Clipless Shoes, Pedals and cleets.

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RunningRonnie Mar 2016 10:42am, 22 Mar 2016 1,425 posts	0 RunningRonnie I have a road bike and would like to get decent pedals for it. Not sure what I need to get though, as I would also like to be able to use these in the gym on the spin bikes. My spin instructor has advised getting "standard cycle shoes with spd cleats" to go with the bikes at the gym. However, are spd cleats mountain bike ones and would be no good for my road bike? Or do I need two sets of cleats but only one set of shoes and swap between the two? Don't want to have to buy everything twice, so any advice appreciated.
Lalli Mar 2016 10:52am, 22 Mar 2016 3,627 posts	0 Lalli Hi there RR, I use SPD cleats, they are essentially a system; Shimano Pedaling Dynamics, also known as SPD system is a design of clipless bicycle pedals. It's a small cleat which fits in a recess in the sole of a cycling shoe designed for this system's use. They are compatible with spin bikes and watt bikes at the gym. This article is helpful in explaining the different types: cyclorama.net
Lalli Mar 2016 10:55am, 22 Mar 2016 3,628 posts	0 Lalli I use the recessed road versions - I bought a pair of touring Shimano cycle shoes for road bike use and went with the SPD pedals and I have stayed with that system with no issues. Hope that helps.
Lalli Mar 2016 10:57am, 22 Mar 2016 3,629 posts	0 Lalli And take a look at this - bit more in terms of imagery: cyclingweekly.co.uk
mad4purple Mar 2016 10:57am, 22 Mar 2016 33,532 posts	0 mad4purple I use SPD on my road and non Road bike. and also had the bonus of using them for spin too.
jdarun Mar 2016 11:00am, 22 Mar 2016 730 posts	0 jdarun just to be explicit - mountain and road cleats both fit the same pedals, there's no risk of getting the wrong system. MTB or touring style shoes are generally more convenient for wearing off the bike as the cleat is recesed into the sole, but they both fit all pedals.
eL Bee! Mar 2016 11:03am, 22 Mar 2016 20,092 posts	0 eL Bee! I have always used SPDs on my road bike as well as on my MTB The cleats last forever and the generous 'float' limits knee issues. And they are easy to get in and out of. There will be those who say that you should only use road cleats on road bikes, but I doubt that all but a very few can tell any real-world difference!
RunningRonnie Mar 2016 11:20am, 22 Mar 2016 1,426 posts	0 RunningRonnie Thanks all! Will take a look at the links from Lalli. Thanks jda. I was under the impression it was two different systems which were incompatible with each other.
Hills of Death (HOD) Mar 2016 11:23am, 22 Mar 2016 31,958 posts	0 Hills of Death (HOD) SPD SL or SPD MTB ???
AngusClydesdale Mar 2016 11:27am, 22 Mar 2016 10,714 posts	0 AngusClydesdale I use SPD style on my MTB and initially used them on my road bike too. However I found that I was getting a sore point in the middle of my foot sole when I rode longer distances on my road bike. I changed my road bike to road cleats and it seems to have made a good difference. Clearly it's horses for courses as El Bee rides thousands more miles than I do and it suits him. I use Time pedals on all my bikes as they seem to have generous amounts of float on both styles.