[tugglesthegreat]

I’m thinking of joining a cycling club and at the weekend I went on a intro ride for a local club.  Most of my recent riding has been either solo or with mates.  We are all from the off road back grounds and so use SPDs or similar.  I was quite shocked by how long it took some of the guys on the club ride to clip in with their road clip in pedals.

Is this normal?  If so what are the benefits of riding with road clip-ins rather than SPDs?   

Topic

[harman_mogul]

SPD for winter bike, SPD-SL

SPD for winter bike, SPD-SL for summer. Clip-in fumbles are caused as much by the shoe’s sole pattern as the pedal’s retention mechanism. 

Heat-mouldable insoles can useful stiffen and improve the fit of decent SPD touring shoes like Shimano RT82. They also help keep the foot warm — steel SPD cleats notoriously transmit winter’s chill to the sole of the foot.

[Anonymous]

I ride on both and find the

I ride on both and find the road clipless an easier clip. Once in you adjust to any differences within minutes, provided the foot position is similar. The main difference with mine is the quality of the shoe, carbon road and normal plastic with the SPD so you notice something like a hot spot quicker in the standard sole. 

[Shades]

When I returned to the world

When I returned to the world of road bikes it was the best bit of advice from the LBS ie you don’t need road cleats.  I was used to using SPDs so just fitted the Shimano M520s.  Replaced my original Shimano touring shoes with some Rapha cross-shoes (rebadged Giros I think) which are nice and stiff and have a nice subtle creaking leather sound when you grind uphill, and I get to stomp round the pub/cafe (almost) like a normal human.  Can’t believe road cleats would make much difference to my riding unless I was into ‘marginal gains’.

[tugglesthegreat]

[/quote]

[/quote]

On a more serious note for the OP, I see no reason to use anything more than SPDs for most people. The convenience and double-sided entry with no hot spots if you have stiff soles wins the day. If you have knee problems then whichever system relieves that is the one to alternatively move to (I get some knee pain when grinding up long (20km, 1000m+) hill/mountain climbs so I have Speedplay on my summer bike and I am pain free now). However come winter riding I switch back to SPDs (Shoes for SPDs tend to be available in warmer formats too).

[/quote]

Thanks macrophotofly

I’ve got to agree, SPDs are the best option for most riders.  I’m definately going to get some stiffer soled shoes and they will be SPD MTB ones.  It was just a surprise to go on a ride with so many other riders and be in the minority with regards to pedals. 

Maybe roadies have a lot to learn from MTBers and MTBers have a lot to learn from roadies. 

[macrophotofly]

Redvee wrote:

Grahamd wrote:

Is it just me or is the sound of everyone clicking in on a group ride one of the most satisfying sounds?

Usually drowned out by the beeping of Gamins starting.

Or the sound of Mike swearing, …..who despite cycling for tens of years and doing it everyday, just sometimes forgets where he is ….and topples over at the stop, feet still cleated in

 

On a more serious note for the OP, I see no reason to use anything more than SPDs for most people. The convenience and double-sided entry with no hot spots if you have stiff soles wins the day. If you have knee problems then whichever system relieves that is the one to alternatively move to (I get some knee pain when grinding up long (20km, 1000m+) hill/mountain climbs so I have Speedplay on my summer bike and I am pain free now). However come winter riding I switch back to SPDs (Shoes for SPDs tend to be available in warmer formats too).

I do ride SPD-SLs at the cycling gym I go to mid-week (Static “real” bikes) and I find they are a pain to clip in and difficult to clip out – thankfully as the bike can’t topple over its not an issue but i would hate them on a real bike

[Redvee]

Grahamd wrote:

Is it just me or is the sound of everyone clicking in on a group ride one of the most satisfying sounds?

Usually drowned out by the beeping of Gamins starting.

[Canyon48]

hawkinspeter wrote:

tugglesthegreat wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

I go for the worst of all worlds with Shimano A600 pedals – single sided SPD.

OMG, they look a nighmare.  On the plus side they must clear mud well off road.  Not that I would want to take a one sided pedal off road.

And, they’re not even particularly cheap.

They look lush though!

[hawkinspeter]

tugglesthegreat wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

I go for the worst of all worlds with Shimano A600 pedals – single sided SPD.

OMG, they look a nighmare.  On the plus side they must clear mud well off road.  Not that I would want to take a one sided pedal off road.

And, they’re not even particularly cheap.

[BarryBianchi]

Johnnyvee wrote:

Johnnyvee wrote:

Plenty stiff enough and no hot spots.

 

Ooooh!  Sir!  Suits you Sir! Push it all the way aroud did we?  Got it up to the top with the effort did we?  Ooooh!

[Johnnyvee]

Sidi shoes and shimano m424
Sidi shoes and shimano m424 spd;s on all bikes. That way I can still walk around in the shoes and ride the bike. Plenty stiff enough and no hot spots. Did use to get them on smaller pedals.

[Canyon48]

I use Look Keo Carbon Blades

I use Look Keo Carbon Blades on my Canyon and I wouldn’t consider anything else (not even SPD-SL’s).

Keo’s feel significantly more secure and stable compared to SPD’s – they also look miles better IMO.

I have SPD’s (A520’s) on my commute/winter road bike. I wouldn’t consider anything else for this use. Keo’s are atrocious for clipping in and out at traffic lights lots and they are quite frankly dangerous to walk in when it’s slippy.

My A520’s offer more stability than the double-sided SPD’s I used to have, and they are easier to clip in and out of compared with my Keo blades, but they don’t have the security or stability of the blades.

[Fatbloke_onafatbike]

I use spd’s mostly because I

I use spd’s mostly because I don’t own a road bike so it is allowd by the rules.

Started off with an entry level Shimano pedals  which was okay but upgraded to Funn Mamba single sided spd’s which have a nice large platform and combined with a shoe with a slightly recessed cleat cal flip the pedal over when goign down something a bit iffy.

The only problem with Funn pedals is the name, searching for “Funn mamba” can return some NSFW results and their dropper post has a similar humorous name..

[kil0ran]

tugglesthegreat wrote:

davel wrote:

I use the privateer r with speedplay frogs (sort of spikey spd cleats, that fit into the recess) on my CX bike, which I also use as my commuter and winter roadie. So they mainly see road commuting and (very) occasional CX and winter 50-milers. Happy with them – decent balance between road stiffness and comfort. and they’re pretty tough too. There should be some decent deals on them now.

Great info, thanks so much.  Sound like the ones for me as the best of all worlds and you sound like you do similar riding to me.

I’m currently using Shimano shoes, the enduro ones 46, I was using 45 when I had Sidi shoes.  Are Giro shoes quite a wide fitting?  I might just be cheeky and go into a shop and try on then buy online.  

More a question of Shimano coming up narrow I think. I’ve always had to go up at least half a size with Shimano shoes. Not sure about the SPD-SLs but they do sell wide-fitting SPD shoes (helpfully have “Wide” written on the tongue). Don’t know if its the whole range but my trusty M088s are wide-fitting.

[TypeVertigo]

SPD pedals on my bikes, too.

SPD pedals on my bikes, too.

The only time I’d probably want three-bolt cleats and pedals on is when doing a very long ride of 200+ km. Otherwise, I’d opt for the greater utility and greater cleat longevity of the SPD setup.

Heck, one of my bikes has Deore XT T780 pedals, which are SPD on one side and flat on the other. That setup just oozes versatility.

[theironduck]

hawkinspeter wrote:

I go for the worst of all worlds with Shimano A600 pedals – single sided SPD.

Ha!  Me too for a long time.  The flip-and-clip routine was a pain in the arse but still easier than the current PowerTaps – don’t even think about talking to me about hill-starts (and stops) in those.  That said, I used to get terrible hot-spots with SPDs which seem to have gone away with the new pedal/shoe combination – don’t know if that’s down to the pedals themselves or the fancier shoes (Shimano RC-7s).

[Author]

Replies