Difference Between Road Bike And Mountain Bike Cleats

Just for some background back when i started riding a proper road bike a 12 speed just shy of 30 years ago i had toe clips and straps. The bike is irrelevant its the conditions that matter. The cleats used on mountain shoes are depressed below the treads of the sole hiding them from contact with the ground.

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As such road specific pedals can choose materials and control the contact patch better allowing a much smoother float and often more float than mountain bike systems.

Difference between road bike and mountain bike cleats. Like road shoes mountain shoes employ various cleats depending on the pedal system on the bike. Mountain shoes clip onto more than one side of the pedal for easier remounting while trail riding. There is no real advantage ergonomically speaking between road and mountain bike pedal systems. Road cleats on a mtb off road are less fun.

The pedals were two sided one side was a bear claw and the other side had the spd interface. Mountain bike racing shoes are slightly more flexible at the toe to allow for walking but this is not an area in the shoe that affects power transmission. Mountain bike pedals use the shoe tread as the contact point while road pedals use a specialized cleat as the contact point. Maybe it might not seem important but actually the surface of the contact area is the one that generates the differences between the two pedals.

They have poor grip so if you have to put a foot down for any reason that foot may skate away over rocks or catch in vegetation or generally not help you. Road cleats on a mtb on the road are totally fine. While mountain bike pedals go with very small cleats which are easier to unlock from the pedal road bike pedals go with larger ones that increase the contact surface between the sole and pedal. I rode that until i got my first mountain bike in 1999 and moved to spd pedals and cleats.