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Shoes

Cycling shoes can greatly improve your performance by increasing your power transfer to your pedals. They come in many varieties, designed to work with flat platform pedals as well as the clipless pedals (using cleats to bind the shoe to the pedals).

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Which type of shoes are best for cycling?

Different styles of riding require different types of cycling shoes.

Simply, there are 2 types of shoes:

  • SPD: 2 bolt.
  • SPD-SL: 3 bolt.

SPD shoes are designed for indoor cycling, trekking, commuting and mountain biking.

SPD-SL shoes are only designed for road cycling.

Do cycling shoes make a difference?

Yes.

This applies for both clip-in shoes and cycling-specific flat (non clip-in) shoes.

For clip-in shoes, here's why:

  • You're foot and pedal are connected.
  • This locked-in connection means you move your foot in a smoother circular motion.
  • This means your using more of the pedal's circular stroke to deliver power to the bike.
  • Which means you're using more muscles in your leg to drive you forward.

Cycling shoes that don't clip-in (such as for mountain biking) still have benefits too:

  • Flat riding shoes have a completely different tread pattern and rubber to non-cycling shoes.
  • This means you get a lot more grip and less chance of your foot sliding off the pedal.

How do actually I clip in?

There are 3 things you need to clip-in:

  • A 3-bolt (road) or 2-bolt (mountain, spin cycling, gravel, urban) cycling shoe.
  • Pedals
  • Cleats (these will come with pedals when you buy them brand new)

Doesn't matter what type of clip-in system you have, the process is the same:

  1. slide the front of the cleat until you feel a stop.
  2. Push down and the back of the cleat will lock in.
  3. Twist your ankle to release.
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