What, if anything, does SPD compatible mean?

stevecoh1 said:

Now that my titanic struggle to remove my old toe-clip pedals has been won (see
cyclingforums.comt286170 how to remove stuck pedal.htmlOpen ↗) I have replaced the old pedals with a pair of Performance Forte Pro Mg/Ti pedals. These are advertised as being "SPD compatible". But what the heck does that mean?

In the instructions that came with the new pedals I see "Use only Performance Pro/Pro Mg Ti Road Cleats with your pedals. Other cleats may be non-compatible and unsafe."

And indeed it seems that even at the loosest possible setting the Shimano SPD cleats that I had installed in the shoes I bought with my new bike will not fit in these pedals. The cleats supplied are a little smaller, have more material cut away.

What the heck is up with that? Wouldn't you assume that "SPD-compatible" meant that if you have a pair of shoes with SPD cleats, they'll fit? How the hell can Performance get away with something like this?

Has anyone else had experience with this brand of pedal, and how did you get around it? I suppose I COULD install the cleats that came with the pedals, but how do I know that they will fit in the pedals on my new bike? Am I going to have to buy a new pair of shoes?

This is really disturbing. Compatible should mean just that.

SPD compatible means a 2-bolt cleat. Nothing more. The term came about when Shimano came out with the 2-bolt pattern on their mountain pedals and later on their road pedals, which was then mimicked by other 2-bolt mountain pedals. The SPD compatible designation was to distinguish those pedals/cleats from what was, at the time, the more common 3-bolt or "Look-compatible" pattern. Most brands of pedals require their proprietary cleats.

Cleats are pedal specfic. What "SPD compatible means is that if the shoe will accept SPD cleats it will accept the cleats that you need for your new pedals.

stevecoh1 said:

Now that my titanic struggle to remove my old toe-clip pedals has been won (see
cyclingforums.comt286170 how to remove stuck pedal.htmlOpen ↗) I have replaced the old pedals with a pair of Performance Forte Pro Mg/Ti pedals. These are advertised as being "SPD compatible". But what the heck does that mean?

In the instructions that came with the new pedals I see "Use only Performance Pro/Pro Mg Ti Road Cleats with your pedals. Other cleats may be non-compatible and unsafe."

And indeed it seems that even at the loosest possible setting the Shimano SPD cleats that I had installed in the shoes I bought with my new bike will not fit in these pedals. The cleats supplied are a little smaller, have more material cut away.

What the heck is up with that? Wouldn't you assume that "SPD-compatible" meant that if you have a pair of shoes with SPD cleats, they'll fit? How the hell can Performance get away with something like this?

Has anyone else had experience with this brand of pedal, and how did you get around it? I suppose I COULD install the cleats that came with the pedals, but how do I know that they will fit in the pedals on my new bike? Am I going to have to buy a new pair of shoes?

This is really disturbing. Compatible should mean just that.

I agree with the above. Cleats come with the pedals, its a matched pair.

basso97 said:

Cleats are pedal specfic. What "SPD compatible means is that if the shoe will accept SPD cleats it will accept the cleats that you need for your new pedals.

Geez, that's a squirrelly definition if I ever heard one. What you guys are all telling me is that if I have two bikes, unless I somehow manage to get identical pedals for them, I must buy two pairs of cycling shoes.

Sorry, but I believe that this use of the word compatible is sufficiently meaningless as to constitute false advertising. Not that there's anyone to enforce anything like truth-in-advertising anymore.

By the way, I notice in the Performance Catalog on the Pedals page comparison chart, the Forte Classic is being listed as "Look-Style" (not "Look"😉 but the Forte Pro is listed simply as "SPD". Sounds like they've had these issues before. Probably Look threatened to sue them.

[censored]. Well, you can be sure I won't be buying my second pair of cycling shoes from Performance.

stevecoh1 said:

Geez, that's a squirrelly definition if I ever heard one. What you guys are all telling me is that if I have two bikes, unless I somehow manage to get identical pedals for them, I must buy two pairs of cycling shoes.

Sorry, but I believe that this use of the word compatible is sufficiently meaningless as to constitute false advertising. Not that there's anyone to enforce anything like truth-in-advertising anymore.

By the way, I notice in the Performance Catalog on the Pedals page comparison chart, the Forte Classic is being listed as "Look-Style" (not "Look"😉 but the Forte Pro is listed simply as "SPD". Sounds like they've had these issues before. Probably Look threatened to sue them.

[censored]. Well, you can be sure I won't be buying my second pair of cycling shoes from Performance.

Get over it. In this context the word compatible has a pretty well defined meaning. It might have helped to ask someone before spending the money. Fortunately, all hope may not be lost. While Shimano cleats won't fit work with Performance/Nashbar/Wellgo pedals, the Performance cleats typically work with Shimano pedals. At worst you'll notice a tiny difference in the amount of float.

artmichalek said:

Get over it. In this context the word compatible has a pretty well defined meaning. It might have helped to ask someone before spending the money. Fortunately, all hope may not be lost. While Shimano cleats won't fit work with Performance/Nashbar/Wellgo pedals, the Performance cleats typically work with Shimano pedals. At worst you'll notice a tiny difference in the amount of float.

OK, I'll get over it, one way or the other. I may ask Performance to exchange these for a real set of Shimano SPD's. Which brings up another interesting question. Are Shumano-manufactured SPD pedals and cleats compatible with one another or do the same issues pertain within the Shimano brand? (I know there are Shimano SPD-SL's now, I'm excluding those and not expecting them to be compatible.)

Or I may try to use the new cleats instead, although I wonder whether that is the safest course. Is it bad to install a different set of cleats into shoes that have previously had a different set? Also these cleats come with "pontoons". What are they for and do I have to use them?

I mentioned this to my riding buddy this morning and he was as surprised as I was to learn the meaning of "compatible" in this context. Performance really owes it to its customers to do a better job of explaining this.

stevecoh1 said:

OK, I'll get over it, one way or the other. I may ask Performance to exchange these for a real set of Shimano SPD's. Which brings up another interesting question. Are Shumano-manufactured SPD pedals and cleats compatible with one another or do the same issues pertain within the Shimano brand?

Well, that's what I did, and Performance was good enough to make the exchange for Shimano M520s and I got a little money back since they were cheaper.

Incidentally, #1, the kid working at performance was as appalled as I was to learn what "compatible" meant in this case.

Incidentally #2, I nearly had an aneurysm when I got back home, opened the box of new Shimano M520s and saw a little cardboard tag infomring me that I should "Use only Shimano Cleats SM-SH51 or SM-SH56." And my existing cleats were Shimano SM-SH55's! I called Performance back and got a guy who sounded like he'd had some experience and told me the 55's would work, they simply gave a little more float. Whatever, the guy sounded knowledgeable enough that I decided to install them and give it a try and I was able to find a good adjusment setting - I think. Is there uniformity within the Shimano SPD universe - maybe, but Shimano themselves don't think so.

I think the bike pedal industry at this point really just sucks. There are no standards, brand names are thrown about as though they mean something, "compatible" is a joke, and then they throw in these scary "important warnings" which are probably just legal cya maneuvers, but the consumer is left in ignorance about what warnings to believe and which to ignore.

Nonetheless, I now have achieved what I set out to do. It probably cost me 50% more and took about 400% more time than I originally planned. It would have been far cheaper and easier to take the thing to the local bike shop, but this way I learned some things which I'm really not sure whether I want to know or not.