPD's with road shoes if I want to change them back. The SPD's will fit. However, the SPD SL's had a yellow plastic protection for the clips. The SPD's are just metal to the ground when I am off my bike. Is this going to ruin my SPD clips? Does anyone else use SPD's with road shoes?

I know this is a newbie question.....but I am a newbie.

[zoom-zoom]

Yeah, I'm not sure you can really use SPDs with road shoes, because of that. Those cleats are designed to be used with a shoe that has the cleat sort of flush with the tread of the shoe.

I must say, I am LOVING my new Look Keo Plus pedals. They are relatively inexpensive and work SO much better than those Shimano 105 SPD-SLs.

[HoosierGiant]

I have SPD pedals (505's, if I remember correctly) on my road bike, and I wear road shoes. Yes, it is possible... or at least it was when I last switched shoes. The shoes are Shimano R-085's, manufactured to accommodate two-bolt and three-bolt cleats. The cleats are Shimano SM-SH71, which include a separate pontoon or cleat rubber to keep the actual cleat from making contact with whatever surface you are walking on.

Here's the rub: I bought an extra set of pontoons last year when our wrench said he thought Shimano was phasing them out -- I'm not certain they are still made.

[RubyTuesday]

Darn...... I will look to see if I can find any. I really love the cleats, shoes and pedals, but worry I will wear them out quickly if I walk in them at all. Stupid they make the cleat so it will accept a two bolt SPD and then don't accommodate walking.

[pumpkinpony]

Darn...... I will look to see if I can find any. I really love the cleats, shoes and pedals, but worry I will wear them out quickly if I walk in them at all. Stupid they make the cleat so it will accept a two bolt SPD and then don't accommodate walking.

I'm not sure I'd worry that much about it. I would say I'm probably a casual rider - about 1000 miles in the last year. I have SPD cleats on my flat bottom road shoes. They clink and clank and I slip sometimes walking around on hard surface floors, but they don't show appreciable wear. And those cleats are relatively inexpensive to replace.

Though my brother is trying to talk me into Looks... and swapped them out! I'm convinced I'm going to crash at least once with them trying to figure out how to clip out. I'm so used to the multi-direction release on my SPDs.

[RubyTuesday]

Hmmm.... Thanks pumpkin. I think I will keep both shoes and play with the cleats on my road shoes. They will work for summer riding. For colder riding I will try and shim my mountain bike shoes for wet and cold weather. Thanks for sharing your story!

[amb]

I have road shoes (Scattante from Performance) and SPD pedals (Shimano 50's I think). I just started riding this year and have logged 1,650 miles so far. There is definitely some visible wear on the cleats but they're still working fine. I only clip out my left foot at stops so I'm sure that one will wear out sooner than the right. I'm sure they have some decent life left in them though.

Good luck & happy riding.