Did you know there are many types of cleats for road bikes?
Generally talking, there are many cycling types, the same goes for the cleats, they are divided into many types. If you’re here, it means that you want to learn about bike cleats, specifically road bike cleat types. We will talk in this article about the types of road cycling cleats, and whether all road bike cleats are the same.
So, let us get into it.
Types of road bike cleats: are all road bike cleats the same?
As a cyclist, you should know that there are a lot of biking types. We are targeting road biking in this article, namely, we are talking about what cleats should you attach to your cycling shoes while road biking.
Normally, in road biking, we should use either SPD or SPD SL cleats.
- SPD stands for Shimano Pedaling Dynamics, it has two holes and it is called two-bolt cleats.
- SPD SL stands for Shimano Pedaling Dynamics SuperLight, it has three holes and is called tree bolt cleats, they are made of plastic to keep their weight down.
This subject is already explained in a detailed manner on our website, you can take a look if you want more information about it. (Cycling cleats types)
Now, that we know what cleats we should be using in road biking, in the following paragraph we will talk about clipless pedals for road bikers.
Types of clipless pedals for road bikes: let us discover them up.
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What are clipless pedals?
Including SPD pedals, they are a special system of cleats that attach the shoes and the pedals strongly, they provide a good foot to pedal connection.
There is also another choice in clipless pedals, if you do not want to use a cycling shoe, you can attach a toe cage to your clipless pedals and do your riding securely and without any worries.
We may ask ourselves why their name is “clipless”, the thing that we will discover right now.
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Why these cleats are called “clipless”?
The answer is very easy, these cleats are called clipless because you can use them without the need to attach your shoes to the pedals, and without the obligation of having cycling shoes since you can attach the toe cage to them and have fun then.
The video bellow will make it more clear for you.
Do you need cleats for the road bike? Let us reveal this secret.
Normally, in road biking, you do not need any cleats. However, if you are planning on being a professional cyclist, we advise you to have your cleats, you will have more control over the pedals, in addition to having a better experience and fully enjoying it.
In this stage, we are answering your frequently asked questions.
Are all road bike cleats the same?
No, they are not the same because you can use the SPD cleats, and you can also have a clipless pedal with toe cage.
Do you need cleats for the road bike?
No, you do not need cleats if you are road biking.
Conclusion
As a summary, this article provides information about road bike cleats, what type of clipless pedals for road bikes we should have, and do you need cleats for road bikes. Moreover, you can find links for more readings, the more you read about this the more you learn from others’ experiences.
