Category: 
February 12, 2010I just bought a road bike (TT bike actually for triathlons), and will be purchasing shoes and pedals. I was wondering if anyone had opinions on the 3 major brand/type of pedals: SPD, SPD-SL, and LOOK.
Right now, I’m favoring Shimano SPD-SL for the wider surface and of course the reputation of Shimano products. I know virtually nothing about LOOK, but don’t want to discount them entirely because I may be uneducated about a great product.
With your thoughts about the pedals, please provide input on shoes if you have any.
My price range is about 100 bucks on the pedals/cleats, maybe 150-200 on the shoes.
Thanks.
Borracho111 – I searched and looked at items you referenced, and most referred to switching from road to mountain biking, using MTB shoes on a road bike, etc. None of them really compared the different styles or contrasted their strengths/weakness. Thanks for your input (I don’t know who gave you the thumbs down, but it wasn’t me)
SoCalBiker – Thanks for the heads-up on the Speedplay system; I will definitely investigate further.
B S – I’m not looking for a Tri-specific setup at this time. I’m completely an amatuer right now, and my transition times aren’t as much a paramount concern as comfort, rigidity, and quality.
My LBS has the Look system, so I will check them out. I think based upon what I’m hearing, the standard "narrow" SPD is out. SL, Look, and now Speedplay are the options. Thanks.
I’m using spd’s on my mountain bike shoes for triathlons right now. This was my shoe set up when I bought the bike to RIDE and get exercise on. I haven’t changed the "set-up" since getting into triathlons last year, I really NEED to switch out. The only advantage of my current set up is "It’s easier to run in mountain shoes than road shoes".
However, triathletes normally DON’T run in their bike shoes. <== (emphasis period) They train leaving their shoes attached to their bikes. Run barefoot out of Transition area and mount putting their feet in their shoes while beginning the riding. Same with dismount, you unstrap your shoes before the jump area and dismount barefoot (or with socks if you must) and run back into the transition area without shoes.
If your new to Triathlons, your transition time might not sound so important to you, but a 4 minute T1 (transition1 means changing from swim to bike) really adds up the seconds. Becoming an expert and practicing your T1 and T2 can cut as much as 5 minutes off your overall sprint distance time.
Bottom line, the LOOK or spd-SL systems are the way to go. I don’t know anyone who uses the spd-SL as the LOOK system appears to be the top choice at tri scenes I go to.
For me, when I do finally upgrade to tri shoes (which will be soon), I’ll be going with the cheaper LOOK pedals (grey for about $80) and one strap tri shoe, instead of the 3 strap I have now, (performancebike.com has a cheap Lake brand tri shoe for $60 right now). I’ll go cheap here because the equipment will get scratched up and dented doing triathlons, no matter how much you practice. Keep your espensive Sidi’s for actual road and training rides.
If price is no objective, the carbon bottom tri shoes.. $200 to 300 from brands like Shimino, Sidi, Pearl Izumi; all champ.. are a better pick as they are lighter. In a triathlon, lighter is better, which is why carbon everything is the best you can get, but also expensive.
Hope this helps
Shimano SH-M225 Mountain Bike Shoe
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Horaayy..there are 5 comment(s) for me so far ;)
dude, this answer and some variations have been posed over and over again. try the search bar above for some quick answers that you can reference instead of waiting for the same response:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ak6sZD.AwTfeTV954tR4mdsjzKIX?qid=20070225100544AAI9stJ
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AljgQOKIxnagpyURtIPHg4IjzKIX?qid=20061221151307AAAbMVP
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArUQULi1jGCKtlZzY0y3W00jzKIX?qid=20070602174206AAmYQtJ
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AhvK1VGFP58kf9DvVYs2mzYjzKIX?qid=20060724185828AA7ePTU
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArHo2f26z_eQvkQsI0SpcKojzKIX?qid=20060713065435AAF5F0e
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ajxg49LmKEn1iHnBrFNnLIwjzKIX?qid=20070327181447AAgrynM
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArD8lOSXpS42GOazF.0b5yUjzKIX?qid=20070516141046AAZS6bc
References :
Between SPD and SPD-L you definitely want SPD-L
But if you want my opinion I would suggest Speedplay pedals instead. After several thousand miles of biking my knees, and that of 2 of my friends were hurting quite a bit on ever shorter rides. We switched to Speedplay pedals and knee pains are a thing of the past.
Have fun on your triathlons
References :
My preference is Look by far.
References :
Since you’re doing tri’s you may want to go with a tri-specific shoe that is geared towards quick transitions it’s a variation of the old system of toe-clips.
If you’re sold on clipless pedals go Look. Look has been around for a long time. I don’t know if they were the first, but they were my first. I also have a shimano pedal that is a look pedal, it’s just not made by look.
I have three pair of shoes, a Lake which originally was a knock-off of Look, back in the day. They did not stand up to the rigors of heavy training and you have to know your European sizing number for your size.
I also have two pair of Sidi’s and they are awesome. Old school, but still stiff as a board. They do well in all kinds of weather and I wear booties over them in winter or toe warmers over them for inclement weather. One of my look type shoes have a set of cleats that have quite a bit of float that took a lot of getting used to, but now I have trouble going back to my set of cleats that don’t have so much play.
With the money you’re willing to spend you could do just about whatever you want. It’s just making a choice. There lies the rub.
Good luck with your tri-goals!
References :
Experience
I’m using spd’s on my mountain bike shoes for triathlons right now. This was my shoe set up when I bought the bike to RIDE and get exercise on. I haven’t changed the "set-up" since getting into triathlons last year, I really NEED to switch out. The only advantage of my current set up is "It’s easier to run in mountain shoes than road shoes".
However, triathletes normally DON’T run in their bike shoes. <== (emphasis period) They train leaving their shoes attached to their bikes. Run barefoot out of Transition area and mount putting their feet in their shoes while beginning the riding. Same with dismount, you unstrap your shoes before the jump area and dismount barefoot (or with socks if you must) and run back into the transition area without shoes.
If your new to Triathlons, your transition time might not sound so important to you, but a 4 minute T1 (transition1 means changing from swim to bike) really adds up the seconds. Becoming an expert and practicing your T1 and T2 can cut as much as 5 minutes off your overall sprint distance time.
Bottom line, the LOOK or spd-SL systems are the way to go. I don’t know anyone who uses the spd-SL as the LOOK system appears to be the top choice at tri scenes I go to.
For me, when I do finally upgrade to tri shoes (which will be soon), I’ll be going with the cheaper LOOK pedals (grey for about $80) and one strap tri shoe, instead of the 3 strap I have now, (performancebike.com has a cheap Lake brand tri shoe for $60 right now). I’ll go cheap here because the equipment will get scratched up and dented doing triathlons, no matter how much you practice. Keep your espensive Sidi’s for actual road and training rides.
If price is no objective, the carbon bottom tri shoes.. $200 to 300 from brands like Shimino, Sidi, Pearl Izumi; all champ.. are a better pick as they are lighter. In a triathlon, lighter is better, which is why carbon everything is the best you can get, but also expensive.
Hope this helps
References :