You are hereForums / By Discipline / Mountain (off road) / MTB Gear / MTB Shoes Compatibility

MTB Shoes Compatibility


coolbreeze47's picture

By coolbreeze47 - Posted on 23 January 2011

Hi

I have started riding a road bike and i was wondering if it was possible to use my Specialized MTB shoes with a 2 bolt pattern on a shimano 105 group set that includes a 3 bolt cleat system

Tags
GAZZA's picture

But if you put shimano spd's on both bikes then you'll be sorted!

herzog's picture

+1
That's what I would do.

ben.archer's picture

I have also just bought my first "cough" road bike, Sorry but the weather has been too crap to ride my proper bike much recently. The bike I have bought has road clipless pedals, and I was planning to replace them with Shimano SPD's. However with the cost of a pair of SPD's not that far off the cost of road shoes what do I loose by going SPD? I am assuming probably incorrectly that there is a reason road clips are so different? Will SPD's put my foot at a poor angle or is it just weight and the need to shed mud that sets the SPD apart?

herzog's picture

The bike shop will probably swap out the pedals for same spec level SPD. worth asking them anyway.

Brian's picture

I would say most people have mtb pedals on a road bike generally do this because they might have to walk a bit for what ever reason. Walking in road shoes with the shimano cleats isn't ideal and the grip can be an issue.

kiwiboy's picture

On road bikes the actual connection to the shoe is much larger as opposed to SPDs which have a relatively small contact area , thus providing a larger area of rigidity & stability, and much less likelihood of foot/shoe movement. It also equates to greater power transfer from leg to pedal.

On the other hand this does mean you need to take care setting it up as it is much easier to do your knee an injury as the position is much less forgiving..

For commuting purposes an SPD is fine - if you are doing some serious scumming then I recommend investing in a second pair of shoes. All my road buddies that started on SPDs have now converted to KEOs or similar, and have commented on the difference.

Logan's picture

Rock imo and I recommend everyone own at least one pair in their lives.

jaseh's picture

Walking with Shimano cleats is a whole lot easier than speedplay ones!
Get a set of road shoes, you won't regret it.

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Best Mountain Bike