MTB vs Road Shoes

I've had both and prefer my mtn bike shoes. They are easier to walk in, just as easy to get in and out of and not THAT much heavier. Of course I don't leave my shoes in the pedals for T1 so I like the easier to walk in aspect.

Someone I was talking to said that if you plan on doing any long distance cycling, you'll probably want the rigid carbony shoes. It apparently keeps your feet from going numb or something.

I've been told that the road bike pedal/shoe provides a broader and more stable platform so in that sense "better". I've had both, and could not really tell the difference. In fact, I just updated my older road bike to SPD M540 pedals (from ULTEGRA SPD-SL pedals). I did this for the convience of one pair of shoes, and in order to be able to walk on a paved slope. The clips (on the shoe bottom) for the Ultegra pedals provide NO traction, and for me no improvement.


Edited by johnrsims 2009-07-24 12:04 PM

how do the road shoes marketed as tri shoes do?  are they slippy like road shoes?  what makes them different than raod shoes besides the reverse strap?

I race in MTB shoes and just don't really want to switch...I have pretty serious arch problems and running in bare feet or socks (like folks who leave their road shoes clipped into their pedals do) just isn't a good thing for me and I'm not keen on running on cleats on traditional road shoes.  I have a pair of fairly light weight Shimano MTB shoes with velcro straps that allow me to run in and out of transition comfortably in them.  That limits the variety of pedals I can use, but I'm very happy with my SPD A520's (which are a low-end road--"touring", actually--pedal)...not the lightest pedal in the world, but they're fine for my purposes.

on my mtb i have some mtb shoes

on my tt as you can imagine i have tt shoes

difference, the mtb shoes are heavy duty, feel more stiff, they can certainly take a beating.  my tri shoes are much more comfy, especially riding barefoot in. 

will there be a speed increase, no i don't think so.  the concept is the same. 

as far as what is the difference between tri and road shoes:

- strap in the back
- usually 1 velcro strap for easy access
- bottom includes a whole for water drainage...

You'll get a bit more transfer of power (meaning you'll be more efficient and waste less energy) with a good road shoe/pedal set up.

There is really no difference between a road shoe and a tri shoe other than the tri shoe has one strap for quicker transitions versus dealing with multiple straps or ratchets. 

Speed difference? No.  I've ridden several centuries (100mi rides) in both & find very little difference in my speed (5-6hr) or comfort.   In fact I'll often choose to ride my MTB shoes/pedals on long road tours where I know I'll be walking a lot. But quality of shoe makes a BIG difference. Many entry level MTB shoes have flexy center soles which can cause pressure on the foot during hard/long rides.  OTOH- Sidi makes some very nice MTB & road shoes with same uppers- vary only in the treads on the soles (but those MTB treads add a little weight).  Shimano makes some very nice shoes too- once you get beyond their entry-level stuff.

If you're happy & comfy with your MTB shoes/pedals- use 'em.

No

As someone else mentioned I was also using my ~15 year old mtb setup pedals and shoes due to cost, also just wanted things to match so if I commuted with my road bike I could use my commuter shoes.  But I wanted to update. I was up in NJ near where I used to live and stopped by the lbs I worked at in HS/college and picked up some speedplays. I was used to the double sided mtb pedals so I went with speedplays. They do little road stuff and no tri stuf so I waited till I got back and wet to a local tri shop to get shoes, got them yesterday.

This morning was my first ride with the new setup and there was a noticeable diference. I can't judge power or speed much since I am really just getting started again but overall much more solid feel. Maybe a little too stiff as my feed ached a bit but that could be part of needig to adjust the cleat location a bit more and also just gettig used to the different shape. They felt better as it went on so I think my feet just needed to adapt a bit. Mentally having the tri shoes and speedplays was also nice, just thinking about having a proper setup while I was riding felt better.

I have both MTB and road shoes. I ride MTB shoes for cyclocross and in my winter riding boots.

I can walk fine in my carbon road shoes even up and down stairs and run in them in tris.

I would not want to do long ride in my MTB shoes as the platform is much smaller and I think it would give me more feet issues..hot spots and the like.

Speed difference? Not sure
Comfort difference? Yes even more on longer rides