Relationship between bike weight and performance!

redbeach6506 said:

With my steel bike, is changing pedals to road ones worth?

The only potential problem with your current pedals might be your shoes. I use SPD pedals on my road bike because I do a lot of event rides, where we stop and walk around every 15 miles or so. It is easier to walk in mountain bike shoes, and the SPD pedals will not have problems if my cleats get dirty. Road pedals, especially Speedplay, are sensitive to dirty cleats.

What do you mean by "I don't feel my feet firmly connected to pedals". Is it that you feel you have too much float, or do your cleats come unclipped when you pull up? If it is the former, that is not really hurting your efficiency, but it can be modifed by switching to the zero float SPD cleats. If it is the latter, then that can be a problem, but it is easily corrected by adjusting the tension on the pedal.

As far as the weight of the pedals, the Shimano SPD 520 pedals are 380 grams per pair. The Look PP 247 road pedals are 370 grams. The Shimano PD-R540 road pedals are 320 grams. This sort of weight saving (no more than one ounce) is not going to make a difference in your performance.

Where you might make a differernce, though, is in the shoe. The Sidi Dominator MTB shoes are 710 grams per pair. The Sidi Genius 5 road shoes are 585 grams per pair (and will acept both mountain bike cleats and road bike cleats). That is a little over four ounces difference.

The biggest bang for the buck for weight saving, though, is in the wheels and tires. Lighter wheels and lighter tires allow you to accellerate much more quickly.

[quote="RickF"]The only potential problem with your current pedals might be your shoes. I use SPD pedals on my road bike because I do a lot of event rides, where we stop and walk around every 15 miles or so. It is easier to walk in mountain bike shoes, and the SPD pedals will not have problems if my cleats get dirty. Road pedals, especially Speedplay, are sensitive to dirty cleats.


Thanks for your thoughtful advice.
Road shoe has pads on the sides of pedal which I feel in between my feet and pedal. When I push down, I feel touching soft pad rather than firm one.

Upgrading wheels & tire in addition to better pedals and shoe might cost half what my bike cost me. Eventually I like to get a different bike as I get into more competitive ride.
Happy riding!!