best shoes for Shimano M540 pedals for a *road/racing* bike use?

[Yuri Budilov]

Hello everyone

I have Shimano clip-less M540 (MTB-style, double sided) pedals on my road
2004 Trek 1000 bicycle and I am very happy with them. However, I find my
"cheap" entry level Shimano MO38 shoes are quite heavy and not very stiff. I
wonder if anyone can suggest a few alternatives for me to replace shoes and
keep the same pedals and standard Shimano cleats. As I said, I have a pure
road bike so I really want shoes that are most suitable for road use without
having to resort to buying racing pedals and racing shoes. Please help me to
compile a list of say 3-5+ shoe alternatives because not all are likely to
be on sale in Australia (Shimano TO91, as I see, are not available down
under).

Many thanks in advance

--
Yuri

 

[richard]

Any reason any shoe that accepts SPD cleats won't work? At one time,
Shimano, Ritchey, and others furnished single-sided SPD pedals for road
bikes. I used both Shimano and Sidi road shoes with them - no problem!

Yuri Budilov wrote:
> Hello everyone
>
> I have Shimano clip-less M540 (MTB-style, double sided) pedals on my road
> 2004 Trek 1000 bicycle and I am very happy with them. However, I find my
> "cheap" entry level Shimano MO38 shoes are quite heavy and not very stiff. I
> wonder if anyone can suggest a few alternatives for me to replace shoes and
> keep the same pedals and standard Shimano cleats. As I said, I have a pure
> road bike so I really want shoes that are most suitable for road use without
> having to resort to buying racing pedals and racing shoes. Please help me to
> compile a list of say 3-5+ shoe alternatives because not all are likely to
> be on sale in Australia (Shimano TO91, as I see, are not available down
> under).
>
> Many thanks in advance
>

 

[SuperSlinky]

Yuri Budilov said...

> Hello everyone
>
> I have Shimano clip-less M540 (MTB-style, double sided) pedals on my road
> 2004 Trek 1000 bicycle and I am very happy with them. However, I find my
> "cheap" entry level Shimano MO38 shoes are quite heavy and not very stiff. I
> wonder if anyone can suggest a few alternatives for me to replace shoes and
> keep the same pedals and standard Shimano cleats. As I said, I have a pure
> road bike so I really want shoes that are most suitable for road use without
> having to resort to buying racing pedals and racing shoes. Please help me to
> compile a list of say 3-5+ shoe alternatives because not all are likely to
> be on sale in Australia (Shimano TO91, as I see, are not available down
> under).
>
> Many thanks in advance

You have MTB pedals, so you will need MTB shoes to be able to walk.
There are plenty of road shoes that will accept an SPD cleat, but
walking on them would be awful. Road cleats have some token
accommodation for walking. You wouldn't have anything to help you walk
with an SPD cleat on a road shoe. I have Shimano SH-M120s and Sidi
Dominator 4s. The SH-M120s are half the price of the Sidis and a good
value even at MSRP, but the Sidis are a super high-end product if you
have the money and don't mind spending it. I got a discount on them when
I bought a new bike. The SH-M120 appears to be similar in many ways to
the T092.

 

[Per Elmsäter]

Yuri Budilov wrote:
> Hello everyone
>
> I have Shimano clip-less M540 (MTB-style, double sided) pedals on my
> road 2004 Trek 1000 bicycle and I am very happy with them. However, I
> find my "cheap" entry level Shimano MO38 shoes are quite heavy and
> not very stiff. I wonder if anyone can suggest a few alternatives for
> me to replace shoes and keep the same pedals and standard Shimano
> cleats. As I said, I have a pure road bike so I really want shoes
> that are most suitable for road use without having to resort to
> buying racing pedals and racing shoes. Please help me to compile a
> list of say 3-5+ shoe alternatives because not all are likely to be
> on sale in Australia (Shimano TO91, as I see, are not available down
> under).
>
> Many thanks in advance

Shimano M221 is a very good MTB shoe and built almost identical to the road
shoe R214. Both have a very stiff carbon sole and the MTB version has some
rubber and stuff added on the sole to allow you to walk and run in them.

--
Perre

You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

 

[yuri budilov]

thank you all for your answers

so, if I do *not* need to walk in my riding shoes but I still do have M540
MTB pedals/cleats does it mean I can get any Shimano *road* shoe to work
with my Shimano MTB pedals? And if I did so - would this offer any
advantages over MTB shoes such as M221 shoes?


"Per Elmsäter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Yuri Budilov wrote:
>> Hello everyone
>>
>> I have Shimano clip-less M540 (MTB-style, double sided) pedals on my
>> road 2004 Trek 1000 bicycle and I am very happy with them. However, I
>> find my "cheap" entry level Shimano MO38 shoes are quite heavy and
>> not very stiff. I wonder if anyone can suggest a few alternatives for
>> me to replace shoes and keep the same pedals and standard Shimano
>> cleats. As I said, I have a pure road bike so I really want shoes
>> that are most suitable for road use without having to resort to
>> buying racing pedals and racing shoes. Please help me to compile a
>> list of say 3-5+ shoe alternatives because not all are likely to be
>> on sale in Australia (Shimano TO91, as I see, are not available down
>> under).
>>
>> Many thanks in advance
>
> Shimano M221 is a very good MTB shoe and built almost identical to the
> road
> shoe R214. Both have a very stiff carbon sole and the MTB version has some
> rubber and stuff added on the sole to allow you to walk and run in them.
>
> --
> Perre
>
> You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.
>
>

 

[SuperSlinky]

yuri budilov said...

> thank you all for your answers
>
> so, if I do *not* need to walk in my riding shoes but I still do have M540
> MTB pedals/cleats does it mean I can get any Shimano *road* shoe to work
> with my Shimano MTB pedals? And if I did so - would this offer any
> advantages over MTB shoes such as M221 shoes?

Nope. The higher end Shimano road shoes have no way to attach an SPD
cleat. Look at the soles on their web site. I have a pair of SH-R151
shoes and it is three bolt road cleats or nothing. No advantage to road
shoes except for a little weight for the lugs. Do yourself a favor and
get MTB shoes, or if you must get road shoes, post video. It should be
fun to watch.

 

[Per Elmsäter]

yuri budilov wrote:
> thank you all for your answers
>
> so, if I do *not* need to walk in my riding shoes but I still do have
> M540 MTB pedals/cleats does it mean I can get any Shimano *road* shoe
> to work with my Shimano MTB pedals? And if I did so - would this
> offer any advantages over MTB shoes such as M221 shoes?
>
>

If you really want road shoes get rid of your pedals and buy SPD-SL pedals
instead. You will always have to walk from the bike to the coffeshop table
and you wouldn't want to do that in road shoes with SPD cleats on them. Even
if you could get them to fit.
I have both the M221 and R214. They are absolutely identical on the upper
side. The bottom of the sole is a little different and the M221 weigh a
little more, due to it's walkability.

--
Perre

You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

 

[Paul Kopit]

On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 14:00:37 +1000, "yuri budilov"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>so, if I do *not* need to walk in my riding shoes but I still do have M540
>MTB pedals/cleats does it mean I can get any Shimano *road* shoe to work
>with my Shimano MTB pedals? And if I did so - would this offer any
>advantages over MTB shoes such as M221 shoes?

When you use a Shimano MTB cleat on a road shoe, the shoe will be able
to rock from side to side in the pedal. The road spd cleats, 70 and
71 had a slot to put pontoons on either side of the cleat to touch the
pedal. If you use a road shoe, the pedal is attached to the cleat in
2 small surfaces with no side support.

I use the T091 shoes. The current model T092 seems to have a 3rd
buckle and a wider tongue on the shoe.

 

[bfd]

"Paul Kopit" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 14:00:37 +1000, "yuri budilov"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >so, if I do *not* need to walk in my riding shoes but I still do have
M540
> >MTB pedals/cleats does it mean I can get any Shimano *road* shoe to work
> >with my Shimano MTB pedals? And if I did so - would this offer any
> >advantages over MTB shoes such as M221 shoes?
>
> When you use a Shimano MTB cleat on a road shoe, the shoe will be able
> to rock from side to side in the pedal. The road spd cleats, 70 and
> 71 had a slot to put pontoons on either side of the cleat to touch the
> pedal. If you use a road shoe, the pedal is attached to the cleat in
> 2 small surfaces with no side support.
>
> I use the T091 shoes. The current model T092 seems to have a 3rd
> buckle and a wider tongue on the shoe.

Paul,
Do the TO91/92 shoes run wide? I have wide feet and am interested in these
shoes. My LBS sold out and expect a new shipment in a couple of weeks.

 

[Michael Johnson]

SuperSlinky wrote:
> Yuri Budilov said...
>
>
>>Hello everyone
>>
>>I have Shimano clip-less M540 (MTB-style, double sided) pedals on my road
>>2004 Trek 1000 bicycle and I am very happy with them. However, I find my
>>"cheap" entry level Shimano MO38 shoes are quite heavy and not very stiff. I
>>wonder if anyone can suggest a few alternatives for me to replace shoes and
>>keep the same pedals and standard Shimano cleats. As I said, I have a pure
>>road bike so I really want shoes that are most suitable for road use without
>>having to resort to buying racing pedals and racing shoes.
>
> with an SPD cleat on a road shoe. I have Shimano SH-M120s and Sidi
> Dominator 4s. The SH-M120s are half the price of the Sidis and a good
> value even at MSRP, but the Sidis are a super high-end product if you
> have the money and don't mind spending it. I got a discount on them when
> I bought a new bike. The SH-M120 appears to be similar in many ways to
> the T092.

I have PD-M540 pedals on my road bike, and I have used the SH-M037,
which is the predecessor to the M038, and they are indeed heavy and not
very stiff.

A couple months ago I bought the SH-M120 shoes, which are much lighter,
much stiffer, easier to fasten (three velcro straps, no laces), look
better, don't absorb 4 times their weight in water when it rains, and
are very walkable without extreme lug treads.

Basically, they look as good as a road shoe, are almost as light and
stiff, will fit your double-sided pedals, and you can walk around in
them, unlike any road shoe known to man.

I'd recommend the M120, especially since they sell for under US$100.

...mj

 

[Paul Kopit]

On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 15:26:52 -0700, "bfd" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Paul,
>Do the TO91/92 shoes run wide? I have wide feet and am interested in these
>shoes. My LBS sold out and expect a new shipment in a couple of weeks.

I have wide feet as well and have had no problem with this shoe.