Road Bike Shoes Vs Mountain Bike Shoes

Compared with road shoes clipless mountain shoes have grippy lugs and are built exclusively to accept two bolt cleats.

Road bike shoes vs mountain bike shoes. The reason for such soles is because mountain biking includes periodically dismounting from the bike and walking or running on rugged terrain. Road shoes optimize going straight as efficiently as possible and thus tend towards being stiff light and aerodynam. I started cycling six years ago on a mountain bike but now love road riding however i ve kept my off road shoes pedals. 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.

It depends on what mountain bike shoe. Road shoes are designed for road cycling with a different purpose as road cycling and mountain biking are two completely different sports. Here is an answer geared towards the high dollar persnickety end of the gear spectrum. In road cycling your body remains in the same position for a long time but in mountain biking you use the movement of your entire body to control the bike on rough terrain.

Walkability is the big advantage of mountain bike shoes they have a recessed cleat that doesn t touch the ground and cause embarrassing clip clop noises or slips. Mountain biking shoes are generally much beefier than road shoes and include a rugged somewhat flexible sole that looks a bit like the sole of a hiking boot.