ILM said:Hi
I've got some SPD-SL cleats ( alpinebikes.comspd sl float cleatsOpen ↗ ) and some shimano road shoes to match. I want to get some shoes that I can walk on without damaging the cleats. I'm restricted to where I can go with these cleats and want to be able to walk around in them, shopping etc. Are there any shoes that will take these cleats as I've got used to them and don't fancy having to change the cleats and pedals as well as shoes. If not, which cleats are best?
I'm expecting that I can't and will have to get some Off Road shoes with those little pointy cleats ( wiggle.co.uk4000000886Open ↗ ) are they easy to clip in and out of???thanks ILM
If you really want better walkability, you'll have to go with the MTB shoe and pedals that work with smaller recessed cleats. The cleat/pedal brands that would work are Shimano SPD, Crank Brothers and some others usually described as "spd-type" or "spd-compatable".
Any mtb shoe will work. I get the impression above that you might think that the shoe brand has to match the pedal/cleat brand, and that isn't true. The only compatability question is the hole pattern for the cleats used with your pedals. Your SPD-SL cleats have the "Look-type" 3 hole pattern which is shared by SPD-SL, Look, Time and some others, but adapters are made for cleats with other patterns as well.
The smaller, recessed cleats use a two hole "SPD-type" pattern which is available on any MTB shoe, many road shoes (look at the bottom and/or product description) and also shoes that are often called "touring shoes". These touring shoes have a bottom that allows a recessed cleat, but does not have the deep treads of the MTB shoe. For your general need for walking, that might work well.
So, don't restrict yourself to Shimano shoes- there's no reason other than your personal preference.
As for the difference/advantage of your current road shoe/ road pedal set up vs. the MTB shoe/ MTB pedal set up you're thinking of, here's my recent experience. I've ridden road bikes with MTB shoes / pedals for about 15 years. I never had road shoes/pedals because I just wanted the walkability. I always had decent but not great MTB shoes. I've never had any problems or performance degradtion with this set up: no inadvertant pull-outs, no "hot spots", no "loss of power or efficency". These are normal criticisms of using MTB shoes/pedals, but I found none of them to be true for me. I had no reason to change other than I did need new shoes, and mostly I was just wanted to try a road set up and actually buy some better quality shoes and pedals for once in my life, after having pretty much cheaped out for so long.
So I bought some well-fitting Sidi 5.5 carbon composite shoes and some Time RXS Edge pedals. Not top of the line stuff, but very good quality. I've only ridden this combo a couple of times but have definitely not experienced any obvious difference. I've read many accounts of people buying new shoes and pedals and experiencing what they call huge differences. It hasn't happened. I'll see how it goes, but I really don't think there's a significant advantage to the recreational rider to be found with road-type shoes and pedals vs. MTB shoes/pedals. This is of course assuming good fit and quality. The objective things that I have noticed are that the new shoes just fit better. But that could have been nearly achieved by just buying better quality/better fitting MTB shoes. The shoe/pedal/cleat combo is quite a bit lighter, but like all weight-related differences, those advantages are very subtle and can only be measured with a stop watch over a long distance - which doesn't apply to me.
