WANTED: Mountain SPD compatible shoes (and pedals?) recommendation

[Grog]

Tell me about 'em! They're not very common around me so I've never heard first-person account about them.

(It's great to see that two canucks thousands of km apart can be awake at the same time and thinking about bike pedals.)

[invsblwmn]

sidi dominator plus crank brothers=great fit. Had egg beaters on the specialized I wrapped around the SUV last fall and have smarty on my cannondale road bike. Love the entry and the fit with the sidis. Have Fun!

[HillSlugger]

I have Diadora Astro mtb shoes with Shimano PD-M540 spd pedals. The thing I like about the shoes is that they are built exactly like a road Shoe (the Diadora Astro road shoe) but with a sole that makes them walkable.

[Tiffany]

I have the Sidi Dominator 5's with standard SPD pedals. I love the combination and I came off road shoes also. It was (obviously) different at first but I have grown to love the way they feel and fit. I hope this helps.

[Grog]

Thanks everyone!

I think I am leaning towards the Crank Bros pedals. I have SPDs already (not currently on) and I am curious to try something else.

Among the various Crank Bros versions, which one(s) have you tried? Which do you like best? I don't need extra mud-cleaning features, because this will be for 99.9% road riding, and price is a concern. (Weight isn't really.) Ideas? Recommendations?

Thanks!!

[emily_in_nc]

Among the various Crank Bros versions, which one(s) have you tried? Which do you like best? I don't need extra mud-cleaning features, because this will be for 99.9% road riding, and price is a concern. (Weight isn't really.) Ideas? Recommendations?

I like the Candies for their pretty colors! Candy SL's are pricier, Candy C's are less. There are probably some other versions too; I'm just stathing the ones I'm familiar with (all are 2-4 years old). Unfortunately, they didn't work well with my shoes (with heavy tread), so I'm using Frogs now, but the Eggbeaters Candies were definitely purtier....

Emily

[VeloVT]

lots of eggbeater reviews (and other mtb Crank Bros pedals) at www.mtbr.com.

When I was looking at them several years ago, I noticed a lot of comments about how the combination of a four-sided interior pedal with a two-sided platform was a little awkard/unnecessary (regarding candies, mallets, etc). Lots of people here seem to love their platform Crank Bros pedals, and I've never tried them so I can't comment, but that point made a lot of intuitive sense to me.

That said, although my eggbeaters are good for the purpose for which I use them, I actually like my road pedals much better. Some of it is that they have less float, and I think that causes them to feel more secure and powerful, but some of it may be the bigger platform (I have Ultegra pedals).

[Grog]

I just thought I'd provide an update on my shoe/pedal situation.

I have tried to purchase Sidi Dominators from various LBSes around Vancouver. I became quite frustrated with them:
- MEC does not carry many women cycling shoe (I can sort of understand) but I tried the men's sizes which gave me an idea of the size I would need (40 was too small, 41 was not bad but felt too wide).
- La Bicicletta did not carry Sidi yet but they said they would very soon and would give me a call. They did not plan to get the mountain bike shoes but could special order for me once I knew my size exactly (from trying the road shoes). They never called back.
- Campione - the total Italian bike shop - had several pairs of Sidis but it seemed to be an old inventory. They had a Ruby Dominator *drool* but it was a size 36 I think, no good for me. I tried other styles and settled on size 41.5, but they did not have the Dominator. I asked them to special order from Toronto, was ready to pay upfront. The guy said: "I'll have to talk to my boss to see when we're going to make an order from Sidi..." What?? Anyway, I gave my number, and they never called me back either. (It's been three weeks.)

So I came home after that day of shopping and I had a feeling the LBSes would not step up to the challenge. So I simply ordered the shoes from TE. I love to buy from TE although for customs reasons (I live in Canada) I try to buy from my local shops, whose service I usually enjoy. Well TE definitely beat them on this one!!

It took a bit of time for me to get the shoes due to customs delays and Canada Post messing up with delivery, but I got the shoes three days ago. So far they are really comfortable except that my left foot was a bit too tight and I did not want to stop and remove my toe covers to adjust the fit for such a short ride. The shoes also feel really fast for some reason. They are quite stiff, about as stiff as my Specialized carbon road shoes.

I am currently keeping my SPD pedals. I'll see if they give me pain over longer runs, and perhaps try to get the cleats in a better position. Perhaps I'll switch to the Candy, but that would require another online purchase and I'm not ready for that!!

Thanks for all who provided advice!