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Nat Jas Moe.
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February 24, 2015 at 7:01 pm #23357Nat Jas Moe
I’m thinking of getting some new shoes as my current shoes are showing their age. But what to get? Do I stay with my SPD’ s or go with “proper” road pedals, my son has given me some Look road pedal so it’s only the shoes I need to think about.
So the question I have is what advantage do 3 holed cleats have over their 2 holed brothers? (Apart from the obvious ministry of silly walks).
Cheers for your forth coming help.
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Mrmiik
There are other options than
There are other options than SPD or spd-SL, just saying.I run Time xpressos on the roadies – faster to clip in than SPDs on the cross bike.
Just need to gently push down and the pedal snatches the cleat. This system is much better for your knees if you are doing more mileage than SPDs – more float and adjustability. Also no hot spots which SPDs get and bigger platform.
fast as fupp
‘off the bike’ ?
do folk
‘off the bike’ ?do folk stop and go for a walk mid way through a ride?
muddydwarf
Ive been using SPD-SL’s on my
Ive been using SPD-SL’s on my road bike for 14 months now, & I’m STILL struggling to find the correct position for the cleats in order to find the best position to click in Vs the right foot position.
It may be my feet, as I have Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome but I find the cleats to be incredibly sensitive to the slightest positional changes on the shoe, half a millimeter can mean the difference between clicking in or not. I find I have to ‘screw’ my cleats into the pedal if I am to have the correct foot position on the pedals once clicked in – if that makes sense.
Ive been using SPD’s for well over a decade on the mtb’s and commuter bikes so no problems there.MKultra
Most XC race shoes tend to be
Most XC race shoes tend to be just like the road shoe but with tread and and toe studs.This idea that MTB shoes are somehow always inferior or significantly more heavy is a myth. Comparing a trail or touring shoe with high end road shoe is not comparing like for like.
Stef Marazzi
If you want to do any sort of
If you want to do any sort of walking about during a ride, or will be commuting to work or the shops etc, then SPDs, because you can actually walk easily in them.
If you are only doing a small cafe stop, where you dont have to walk far at all, and don’t mind shelling out £15-£20 quid now and again for cleats, then SPD-SLs, Look, Keo etc.pants
Tony Farrelly wrote:danjoyce
Tony Farrelly wrote:[quote=danjoyce]
It’s also worth remembering that SPDs come with a a lot of different platform options besides just the basic 525.i have a pair of xtrs that’s done around 8k miles, the only bit of maintenance I’ve ever had to do was spray a bit of lube on one pedal as it wasn’t clipping in as smoothly, after that they work like they are new.
Chris James
FullGas wrote:
Obviously I’mFullGas wrote:
Obviously I’m talking about rotation. If you look at your cranks like a clock the pushing down part of the stroke goes from 1 to 5 o’clock, therefore 40%. Another benefit you can get from a smooth pedal stroke is better balance and bike handling.I love the GCN guys as much as the next guy. But, I wouldn’t take every bit of advice they give, specially regarding to mechanics (WD40 is definitely NOT a chain lube). Specifically in this case, the data sample is way too small to be meaningful.
But you have two legs.
I am not saying the GCN guys are always right, but this wasn’t just them giving ‘advice’, it was a test of lactate levels, heart rate and VO2 max.
Having one test subject is obviously not scientifically conclusive (as GCN themselves pointed out), but if there was a massive difference in pedalling efficiency then it would have become apparent.
PhilRuss
hallamhash wrote:It all
hallamhash wrote:It all depends if you’re going to be stopping at a pub on your rides. If so, then SPDs for the enhanced walkability.
[[[[[ Yeah but no but what happens when you stagger out?
P.R.hsiaolc
I understand your dilemma.
I understand your dilemma. But let me help you.I commute in London traffic and clipping in and out is something I do constantly and I am not the kind who likes to stay on my bike and trying to balance myself the entire length of the traffic lights.
I have tried both and after half a year of SPD SL I went back to SPDs because it is that safer to clip out (for me especially I have weak and injured ankles). Another thing is after the light it is so much quicker to clip in and even if you miss it you have no danger or slipping with SPDs compared to SPD SL.
This new year I have gone back to SPD SL only because of preparation for my new Rapha road shoes. But now I am not sure if I will use them for daily use probably use them for hmm group rides to show them off. Why? because the SPD SL cleat is not very hard wearing especially the little tiny rubber parts and they are a nightmare to walk on. Nearly slipped many times on marble flooring at work.
Which system is better? SPD SL definitely if you are racing but otherwise SPD is your system to go for normal daily commute.
Mystery Machine
Having learned to ride
Having learned to ride clipless with SPDs, I thought I should try SPD-SLs on my road bike. I never got on with the clipping in on the SLs. Partly this is because it is much easier clipping in to double-sided pedals, but this is not the only factor – I ride A530 single-sided SPDs on my commuting bike (for convenience re going to pub, and because I sometimes use a front-mounted childseat), and even these are much easier than the SPD-SLs, even though they are not double sided.I was also really unimpressed with the wear on the plastic SPD-SL cleats. I made a real effort not to walk in them, and they still rapidly wore down such that I think I would have needed to replace them at least twice a year, and they’re not cheap.
I agree with other posters that if your shoe sole is stiff enough, SPDs are fine. I have found that Louis Garneau has a good selection of proper road shoes that take two-bolt fittings (mine were from Evans). These have included carbon-soled versions and ones with BOA fittings. Otherwise, finding good road shoes with SPD fittings has been a bit challenging in my experience…
hallamhash
It all depends if you’re
It all depends if you’re going to be stopping at a pub on your rides. If so, then SPDs for the enhanced walkability.crikey
Research has been done on
Research has been done on this ‘fascinating’ topic, comparing the power output during the pedal stroke of pro riders and amateurs. The findings were that power is achieved by pressing on during the downstroke, and that the difference between pros and amateurs was that the pros press on harder.
Ankling and scraping and pulling up are all interesting, but if ya wanna go faster, press on harder.FullGas
Chris James wrote:FullGas
Chris James wrote:FullGas wrote:
Pressing down on the pedals is only about 40% of the pedal stroke. .Really? Are you talking about what percentage of the rotation each single leg makes? I would have thought the percentage of power produced would be much more relevant.
Just look at your legs. Your ‘pushing’ muscles are a lot bigger than your ‘pulling’ muscles. My understanding is that, at best, pulling up is just unweighting the pedal to allow easier pushing down on the other pedal. As I mentioned in my earlier post, GCN actually tried to put some science to this at Loughborough Uni, and the tests basically showed no difference between clipless and flat pedals (with Si pedalling in his road shoes on the flat pedals!). In fat, IIRC the results actually had the flatties slightly more efficient, but all well within margin of error.
Obviously I’m talking about rotation. If you look at your cranks like a clock the pushing down part of the stroke goes from 1 to 5 o’clock, therefore 40%. Another benefit you can get from a smooth pedal stroke is better balance and bike handling.
I love the GCN guys as much as the next guy. But, I wouldn’t take every bit of advice they give, specially regarding to mechanics (WD40 is definitely NOT a chain lube). Specifically in this case, the data sample is way too small to be meaningful.
Anonymous
I remember reading an article
I remember reading an article about the late and very gifted time trial rider, Jason MacIntyre. He had developed a mind/muscle technique where he mentally turned off his leg muscles for the upstroke, as he believed that the brains timing of the smaller hamstrings wasn’t necessarily perfectly timed with the opposite legs more powerful quads in the pushing phase, and that the attempt to pull up could offer resistance to the downstroke leg, thus actually being less efficient.This was particularly in regard to time trialling, but it became something that I took onboard, and although not great at it, I do believe for certain circumstances it does work for me.
ianrobo
I had to change to look from
I had to change to look from SPD for my power meter. Not noticeably any different but look’s seem easier to clip in (for me) but I was happy with SPD’s but was looking at speedplay.However I find that the 3 bolt are significantly better and more comfortable than the SL’s for road riding for sure.
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