Need help buying cycling shoes

[VeloVT]

If it's in your budget, I would just get a pair of cheap shoes for spinning -- if you shop sales at Performance, Nashbar, etc you should be able to pick something up for well under $60. Put SPD cleats on them, and get used to clipping in and out on the spin bike.

Then when you have your road bike, and you are used to how it feels and fits, take some time and try on lots of shoes. Fit and sole stiffness will be much more important on your real bike, which you will probably spend much more time on at a go than a spin bike. Then talk to your LBS about different pedal systems -- they're usually pretty helpful about pedals.

Lots of people do run SPDs on their road bikes, and are quite happy with them. But I wouldn't let the fact that you want clipless spinning shoes determine what pedal system to use on your bike, at least not without doing a fair amount of research first.

Good luck!

[OakLeaf]

Or a slightly different viewpoint...

Cleat alignment is just as important on a spin bike as on the road. But it's simpler to adjust when you're spinning, because (1) you can have a real screwdriver or socket driver with you, and (2) the whole group doesn't have to stop for you to make an adjustment.

So if spinning is what you're doing now, and you can get the shoes and pedals you want, then you can have them in perfect alignment by the time it's nice enough to ride outside. (If you want to have a dedicated pair of spin shoes, maybe you can get a cheaper pair made on the same last as your chosen road shoes, and copy the outline of the cleat onto the other pair.)

[tulip]

I use the same shoes for spinning and riding outside. I started riding outside first, and took up spinning some 20 years later (a couple of years ago).

If you end up liking a system different than SPD for your road bike, though, you'll end up having spin shoes and road shoes. Some folks do better with Frogs or Look for road, and those are not offered on spin bikes, as far as I know.