The Low-Down on Road Pedals -- gimme yer thoughts

[TrekTheKaty]

This was a great thread. I've been riding with Spd's and mountain bike shoes. What's the difference, right? I've had intermittent "hot foot" on longer, harder rides and I was going to switch systems with my new bike, but confusion ensued. I put super feet insoles in for the last long ride, and they didn't help. Now I'm going to go shoe shooping

Darcy, the "intermittent" might be the heat. Interesting.

[zoom-zoom]

Darcy, the "intermittent" might be the heat. Interesting.

I think heat is definitely contributing to my foot discomforts, too. My mtn. shoes are black...the road version of the shoe (which has nearly identical uppers) is white. In <3 months I will be riding a century in Death Valley. After the heat of the past week+ I found my feet were getting miserably hot inside my black shoes...felt like they were absorbing so much extra warmth from the sun (this will certainly be even more of an issue in the hottest place in the US!). White shoes with the toe vents started sounding heavenly.

[Owlie]

I know this isn't helpful at all, but I had a moment today where I thought "Thank god I haven't switched pedals!" The drainage ditch from an overpass that goes over the bike trail got overwhelmed last night/this morning, so there were big rocks and mud EVERYWHERE. I ended up having carry my bike cross-style through it. I have SPDs, and I still had a hard time clipping in and out with all the mud on my shoes.

I do agree that the heat makes my foot discomfort worse. Does someone make well-ventilated mountain bike shoes?

[pll]

Keen's commuter cycling shoes accommodate SPDs...

[GLC1968]

Another SPD-SL user here. My experience is similar to nscrbug's except to add that I also wear mine for triathlons and so far, the cleat is holding up remarkably well.

I will say that these are by far my favorite pedal/cleat combination. I have zero issues clipping in at all. The pedals are one-sided, but I think they are weighted (unlike my first pair, 6 years ago) so that they naturally just fall into the right position for clipping in. I have the Ultegra version on my road bike and the 105 version on my tri bike. I use the same shoes with both.

My commuter has the 2-bold SPD's because I rarely ever ride that bike for more than 25-30 miles and I figured I'd want the two-sided pedal and the shoes with tread when commuting. The combination is OK but honestly, the connection is not as smooth as the SPD-SL's for me. YMMV.

[Owlie]

Keen's commuter cycling shoes accommodate SPDs...

I keep forgetting about these. I used to ride in my Keen Newports (so, basically the same shoe, but without the cleat holes) when I had platform pedals. I just wonder how stiff the sole is, because my Specialized shoes aren't stiff enough.

[zoom-zoom]

I keep forgetting about these. I used to ride in my Keen Newports (so, basically the same shoe, but without the cleat holes) when I had platform pedals. I just wonder how stiff the sole is, because my Specialized shoes aren't stiff enough.

I've heard that they are pretty flexible AND they run REALLY narrow...especially for Keens (and a couple of my friends have them and they look VERY narrow). I already find that men's standard width shoes are none-too-wide for me, as is (though my heels slip out of some of them--I got really lucky with the fit of my LG shoes...narrow heels, wide forefoot).

My LG mtn. shoes have very stiff soles (for a mtn. shoe), but still only accommodate small 2-bolt SPD cleats, which I suspect is the root of my issues. A larger cleat/pedal with a stiffer-soled shoe just instinctively sounds like it would relieve the discomfort that I'm feeling in my peroneal tendon area.

[hulagirl]

I live in Hawaii about 3/4 mile from the beach. Our yard is sand. Our dogs bring sand in the house, we train at the beach, it's all sand, sand, sand.

I have Speedplay Light actions and have NEVER had an issue with them. Many ladies that I train with use Speedplay Light Action...many, many, many triathletes here use them.

I came to them from SPD Keen's actually. And they (Keens) ARE very flexible and very, very narrow. I have also ridden in Mtn. Bike shoes and touring shoes.

I picked Speedplays because:

1. They are very, very small and light. Won't catch on sharp turns.
2. They are double sided and I don't have to look down like everyone else to flip my pedals to clip in. This is 100% similar to SPD pedals and something I really like.
3. The cleats on the shoes are a lower profile than Look or SPd SL.
4. The cleats on the shoes are super easy to maintain/clean. The springs are on the cleats on SPD SL and Look shoes. On Speedplays you can unscrew the plate and there are 2 pieces, then the shoe. So I unscrew, use a wire brush to clean things up, dry lube and screw them back together. Super easy, no springs and moving parts to worry about.
5. The pedals are very easy to clean - wire brush, compressed air and done.
6. And most importantly - these are the closest to SPD pedals than the LOOK or SPD SL type in terms of clipping in/out and double sided.

-- use cafe covers on your shoes or bring a pair of slippers (flip flops) to walk around in if you stop for a long time.

-- I use SIDI triathlon shoes
-- I also have the same pedals on my Bike Friday that I use for touring.

I do NOT think you should discount the Speedplays due to some folks thinking they get mucked up with sand. They don't. Or else no one would use them in Hawaii or for triathlons! I have raced in the rain/sand with them and there are no issues. If, however, you never clean your gear, things will add up. But I clean my gear after every use because it's not cheap! And salt water kills! ;-)

ETA --- I can document the ease of cleaning the cleats for you if you want. I probably should do it today as I'm 1 week out from a race.