[Closed] MTB cleats on a road shoe and MTB pedals on a road bike?

your road shoes will probably have a three-hole road cleat mount and the two-hole MTB cleats won't fit

You can get adapters that bolt to the 3 holes on the road shoes, and let you attach 2 bolt cleats. Though they would stick out a bit, so might be slippery for walking.
eg http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-sh-sm85-cleat-adapter-plate/

What's wrong with using MTB shoes? they's easier to walk in anyway.

Ah ok, tbh my roadie shoes only cost £20 anyway so it's probably not worth paying for adapters. I could probably get some cheap MTB shoes for £20 ish.

What about pedal axle diameters - will MTB pedals fit on a road crank?

Ta

Dibbs - it's only that I currently don't have any MTB spds (use flats on bouncy bike)

Yeah, axles are the same

I've done it. I survived.

I commute on a road bike using mtb pedals and shoes. I also have a peak on my helmet and sometimes wear baggies or a backpack. Nothing untoward has happened as a result of any of this.

Some cheaper shoes (e.g. Aldi, low end Shimano) have both 3-hole and 2-hole fittings.

I have one set of pedals I switch between the roadie, the commuter and the bouncer, infuriating but I'm a tightwad

I've commuted on a CX bike for the past 5 or 6 years with MTB SPD's & shoes, a peaked helmet and a rucksack and the world hasn't ended yet (wouldn't catch me wearing baggies though) 😉

Oh yes I only have peaked helmets and have to carry my laptop to work in an unsightly rucsac too.

Ok, so sounds like cheap MTB pedals and shoes are on my shopping list..

XT SPDs on all bikes now, road+MTB+cx
Shoes I suppose are more of a touring shoe than road or MTB, but they work on all the bikes
Did have a pair of those chunky "all mountain" SPD PD-M545 flat pedals that have the SPD bits on my road bike at one point 😈 (was when trying to isolate the dreaded squeak, and that was the only squeak-free combination)

and yes I do wear baggies and peaked helmet on the road bike and CX bike 😈 and a camelbak.

^ STW has changed. This acceptance of non roadie kit on road bikes has come as a shock if I'm honest. What else can I try?

Erm.... My road bike has an ALLOY frame and SORA group set!

:-O

dont tell anyone, but I often commute in normal clothes and shoes 😯

MTB boots and SPDs on road bike, makes sense to only have one shoe and cleat. Besides I can walk in recessed cleats.

I got so fed up of road pedals that I now use spd 530s on my road bike and have put adaptors on my shoes to use two bolt cleats . I still use my mtb shoes as well on my road bike, they are fine, I can't see me returning to three bolt single siders.

^ STW has changed. This acceptance of non roadie kit on road bikes has come as a shock if I'm honest. What else can I try?

MTB spds on road bikes are pretty common, and quite sensible for winter commuting TBH.

But nothing screams [i]"self conscious, MTBist"[/i] like wearing baggies on a road bike...

Yes; they're brilliant. I switched to XT pedals on my road bike for a couple of reasons; more float and dual sided entry. The fact you can walk about more easily is a bonus aswell. Can't see myself going back to road pedals TBH.

edit: duplicate numptyism

scotroutes - Member
Some cheaper shoes (e.g. Aldi, low end Shimano) have both 3-hole and 2-hole fittings.

Check your shoes - as above - my spd's have holes for road and mtb cleats.
You can also get plastic bumpers from Shimano that shroud the cleat because a mtb cleat on a road shoe sticks out a mile.

Time Atacs on all my bikes, including the audax. Plenty of 100+ mile rides.

Yet to be convinced I need road specific shoe/pedals/cleats (although the Speedplay pedals are quite tempting).

and just for balance. .. look keo, love them, quite easy to walk in too 🙂

but ... best advice is ... use what ever is comfortable and works for you.

4 road bikes, 2 mountain bikes all with Shimano M520 SPD pedals. I have Specialized and Shimano road and MTB shoes all with SPD cleats on (no adapters necessary). Have done it that way for many years. I tried other cleat/pedal systems but didn't get on with them.

I have only ever used SPD's on my road bike with MTB shoes.
It works, quite well when I did 'The Fred' TBH.

MTB shoes, cleats, pedals and peaked helmet is the way to go.

Allows us to recognise a proper bicyclist among the general hoards.

It's a bit like those chavvy 'I'd rather be' bumper stickers, but way more subtle 😆

I have some Aldi mtb shoes that i have had for 2 years and they are good as gold on my road bike

Swapped this morning to MTB SPDs as my shimano road shoes can take both cleats.

Head and shoulders better than road SPD's imo. Much easy to clip in and out. I wont be going back even if i do a big road ride, pedalling I cant tell the difference.

I use MTB shoes and pedals on all my bikes. Road shoes are pants!

your road shoes will probably have a three-hole road cleat mount and the two-hole MTB cleats won't fit

My DHB road shoes will take an mtb cleat. However, it's a bad idea: the cleat sits proud of the sole, and doesn't have any grip (road cleats have small rubber grips) so wexpect to skate across the café floor, gouging it in the process. There is a reason why I know this.

I've switched to mtb pedals on my road bike for winter, so I can wear my waterproof mtb boots. The road pedals will go back on in the spring.

I use MTB shoes and pedals on all my bikes. Road shoes are pants!

To offer an alternative view, I had MTB pedals on my first road bike, used with carbon soled MTB disco slippers, I thought this combo was fine and was happy with it. Well, I was happy with it right up until I tried road pedals and road shoes. For me, there is a difference and it's a big enough difference that I made the change almost immediately. For me, road pedals removed hot spots that I got with MTB pedals, feel more secure and stable under load and felt a lot less vague.

However, to the OP, I suspect you're using Look pedals or at least something like them which have cleats that are very slippy. A switch to Shimano will keep the benefits of road pedals but allow you to walk more comfortable. Put it like this, I (rather more regularly than I should admit) run across New Street station on road cleats and they're fine.

If you get hot spots with MTB shoes & pedals then it suggests that the shoes have a piss poor flimsy sole; foot correction is incorrect; you're not sitting squarely.

Sidi carbons FTW; plus they look just like road shoes (apart from the tread 😉 )

But typically SL shoes are stiffer than SPD, hence less likelihood of a hot spot. Many SPD have 'a piss poor filmsy sole' by design - a trade-off between stiffness for optimum power transfer pedalling and flex for when off the pedals. Of course Sidi carbon are less likely to get hot spots, being relatively stiff compared to most SPD.

Edit: anyway, I commute in SPD because there is more unclipping/clipping and dashing away for the lights, which is easier in them

If you get hot spots with MTB shoes & pedals then it suggests that the shoes have a piss poor flimsy sole; foot correction is incorrect; you're not sitting squarely

Edit, for some reason I've never had any more issues clipping in on single sided road pedals than double sided MTB. The pedal hands in a way that it should be easy to clip in to and the bigger surface area helps too. As I said, just my experience but I don't think it's as clear cut as some of you state.

Spec S-Works carbon soled shoes using blue insoles to help with forefoot varus, same insoles in road shoes too, cleats set up in an identical angle and position to road shoes, no knee issues to suggest any miss-alignment. MTB cleats = hotspots, road cleats = no hotspots. Just my personal expereince, nothing more, but for me the whole "MTB pedals on a road bike is the same/better than road pedals" argument just isn't the case.

Fair do's; I'd imagine the S-Works shoes are certainly stiff enough. Probably just the wrong orthotics for that shoe meant you got hot spots.

Probably just the wrong orthotics for that shoe meant you got hot spots.

How odd. Although I still stand by what I say 😀 The specialized blue insoles don't offer much in the way of support either. I gave mine to my brother who gets on with them fine. Although he appears to be well aligned.

[quote=ransos ]My DHB road shoes will take an mtb cleat. However, it's a bad idea: the cleat sits proud of the sole, and doesn't have any grip (road cleats have small rubber grips) so wexpect to skate across the café floor, gouging it in the process.

https://www.raceviewcycles.com/shimano-road-cleats-speed?language=en&currency=GBP - the original road SPD cleats have pontoons to avoid that issue - they're what I'm using on my road shoes, maybe I need to stock up as that was the only remaining source I found (though I suspect it wouldn't take long with a dremel to make MTB cleats work with those pontoons, and I have spares of those). Not that I'm quite doing what the OP is suggesting - my nice road bikes I have single sided SPDs - original DA ones on the TT bike, [url= http://www.bikester.nl/fietsonderdelen/fietspedalen/pedalen-racefiets/5993.html ]these[/url] on the roadie. MTB SPDs on the other bikes including winter road bike and roadie tandem - so I can use my road shoes to ride those, or MTB shoes with the nice road bikes depending what I'm doing.

I don't find any issue of hotspots when using my carbon soled road shoes as the sole spreads the load, though do get a bit of that with the softer MTB shoes even though they're fairly high end with a carbon sole. Both Specialized carbon soles, the road shoes appear to be stiffer.

My road shoes [s]are[/s] were 3 bolt, so I was using Crank Brothers adapters - they seemed better than the Shimano ones (until one broke), but no longer appear to be available. I've now drilled extra holes in the soles for SPD cleats.

[quote> https://www.raceviewcycles.com/shimano-road-cleats-speed?language=en&currency=GBP - the original road SPD cleats have pontoons to avoid that issue - they're what I'm using on my road shoes, maybe I need to stock up as that was the only remaining source I found (though I suspect it wouldn't take long with a dremel to make MTB cleats work with those pontoons, and I have spares of those).

I had no idea such a thing existed! Top tip...

I'm quite happy using SPD-SLs for summer road riding, but stick to mtb shoes & cleats for commuting, and winter road. Incidentally, my new Northwave Celsius 2 boots have a pretty stiff sole - I was quite impressed with them on a road ride last Sunday. Unfortunately the biblical rain ran down my legs and left a lake in each boot...