road bike shoes vs mtb shoes

I have a pair of Shimano's which I started to ride clipless. Do I need/want to change to 'real' roadbike shoes? What would be different? Is there improvement or is it just personal choice?

 

The biggest difference is in appearance and possibly in compatibility with road specific pedals/cleats; however if your current road pedal's cleats work with your MTB shoes, that alleviates that last concern.

 

What do you do while riding? Do you like to walk around after riding somewhere? Are you riding off road? Remember with "real" road bike shoes you can't walk around in them comfortably at all plus if the cleats get dirty they won't clip in without extensive cleaning first.

Other then that if your current shoes work, which I assume they do based on your post, then why bother? Your not going to gain anything by getting "real" road shoes other then looks, but you will lose money.

 

Thanks Froze, I appreciate your reply, as the others of course. My Shimano's are okay, bit bigger "hiking like" shoes than the road bike shoes. They are comfy, I can walk on them pretty good too. I just do road cycling/racing not really walking on them. Just wanted to know if there is an advantage in getting road bike shoes over the mtb's. Am getting more 'serious' in cycling like long distance rides, granfondos etc, so I was wondering if I should change my shoes.

 

Thanks you all! Well my shoes are fine=comfortable. I do just road cycling, like training, long distance and granfondo's this year too. Not much of walking but I was just curious if I should change to road bike shoes. If there is no improvement or advantage than just having good fitting shoes clipped in, I just leave it the way it is /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

 

:thumbup:

 

If your racing with a local club at some point you may want actual road shoes. Road shoes are lighter and that weight is rotating weight and shoes is one of the lower priority areas to reduce. If money at this time is a concern, or you would rather put that money towards better rims first for example then do that and wait on the shoes. If money is not a huge concern then buy some shoes, but you don't need to get urber expensive either. And look for shoes on closeout at various LBS or at On-line stores if you feel pretty good about buying shoes on-line. One example of a light weight shoe that doesn't cost much is this: http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1095133_-1___400097 This shoe is only 396 gram for the pair, I scanned a bunch of shoes and any shoe in that price range was 560 grams and up. These are limited in size but I'm showing you an example of a lower price shoe that can be light.

If money is tight don't fall into the trap of following the crowd and feel like your forced to buy expensive stuff or you won't fit in. I use to race too back in the late 70's till the mid 80's and my first racing bike was 80 Trek 412...it wasn't even a racing bike but a mid end sport bike, and it used mid line Suntour VxGT components, but I won races even when I got to CAT 3 level despite the sneers I got from the elitists. If you shop for stuff you can find lower costing stuff that weighs the same as higher end stuff like Kinlin wheels which are a fantastic bargain. I threw that in there just in case your looking at wheels. Sorry.

 

I ride road shoes mainly because they are lighter and of course because the looks are appealing. Sleek design with a sleek bike! As Froze mentioned before, they are quite pricey, but reducing weight when racing is never a bad thing just as long as you have the money for it. I dont know for sure, but id assume road shoes are slightly more aerodynamic as well

 

Thanks Froze for all your info. Yeah I want to put some money in the bike or outfit, especially and maybe first to upgrade are the wheels. I heard that will make the biggest difference in speed/performance. And Flyingblind9, it does make sense yes, riding with road bike shoes and mtb shoes. My Shimano shoes are 'bulkier' than the aerodynamic style that road bike shoes have. I am not in a hurry to replace them and for sure will on the look out when there is a sale. Not online for me, especially with these kind of shoes I would like to try and fit them first. Lighter wheels, lighter shoes, am going to be like Speedy Gonzales.....hahahaha....no kidding. I thought about getting a new bike but mine is only two years old and I think I can use some upgrades since the bike is very comfy for me on long distance races what I do (100km +).

 

Agreed. I plan on upgrading my rims if i plan on getting any real weight differences. Im running RS10's now, they are heavier, but not by any means the heaviest.

 

When your on a limited budget and you want to upgrade, you have to pick your battles sort of speak. You look for the number one area that will have the largest impact on speed and work your way down to the least important as money allows. And the largest number one area is wheels...if your current wheels are just basic wheels, if there already aero and light like the Kinlin's or the IRD's then obviously you don't need wheels. But you understand what I mean.