Do Road shoes really make much difference ?

[WobblyBob]

I've recently bought a road bike after using a Crosstrail bike since last year, however i'm just using the same MTB type shoes & SPD pedals on my road bike aswell, i find them fine but then again have never had any others to compare them to ?

I'm planning on doing a lot more road riding this year so should i buy some road specific shoes & pedals or just crack on with what i've got ?

What advantages/disadvantages come along with them ?

Thanks

 

[ianrauk]

I started off with road shoes and cleats but they wore out too quick and wanted one system for all my bikes. So changed to MTB SPD's as read that the cleats don't wear out (and has proved to be true, my shoes have worn out before the cleats) and noticed no difference what so ever between the two systems.

I do many of thousands of miles on MTB SPD's with no problems and think any gains, if any, are marginal.
Maybe if you are racing then maybe, but as a normal leisure cyclist, none.
And I guess that if you really want to look the part of a full on roadie then SPD-L's are part of that.

 

[Lee_M]

you dont get pointed at and laughed at for wearing the wrong things

My road shopes are much stiffer than my mtb shoes, and I feel like I'm better connected to the bike as a consequence.

Of course it prrobably makes no difference whatsoever, but I feel faster!

 

[shouldbeinbed]

I use slimline MTB shoes on my road bike Spesh Sonoma and some I got from Aldi recently. Most of the reaon is budget, I have a few different bikes but not a lot of spare cash to accessorise them so I go for what works generally across them all and a pair of MTB type shoes works better on a roadie than road shoes tend to on a Utility bike. I also prefer a bit of grip for when I'm off the bike and don't like tottering about on roadies with an oil slick slippy sole and totally exposed cleat

 

[Rob3rt]

Advantages: Road cleats/pedals have a larger surface area which reduces "hot spots" whatever the hell those are. It also encourages a greater connection with the pedal. It is the right sort of pedal to have on a road bike. The shoes have very stiff soles and plenty of ventilation (do MTB shoes? I would have thought they wouldn't be much different tbh).

Disadvantages: The cleat is not recessed, some people manage to wear their cleats out super rapid, somehow............. mine last ages, so not sure what other people are doing to them! Only engage on one side of the pedal (in most cases, speedplay are different!)

 

[Venod]

Before I started mountain biking I always wore road shoes, they are nice & stiff for pedaling but terrible to walk in. I have now switched to MTB spd shoes for all my cycling I can't detect any difference in stiffness and walking is a lot easier even if its only a few yards to the cafe counter ! I don't see any point in having 2 systems but I do tend to keep the shoes I use for the road bike just for the road bike,

 

[ianrauk]

The shoes have very stiff soles and plenty of ventilation (do MTB shoes? I would have thought they wouldn't be much different tbh).

Yup, MTB Shoes have just as stiff soles as their roadshoe equivalent and have just as much ventilation.

 

[WobblyBob]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I can definitely confirm that my MTB shoes (Tahoe's) are plenty ventilated enough for me, so much so i've been wearing 2 pairs of thermal socks & still getting numb feet on the colder days ha ha

 

[BSRU]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I can definitely confirm that my MTB shoes (Tahoe's) are plenty ventilated enough for me, so much so i've been wearing 2 pairs of thermal socks & still getting numb feet on the colder days ha ha

Different spd pedals offer different sizes of contact area, in general the cheaper ones offer less and conversely the more expensive ones off more.
I personally use m980's which have a much bigger area of support compared to the m520's they replaced.

 

[Ian H]

MTB shoes are generally good for touring/general cycling. I have one brand of shoe in both mtb and road versions. Almost identical uppers and stiffness. I use the mtb ones for touring, audax, general cycling, and race in the road shoes.

 

[fossyant]

I find road system shoe/pedals offer better foot retention than MTB. I can quite easily pull my clips out of XT MTB SPD pedals, I can't on my LOOKS.

Down side is that road shoes are a pain to walk in, and very slippy in cafe's.

I do, however, use MTB SPD's for the commute as it's far more convenient, and have done over 60 miles on them without issue.

 

[cyberknight]

Different spd pedals offer different sizes of contact area, in general the cheaper ones offer less and conversely the more expensive ones off more.
I personally use m980's which have a much bigger area of support compared to the m520's they replaced.

Could this be a reason my aldi shoes kept spliting around the cleat area as i use m520s or was it just they are cheap? had 2 pairs this year that both split across the sole along the line where the cleat holes finish.

 

[BSRU]

Could this be a reason my aldi shoes kept spliting around the cleat area as i use m520s or was it just they are cheap? had 2 pairs this year that both split across the sole along the line where the cleat holes finish.

I would have thought the shoes, I used m520's for a long time and never had a shoe problem, although I was not cycling as much as I do now. In fact my shoes always out lasted the m520 pedals.

 

[ianrauk]

Different spd pedals offer different sizes of contact area, in general the cheaper ones offer less and conversely the more expensive ones off more.
I personally use m980's which have a much bigger area of support compared to the m520's they replaced.

Sorry that doesn't make sense.
I use XT's (£50) on my commute bike and XTR's M980's (£100) on my leisure bikes.
Both prob's have the same amount of surface area as the M520's (£17).

980

520

 

[BSRU]

Sorry that doesn't make sense.
I use XT's (£50) on my commute bike and XTR's M980's (£100) on my leisure bikes.
Both prob's have the same amount of surface area as the M520's (£17).

They do have different amounts of supporting surface area, even XTR's vary, the m970 has less than the m980.
My MTB has m520's and they are less supporting, my M324's on my ice bike have more support than my m520's.
I recently, as in last week, changed my main commuter from XT's to XTR's(£71 from Ribble), not only can I feel a difference I can see it when I directly compare.