Man of Honour
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They do sound good but they're SPD-SL shoes right?
Road Cycling
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They do sound good but they're SPD-SL shoes right?
think I'll pick another pair of shimanos and be done with it, hard to justify 150+ for a pair of shoes for commuting in all weathers
That's my general consensus too, but then again my £45 Shimano X30's have probably done 3000 miles so far... They're nowhere near 'worn out' and although some parts are well scuffed I'm expecting them to out last my use of SPD's...
A Touring shoe I would expect to be made for comfort and durability, probably very flexible whereas a racing shoe more stiff... Although all of that is really down to Shimano's designers!
Agree, my problems came from my feet, not my shoes/pedals!
I've got it in my mind about SPD-SL being stiffer and 'solving my problems'. In reality if I'm buying some stiff new shoes I have more choice by going SPD-SL (within my budget) as well as several different float options I can try if I wish just by changing cleats.
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Man of Honour
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Exactly. Hence not recommending a touring shoe if you're wanting a more road-like feel 
Yeah, unsure if they do a SPD version.
Arrrrrr didn't realise it was meant to prevent hair loss. I do have a thin patch developing
Well I had planned on going for a ride yesterday. What a complete washout, I didn't bother in the end.
I have spds on my not very good bike and my single speed, and spd-sls on my decent bike. I like both, but where I find the spds are miles better is in stop start traffic or on journeys with lots of junctions, because getting into chunky single sided sl pedals just isn't as easy, for me at least. And God save you if you're doing a hill start on single sided pedals. On m520s or similar you can just wave your foot at the pedal and you're in, but on single sided sls it's just ridiculous trying to get your foot in while you're in some stupidly low gear doing 4mph and trying to keep your balance.
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^ I couldn't commute fixed gear with single sided pedals. It was just too dangerous for stop-starting at major roundabouts etc where you absolutely rely on the second half of your pedal stroke. With toeclips you can simply push down and pedal regardless, with SPDs you'd locate and clip in, but with single-sided there's nowhere to make the pedal stroke if the pedal is upside down and most of the time I'd slip off the pedal. They are fine if you don't need to pull away quickly, but I found them lethal for commuting with a lot of stop-start.
I'm torn on SPD-SL - I do seem to prefer them for cycling... having had them a few days I can now get into them without issue/without having to look... but if I couldn't I wouldn't want to wear them at all. Until you get the technique down for the 2nd foot... awful. I had to jump off and pull my bike onto the pavement to let people in cars behind me get through lights a couple of times the first day. Very embarrassing.
There's no grip at all with a smooth/stiff soled road shoe on the wrong side of the pedal.
I've found if you just kinda poke the nose of your shoe into the pedal as it goes up and over the top of the stroke it nicely rotates the pedal to the correct orientation, then when you press down you're clipped in. I don't even need to look or anything but haven't tested it on a hill start scenario. That could be interesting.
I do find it easier to pedal with the arguably larger platform - and I don't get hotspots on my feet like I did with my MTB shoe with SPDs... maybe if I had a properly stiff-soled shoe I wouldn't have had that problem. Walking in them is stupid, though. I may go back to SPDs... don't know yet.
There's no grip at all with a smooth/stiff soled road shoe on the wrong side of the pedal.
I've found if you just kinda poke the nose of your shoe into the pedal as it goes up and over the top of the stroke it nicely rotates the pedal to the correct orientation, then when you press down you're clipped in. I don't even need to look or anything but haven't tested it on a hill start scenario. That could be interesting.
I do find it easier to pedal with the arguably larger platform - and I don't get hotspots on my feet like I did with my MTB shoe with SPDs... maybe if I had a properly stiff-soled shoe I wouldn't have had that problem. Walking in them is stupid, though. I may go back to SPDs... don't know yet.
I ride with single sided Shimano A600 SPD pedals with Sidi shoes and dont have a problem with them, admittedly the backside of the pedals are scratched to hell from the metal cleats but hill starts etc aren't a problem and its easy enough to pedal with the pedals the wrong way up to get enough speed up to then clip in
Man of Honour
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I think this is the main thing that some people overlook. Obviously it's hard to test it thoroughly without laying down some money but there's a world of difference between my battered old cheapo Shimano shoes and my Sidi Dragons.
I also wonder if the type of pedal I was using would have made any difference. I was just using the cheapest ones (m520) pedals. I don't know if any other spd pedals would give more of a platform... but it's probably just the sole of the shoe that's the platform, anyway, thinking about it
I'm equally happy in both/either, I think. Perhaps I should have bought shoes that allow the fitting of both SPD/SPD-SL style cleats, but... I didn't.
My Morrisons (Mavic) shoes and Look pedals seem perfect for now... so I'm gonna stick with that unless I find a reason not to.
Fortunately there's only 2 sets of traffic lights on my commute to work, should I choose to do that, and even then that's only if I choose to go a certain way. I guess I'll find out on thursday.
Thursday is this, btw:
https://www.cycletoworkday.org/
Wow I'm struggling with my new diet.
I saw a nutritionist/coach last week, just a 30min consultation. I knew I was under eating a little, but I don't think I appreciated by quite so much. So, I've been ordered to drink an extra 4 protein shakes (6 a day in total). Along with, an extra 200g of pasta/rice, or 250g potato after my two main meals.
I also have to eat two tablespoons of peanut butter, after each mean, I hate peanut butter so much! Oh, and 7.5g of BCAA each morning!
It's certainly going to take some time to get used to. Literally feel like I'm going to explode....
I saw a nutritionist/coach last week, just a 30min consultation. I knew I was under eating a little, but I don't think I appreciated by quite so much. So, I've been ordered to drink an extra 4 protein shakes (6 a day in total). Along with, an extra 200g of pasta/rice, or 250g potato after my two main meals.
I also have to eat two tablespoons of peanut butter, after each mean, I hate peanut butter so much! Oh, and 7.5g of BCAA each morning!
It's certainly going to take some time to get used to. Literally feel like I'm going to explode....
Man of Honour
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What the hell.... 6 protein shakes a day? I have serious doubts about your coach/whatever person.
You'll likely get better (i.e. non-ridiculous) advice by posting in the Gym Rats forum.
Do you track your current intake and kcal burn from exercise accurately?
You'll likely get better (i.e. non-ridiculous) advice by posting in the Gym Rats forum.
Do you track your current intake and kcal burn from exercise accurately?
4 single-scoop shakes, 500g sweet potato and 2tbsp PB is about 1000 calories. That's a hell of an increase. If you do actually need to increase your calorie intake that much (which is doubtful tbh), then do it slowly - don't just start eating an extra thousand calories from day one.
Man of Honour
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Also, there's no way in hell that you need 150g of protein from shakes alone (presumably well over 200g once you finish eating everything else).
@uv - that's 2 tablespoons of PB *per meal* too
@uv - that's 2 tablespoons of PB *per meal* too
I'll be cycling anyway so pledged my miles... 25% discount for British Cycling membership too which I really should do! Any other discounts I can use or only 1 at a time?
That sounds a bit 'meh'!
I know you kinda mentioned this before mate so it's not a total shock to you.
Although I'm pretty sure just increasing protein shake intake to a high level isn't that good for you!? Wouldn't more proteins from meats/pasta/potatoes be a better more balanced (and loads cheaper) option?! There's plenty of other things you could eat instead of peanut butter lol!
Wouldn't increasing your main portions be a better way, making sure you ate a good breakfast and 2 'main' meals a day? As mentioned the Gym Rats thread is probably best for advice.
Blimey, that's a huge increase, but janp looking at you, you definitely don't eat enough, but can't imagine that extra increase is needed, as you're not exactly a big guy.
Man of Honour
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Depending on the level of activity and the fact that he needs to gain some weight (I'm assuming) then a 1000 kcal increase is possibly feasible. My issue is more with the macro balance and duff diet advice. It sounds quite gym-bro to me and as Roady mentioned, increasing portion sizes and (more importantly) food choice will enable him to eat extra kcal without feeling like he's going to explode or taking in a needlessly ridiculously high amount of protein per day.
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