I bought a used road bike over the Christmas weekend. It's a Trek 5500, in absolutely mint condition, with multiple upgrades. So my question is about road bike shoes and clips. I also have a mountain bike and use Crank Bros. "egg beater" clips with my mountain bike shoes. The new bike has a different style of pedal requiring that I either buy a new set of shoes or change the pedals to the egg beater style. I'm pretty much a casual biker, so using mountain bike shoes and clips with my road bike seems efficient to me. My question is really about different styles of clips .... would I notice a big difference between styles? Would one style of clips cause knee or ankle problems while another does not? I do not currently ride alot of miles per week, but would hope to get to the point where I can manage a couple of 30 to 40 miles rides on a weekly basis. I'm obviously new to biking ... and I'm looking for some experienced insight. Thanks Bill
Bill, I have a similar set up - different shoes for different bikes. I use egg beaters on the mountain bike, but I use Look Keo 2's on the road bike. The Keo 2's have a larger cleat, which to me, rides better. I feel more planted, more connected to the bike. The Keo 2's also have a greater float from my old Look pedals, which means I can twist my ankle just a tad more. Do the cleats make a difference? I believe they do. I don't feel planted nor able to get the upstroke power without them, and an egg beater works great for mountain biking. The main difference is in the cleat off the bike - they aren't as easy to walk around in, as an egg beater or SPD cleat which is semi-recessed into shoes. There are other types of cleats - Shimano makes a road pedal/cleat, Time, and Speedplay, which some swear by. But I've just gotten used to the Look style that I opted for the Keo 2's. These are the graphite, not the carbon - couldn't justify the extra dollars for minimal gram improvement. And fyi, I opted for a unsupported vendor on ebay for a significant discount, that if something ever happened to em, they would be cheap enough to buy another set. Been riding these for almost a year, and clipless road pedals for four years now.
Thanks for the info Randy. I believe that there are Speedplay pedals on the bike now. I'll price some shoes over the coming week.
I have Shimano SPD's on my MTB and Shimano Ultegra's on my Cervelo. I think they definitely do ride differently. I feel like my pedal stroke is more fluid on the Ultegra's but I haven't pinpointed why just yet. I don't think it's a bike fit issue. Take your bike up to the LBS, have them throw it in a trainer and try some different shoe/pedal combinations and really see for yourself.
Solid info!! I guess it really comes down to preference. The SPD has a rather small footprint in terms of actually connecting you to the crank, whereas the LOOK style is rather larger and displaces the energy more evenly. I'd imagine it's not really an issue of how efficiently the power is being delivered but rather how that delivery feels. Back in my college years I had a Honda Accord that we sported-out. A friend gave me a Momo steering wheel that was smaller and had a wider grip. Sure seemed like the car handled better after that change-out. Point being, it's about comfort, perception and what just feels right to you. The one thing I like about the SPD is that you can adjust (forward & backward) the location of the cleat...so that affords you some adjustment. But hey, short of an injury/fall, the worst day on a bike is still better then the best day on the couch!
Keep the Speedplays. Once you are used to them you will not look back. Free rotation for your knees and hips with excellent power transfer. They really are great. You should have different road shoes than mtn shoes.
Bill, Any update? Wondering what you ended up with. It's cold out there, hope you got some shoe covers and mits over your bike gloves.
sorry ... no update. i've only been out to ride a couple of times ... and both times i went further over in wv on the mountain bike. my plan is to pick up a pair of shoes that will mate up with the speedplay clips. thanks for checking on me.
