Shimano SPDR vs Look?

The Doctor said:

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what do people think of Shimano SPD for
Road bikes? I have a pair of older SPD pedals and I had
tried Look before. I found the older SPD a bit harder
get into then Look. In particular, what about the
Shimano R540 105 Road Pedal?

Anthony

Im looking (pun intended) at the Ultegra models (like Hippy's/Blah's) as apparently my Looks Squeek. The guy in bikelife reckons the SPDR cleats are easier to walk in and wear longer due to that extra spongy stuff on the bottom

anyone ridden both?
Are thereany other viable options?
Dont lke the look of the Speedplay cleats...

The Doctor said:

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what do people think of Shimano SPD for
Road bikes? I have a pair of older SPD pedals and I had
tried Look before. I found the older SPD a bit harder
get into then Look. In particular, what about the
Shimano R540 105 Road Pedal?

Anthony

The 540 pedals are SPD-SL not SPDR which is an older Shimano system. I have the ultegra SPD-SL pedals and carbon fibre shimano R151 shoes and I really like them. The plastic 'pontoons' on the bottoms of the cleat make them a bit less slippery for walking and the cleat doesn't wear as fast. The yellow cleats are the ones with float.

Easy to get in and out of, but I think for commuting SPD is just a little easier to get into. I have no problems on training/group rides/racing but every once in a while commuting in peak hour the SPD-SLs can be a little bit difficult to get into if you are in a rush to get going. Like when you are taking off from the lights up a steep hill with an angry diesel-spewing bus right behind you. You need to pedal to get up speed but if you don't click in straight away the pedal can spin around as you pedal and with carbon fibre soles you can't put much pressure when not clicked in. Not a real big problem - I think this is called the law of maximum inconvenience 🙂 I should just practice my trackstanding. With SPD you can just stomp on the pedal and it will click in.

I've never tried look, speedplay, eggbeaters etc so I can't compare with them. I did have problems with calf cramps until I moved my cleats back. It's worth checking out Steve Hogg's articles on www.cyclingnews.com. I seemed to have lost a bit of power/snap (which hopefully will come back with training) but the cramps are gone. Nothing more frustrating than being in a winning position near the end of the pace then cramping up!

Adam

"The Doctor" <[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

I was wondering what do people think of Shimano SPD for
Road bikes? I have a pair of older SPD pedals and I had
tried Look before. I found the older SPD a bit harder
get into then Look. In particular, what about the
Shimano R540 105 Road Pedal?

Commuting, use SPD
Racing, use SPD-SL

Be careful with your SPD-x because SPD is a different
system to SPD-R which is different again to SPD-SL.

SPD = small metal cleat, mtb style shoes
SPD-R = large cleat, old road style
SPD-SL = large plastic cleat, LOOK-copy, latest
Shimano road system

hippy
opinion-only, no factual content :-P

hippy said:

"The Doctor" <[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

I was wondering what do people think of Shimano SPD for
Road bikes? I have a pair of older SPD pedals and I had
tried Look before. I found the older SPD a bit harder
get into then Look. In particular, what about the
Shimano R540 105 Road Pedal?

Commuting, use SPD
Racing, use SPD-SL

Be careful with your SPD-x because SPD is a different
system to SPD-R which is different again to SPD-SL.

SPD = small metal cleat, mtb style shoes
SPD-R = large cleat, old road style
SPD-SL = large plastic cleat, LOOK-copy, latest
Shimano road system

hippy
opinion-only, no factual content :-P

black texta will hide that evil name on the pedals :-)

"flyingdutch" <[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

SPD = small metal cleat, mtb style shoes
SPD-R = large cleat, old road style
SPD-SL = large plastic cleat, LOOK-copy, latest
Shimano road system

hippy
opinion-only, no factual content :-P

black texta will hide that evil name on the pedals :-)

My new setup looks "fully sick maate".. and there
be no squeaks yet :-P

If only I could work out how to clip in.. ;-)

hippy