Just goes to show people's preferences. I have ridden Time mountain bike pedals for decades, including for cross racing, and have been somewhat chagrinned to have to switch to SPD recently to get pedal-based power. SPD is fine, but I still prefer Time.

I also have Time and Speedplay on the road side. Both work fine, but I think the positive engagement of the Time cleat is better. Also looking at power pedals for this bike and again, disappointed there is no Time option.

Really though, none of the major standards are problematic and you can adapt to any of them. I would go with shoes that you know fit and then choose any moderately priced pedal you like.

I used SPD-SL for a long long time. Recently made all my bikes SPD, so all my shoes would be compatible with all my bikes. I hardly notice a difference. I think SPD shoes used to be 'mountain bike shoes' and those were relatively overbuilt, bulky, and heavy for the road. With the advent of gravel, shoes like the Shimano RX 800 exist, which are light and svelte like road shoes, so why not?

I think pedals/shoes are a lot like saddles.. many are good, depends on what you like, feels best to you..

I have rode mostly Shimano in my years, tried Speedplay for a minute and just couldn't get used to the feeling of standing on ice they gave me.. plus I didn't like the perceived fragility of a rock in the cleat could cause.. also tried CB eggbeaters and just didn't feel right to my feet either..

at this point, I think I might be on SPDs on all of my bikes for the near future..

I definitely notice a difference between road and MTB pedals, and prefer the more "locked in" feel of road pedals.

I echo that if you are comfortable in Sidi mtb shoes, it makes sense to go with Sidi road shoes.

Agree, and the float between spd and spd sl is much different feeling.

I just recently started riding spd pedals on my road bikes.. for me the reason is I got tired of the anxiety I was feeling at every stop light (esp when turning left with an arrow).. I almost never have an issue getting into the pedal when I'm alone on the road, but put me at a light or stop sign with cars and I can't function.. :confused:

the other reason is it's just easier to walk.. for my meager power numbers and how I ride, I'm not sure I've losing much, if anything, in performance.. my feet don't really feel much difference in the platform size.. I'm usually feeling it in my toes/etc by the end of a ride with either system..

we'll see in a few months how I feel.. :)

I find absolutely no difference in ease of in and out comparing my xtr and dura ace. If I had to pick I’d say my spd sl are easier to engage.

Walking while it’s obviously easier in mtb shoes they are still stiff and clunky and not much of an improvement over spd sl slippers and three silicone pads. I’ve hiked many miles in my road shoes on rocky trails.

SPD-SL is pretty no brainer but they do have a design flaw (I think all the 3 whole shoes have this?) in that lateral adjustment and cleat angle are tied up together. If you have to adjust one you lose range on the other adjustment.

Overall the shoe part is the more difficult part of the equation. The only real option with SPD-SL is the wider Q-factor version of Ultegra & Dura Ace. Otherwise they all work the same and are all ultra reliable.

Shoes are way trickier IMO, I personally think road shoes with the super hard carbon soles make it more critical you get in a really close to optimal shoe because the shoe is not going to give at all if something is off. Carbon road shoes have more of a curve often that forces your foot into a posture that's a little like standing on your toes and that makes it tricky too.

E.x. I know for me my window of adjustment with SPD + nylon MTB shoes with a little flex is bigger than with SPD-SL + Carbon shoes. If I'm outside of that perfect adjustment range my feet start going numb on long intervals up near the boundary of tempo/threshold. It just requires a little more fiddling to get the road shoe dialed in perfectly.

I really love the locked-in feel and wide platform of the SPD-SL shoes.

My one beef, however, is that I never seem to be able to get the cleat far enough back. I used SPD "gravel" shoes for a long time and I got used to a very rearward cleat position. Now that I'm on SPD-SL shoes, even with the cleats jammed all the way back, I feel like they're significantly farther forward, to the point where I had to move my saddle 1/2 cm higher to compensate.

I exclusively use Specialized shoes for both cleat styles, so that's not the problem per se.

Any suggestions on this are welcome.

I had the same issue and once I finally got shoes that fit (lake wide) this enabled me to size down a half size and it puts the cleat slammed all the way rearward, finally, into the proper place.

This is definitely an issue. I have had several times where I bought identical Specialized MTB & Road shoes that fit exactly the same (same last) and the 3-hole version has the cleat holes significantly forward of the 2-hole version. IME Bontrager shoes have sometimes done the same thing.

Haven't run into this in a while but I have also had 3-hole shoes where the measuring marks for the cleats are inaccurate and don't match between the 2 shoes!

this!

the "bike fit Tuesday" series on Cade Media often talks about folks who should really have a wide shoe, sizing up on a regular shoe to make it fit and, thus, not being able to get their cleats back far enough..

on a side not, it's crazy how hard it can be to find a wide shoe.. while some manufacturers certainly make them, good luck actually finding them to try on.. maybe that's the retailer, maybe not..

I don’t consider my foot wide but have splayed and long toes which seem to be my challenge. I’m otherwise thin and low volume…no fat feet here. I barely measured into lake wide by a couple mm but haven’t looked back.

Since moving to lake wide, I’ve tried a number of other brands that are wide but they aren’t the same. All seem to use the same last and just add more volume which didn’t fit my lower volume feet at all.

One thing I don't get is how there are so few cycling shoes (not sure I've ever seen one) that have a natural shape toe box like say Altra running shoes do.

I would struggle to find a negative for that and why we need the fashion style pointed toe that makes less room for the large toe and/or makes people need to size up. Maybe you could find some aero negative. I think that style toe box could really help a lot of us.

I just received a set of 2024 SIDI mtb shoes, and the cleat slots definitely extend farther back than my previous pair (2019?)

Also:
Although vaguely mentioned by Angry Scientist, I really like SPD MTB on road bikes. Never have to think about "flipping the pedal".