road shoes and pedals

Well finally, with any luck, my MTB will make its way to its new owner sometime this week, and along with it, all the bits including SPD pedals and a set of shoes.

This presents an opportunity for me to upgrade to some 'proper' road cycling shoes but I have a few questions to ask so I don't end up having to upgrade again too soon.

First of all, my feet are big (metric size 48.) The only shoes that I seem to find that are available in this size are Shimano. (IMO not a bad thing, as I want to get a shoe that's as cleat-compatible as possible, i.e. SPD, SPD-R, SPD-SL, and Look -- which most/all Shimano shoes allow.)

I've been looking at two in particular; the R097 (~AU$180) and the carbon-soled R150 (~AU$245). There's also the new R125 which is the same price as the R150. But the 150s look more, er, carbon-y

From what I gather (and from a past discussion thread on cleats) the carbon soled shoes are probably worth getting.. right?

Initially, I'll be using these shoes with SPD pedals, and then once the cleats wear out/I need some retail therapy, I'll move onto some 'proper' road pedals, probably Looks (herd mentality at work here I admit -- x million cyclists can't be wrong, can they ) Is there anything compelling about SPD-R or SPD-SL which I should know about? Are some more 'walkable', comfortable or otherwise more user-friendly than others?

How much easier/more difficult is it to clip in and out of road-style pedals (in traffic/urban situations), than the double sided SPDs I have now? I know they are weighted to 'fall' the right way, but if you 'miss' clipping in on the first revolution, is it difficult to try again when you're on the move?

The bike store near work (Cecil Walker's) have PP296 pedals on special for $190, which seem like a good deal. The twisty-float-selector thing aside, what is the difference between the various Look pedal models? Looking at the range, it doesn't seem to be weight..

 

Just been lurking about the web .. the SPD-SL system sounds great, but yikes, I didn't know pedals could be that pricey!

I hope there's an Ultegra or 105-spec version available by the time I go pedal-shopping.. right now it seems the only ones you can get are the Dura-Ace, and even then they're in limited supply.

 

Do you all ride barefoot or something? It must hurt, screwing the cleats into your foot and all

I think I'm going to go for the SPD-SLs. Ultegra versions are available (at half the price of Dura-Ace, cheaper than those Looks!), and from my research they sound like a Look pedal with some of the annoying things engineered out of them.

Had a chat with my LBS and they said they can do me a great deal on a set of Ultegra SPD-SL pedals and the Shimano non-carbon shoe (R097 in the links above.)

Anyway, this begs the question: is it worth my while to opt for a carbon-soled shoe? I don't race competitively (well I might decide to give it a go in half a year's time or so), but I do often ride for fairly long stretches at a time (2-4 hours.)

 

I would say if you can compete with the Top Bunches it would not be such a bad idea. If you have the money, go for it.

Road shoes as a fact last a lot longer than normal shoes so invest in something good. Just make sure that they feel right for you. I do not know what % improvement you will get in your power but don't think it can be that much.

Best advise is to shop around and fit them all untill you find one that you like, even if it isn't carbon.

 

Just to put some closure to this thread..

I got the Ultegra SPD-SL pedals, and since the distributor was on back-order of the non-carbon shoes, they gave me a set of last year's carbon reinforced shoes (SH-R122) at no extra charge

The huge cleat size (compared to SPD) is wonderful, especially when climbing out of the saddle. Feels very secure.

I'm not so sure exactly how long the cleats are going to last though, I wouldn't be too surprised if I only get about 3 or 4 months worth out of them.

The pedals themselves are a snap to clip in and out of -- just as easy as SPD, even though they're one-sided. No problems in traffic at all.

And since I forgot to bring 'normal' walking shoes into work with me, I am finding out first-hand that they are quite walkable, even on surfaces you'd expect to slip