I've used SPD-SL's for road riding for over 12 years, but road riding less these days. Having broken my current shoes in an 'incident' I'm struggling to justify replacing them given the cost for a really stiff soled shoe as I also mountain bike and gravel ride. Thinking of just buying high end gravel shoes as can use them across all bikes which is easier to cost justify.
Anyone gone back to SPD's for road riding and regretted it?
Only real downside for me is they can get creaky, which was never an issue with SPD - SLs. Metal on metal I suppose.
I use Crank Bros Candys on my road bike (and gravel bike, and turbo bike and one of my MTBs). I prefer the flexibility of being able to walk around in my bike shoes without tottering on SPD-SLs or Keos. I can't say I've really noticed any decrease in performance, but I'm not racing anyway.
I've never used SLs on my road bike, just same spd pedals as the mtb. Stiff pair of XC/gravel shoes and I'm not sure there's much difference tbh. I don't feel the need to do anything different on the road bike, and they work really well for the XC riding i do. I don't do anything gnarly or jump based.
Do you get much float on SLs? That might be something to think about w dodgy knees? SPDs don't give me any problems. EDIT: You're not the same ginger with the cracked patella are you OP?
i use those shimano single sided spd road pedals- pd-es600
.. i found i felt too much up and down movement with m520s, the road pedals have the wedgy bit at the back which forces the shoe into place more firmly, preventing the up and down micro engagement sensation
i was never bothered about it on the MTBs, i guess I'm not sat spinning indefinitely so didn't notice
Never had a problem since making the switch back to SPDs about 15 years ago.
Fwiw, I prefer XT pedals to the ES600s
After using various Looks and other 3 bolt pedals, I went back to Spds for the road and have no regrets. I do use platform Spds which although not as firm as 3 bolts are a lot more comfortable.
Hot spots... 👎🏻
I don't even like non platform SPD's on an MTB these days as can feel a bit hot spotty.
I wouldn't personally, but if you already have the pedals and shoes from your MTB, then try them on your road bike for a ride or two anyway before committing to another set of pedals...
Thanks all so far. I've used the gravel bike for a 3 day bike packing trip in Normandy with SPD's and had no issue with comfort etc, but it was not as high intensity as I can ride the road bike. Obvious answer is to just try it for a while with current shoes and see how it goes when putting a bit of effort in on the hills both in and out of the saddle etc.
Sounds like it is going to be fine for what I'm after as I'm no longer as fit and fast as I was unfortunately!
I don't have any issues* over the winter using them.
"Hot-spot" only seems to be an issue with softer shoes, I've never noticed it in disco slippers.
I just use 520/540 pedals.
I only swap to SPD-SL in summer as my nice shoes are 3-bolt only. SPD's would actually make more sense as the gravel driveway isn't rideable and destroys the plastic cleats. I'll probably switch back to SPD's for a few audaxes as well.
*They may creak a bit if dry, or have a bit of freeplay, but not sufficiently to be an issue
I've never used road clips, only use SPD's for all - seems the more sensible choice as I can walk in them AND I can use all the pedals & shoes across multiple bikes.
In just the last month I've bikepacked on my FS, did the Gralloch gravel event and done a couple of +100 mile road rides all with the same pedals & shoes.
Only real downside for me is they can get creaky, which was never an issue with SPD - SLs. Metal on metal I suppose.
This is a biggy for me, road pedals aren't immune but I hadn't realised how many squeaks, creaks and clicks were coming from my SPDs until I sprayed everything with GT85 the evening before a big ride.
I also don't love the rattly feel of metal cleats in metal jaws, it seems to be that unless you buy Shimano shoes and Shimano pedals, there's no guarantee that the interface will be perfect, certainly the Look SPD clones and Specialized shoes aren't a perfect fit.
If I'm being honest, the main reason I stick with SPD-SL on my summer roadie is aethetics. I definitely can feel a difference between them and the SPDs on my gravel and winter bikes but I suspect that I'd forget about that pretty quickly if I didn't have both.
I have top end Look Delta's on my classic bikes. Super strong hold and good for distance, but I don't use them that much and general riding, road, gravel, it's out with the CX bike. I commute on SPD's as well, and have done a 205km Sportive, with insane amounts of climbing, on the CX bike with SPD's. Decent stiff shoes and you are OK.
I was a late adopter of 3-bolt Time pedals in '19 and continue to use my '06 Time ATAC 2-bolt on other bikes.
Been wondering about this myself, my road shoes/cleats are in dire need of replacement and wasn't sure what to go for. Have no problem with SPD-SL in general but the shoes & cleats are lethal for walking down our garden steps to the garage to get the bike out if it's even a bit wet out! Hence thinking about normal SPDs again. Hotspots are a concern but I feel like it shouldn't really be an issue with stiff soles.
I use SPD's on all my bikes (road, CX, mountain and Zwift). I ride approx. 8000km a year and have never had an issue with 'hot spots' BUT my rides are rarely more than 3h so perhaps I simply don't ride for long enough in one go?
No regrets at all. I ride long audaxes (600km last weekend for example) and didn't have any issues with hot spots or knee pain. It's really handy to have a pair of shoes and a pair of winter boots I can use on all of my bikes.
Thanks again all, sounds like a really good stiff gravel shoe will cover all duties and save having to try to justify another pair of road shoes (as my mountain bike needs is fast South Downs xc so not anything more extreme, so no issue at the other end of the usage scale)
Check out the Specialized S-Works Recon Lace, they seem to be on sale for £150 at the moment and are exceptionally light and stiff.
They seem to need time to wear in a bit as the heel cup is quite stiff and narrow but mine are getting more comfortable with use. They're about half the weight of my 'good' road shoes 🙄
Never really understood why non competitive cyclists think they need super stiff "high end" shoes.
I've been using single sided Shimano one sided touring SPD pedals PDA 520s (ES-600 seem to be the newer equivalent) and more casual shoes for over 30 years on my roadbike with zero issues whatsoever.
Being less stiff soled a more casual mtb shoe is completely normal to walk in and none have ever given me "hotspots". The less stiff sole doesn't really impact pedalling performance at all and as the pedal has a slight platform the more casual shoes sole rests on the SPD/cleat interface hasn't ever creaked.
Above all else any marginal gainz you might have perceived from stiff soles and a big plastic road cleat are completely wiped out by not looking a complete **** walking anywhere.
I can feel a flexible sole and it's uncomfortable
My shoes aren't all that stiff (Giro Privateer Lace) and I don't have any hot spot problems. My pedals do have a little bit of a a platform though. I use some Shimano single - sided ones, can't remember the model name.
Don’t muck about
just get a pair of clippy 5-10 shoes and a peaked helmet. You’ll always look cool like that …
#nothelpful….
I only swap to SPD-SL in summer as my nice shoes are 3-bolt only. SPD's would actually make more sense as the gravel driveway isn't rideable and destroys the plastic cleats. I'll probably switch back to SPD's for a few audaxes as well.
^^This^^
Very much the same for me, SPD-SL make sense for summer road riding duties and not much else, and even that is marginal I would say, the load spreading characteristics of that big plastic triangle does help over the course of a long ride with fewer position changes, but a stiffer soled XC shoe is probably not much different in reality.
I would probably be perfectly happy using M520s across all of my bikes TBH, I might throw more money at the shoes I intended to use on the road though just to have a nice stiff sole and I would think long and hard about fit/sizing (but that applies irrespective of cleat flavours)…
One of the other reasons for using my SPD bikes more is I've got more shoes. Road I just have a summer shoe and a winter boot.
SPD, all Shimano - two pairs of MW7's, two M089's and a pair of XC3's (these look more like a road shoe). Reason, the first four all use the same sole so it's easy to buy shoes without trying more on. The XC3's actually come up a bit narrow in the toe box compared to the previous 'Torbal' sole.
For those bothered with aesthetics, Mavic, Adidas (and I've no doubt a couple of others) do 2-bolt shoes that look very "roady". I recently bought the Mavics to replace my very old Specialized "touring" shoes.
Have a look at Shimano ES600s Ultegra touring pedals to go with the right shoes. One-sided SPD cleat pedal, like a minature SPD-SL.
I used M520/540/XT SPDs for a long time on the road bike but in recent years started getting hip discomfort on one side that only a more supportive pedal could resolve. Got ME700s on the gravel and MTB and the ES600s on the road bike.
I've thought about it. In many ways it makes more sense for my riding these days.
I use spds all through winter because I have warmer shoes in that flavour. I use spds on gravel where rides are as long as road rides. I've never had an issue with spds generally. They are better for being off the bike going into cafes and so on. It would let me run the same Garmin power pedals on all bikes as well reducing cost.
I have carbon soled planet X shoes. There's virtually no difference in the mtb and road versions except the mtb has some more grippy molded bits on the sole. Same in many other brands. High performance XC/CX/gravel shoes are just as stiff as road shoes unless you are a WT sprinter.
I'd go for it. If my road shoes died, I'd probably consider it.
