I ride a gravel bike that I use a lot for commuting and fitness, and I’ve been thinking about switching to clipless to improve the ride feel and be more efficient with my pedaling. I’m not sure whether MTB or road clipless makes more sense though.
MTB shoes seem way easier to walk in, especially for work or quick stops. Most of the ones I’ve seen look pretty bulky though, are they still comfortable for longer rides, like 60 km or more (or around 40 km of daily commuting)? I’m currently looking at the Pulse Elite V2 and the Giro Berm, since both are said to fit wider feet well and the shoes can even work for gym use.
by ngoalibaba
10 Comments
MTB shoes are great for situation where you don’t need to just ride. And these mix pedals are nice for when you don’t want to have only bike shoes.
I don’t think you need to overly focus on pure efficiency and weight.
The shoes are more bulky but they’re also often better for more weather situation.
I have an endurance bike and a gravel bike, and I swapped the OEM pedals for SPD PD-T8000s. These are flats with pins on one side, SPD clipless on the other, and MTB shoes. I did two imperial centuries in October, have done 5-day 300mi biketouring rides, and can walk just fine when needed. For me, it works.
I put MTB flat pedals on my endurance bike for my son. I did a 40mi test ride and hated them. My feet were all over the place. IMHO, I’m more comfortable with a consistent foot position. YMMV.
Go for it.
I run Shimano PD-EH500s on my commuter/gravel bike. Can ride flats on one side, SPDs on the other. Works great.
MTB for sure, imagine walking into work in road shoes…
Any MTB shoe will be better to commute in and there’s such a wide range you can grab any pair that fits your usage. Carbon soled race shoes if you want pure performance or casual comfortable shoes that no one would think are for cycling if that’s what you’re into.
Fitness on locking side, commute on flat side.
They run on mtb on clippers for much longer than 60km.
Shoes which are effective for pedaling clippers are not good for walk.
Sole doesn’t flex.
If you want flex sole, it is rather to be thick or pedal should have large platform.
Thin sole with flex and small pedal – pain after some distances.
Also….I have wide feet and was not able to find anything suitable for long distances.
After 40 km it gets so bad, I have to switch to regular shoes and flat side.
Wide shoes are hard to find. I see people wearing three sizes more, just to be able to put feet inside.
These are great to have flat or clip in option, depending on where you are. The flat side looks nice and grippy. Shimano makes a similar pedal but less grippy. I have SPD dual on my road bike , but the Shimano dual sided on my city/gravel bike.
I used to commute on SPD-SL road pedals, but since switching to regular SPD I haven’t really looked back. I use the Shimano PD-M540 pedals. My favorite shoes for commuting (actually for most stuff) are Adidas Velosambas. These are way better than they ought to be. I’ve done a 1400 km bike packing trip in these. My bike fitter was surprised by how stiff they were laterally, while also pointing out they had poor torsional stiffness, but honestly, I think that’s why they still very useable as a regular shoe. If you’re focused on performance, you’ll probably want something stiffer though.
The answer is MTB clipless for any situation other than going for a road ride for no other purpose than doing a road ride, or race obviously.
Clipless is the way to go. Once you’re used to them you won’t want to go back. I use Northwave MB shoes with Crank Brothers Egg Beaters with my gravel bike – probably not the best system but I’m more than happy with them.