going to buy clipless pedals for the first time have a few questions maybe you can help out with.<br />1.I would like to buy tri shoes,1 I feel I should train in what I&#039;ll race in,2 cheaper than buying 2 pairs of shoes. My question is r tri shoes good to train in? Just curious <br />cause if 1 or 2 straps can give u a good fit, why do road shoes have 3 and or that ratchet thingy?<br /><br />2.Any suggestions on my first shoe/pedal combo?(&lt;$300)<br /><br />thanks again

For pedals I recommend Look Keo Sprint, same design as their top of the line pedal with only a few extra grams becasue its not carbon ($150). I have these pedals on my specialized and cervelo.<br /><br />For shoes look around online and try to find closeouts in your size. My friend just got a $300 cannondale shoe for $75. If you dont want to buy shoes online go to sunrise tri they have a large selection. A descent shoe in the store will cost you between 125 and 175, just dont be too attached to having a carbon plate.

I have both. I train in road shoes and race in tri shoes. Do you need both, no. If you&#039;re only going to get one, get road shoes; they&#039;re more versatile. <br /><br />Tri Shoes:<br />Fewer straps, less material, very VERY well vented (i.e. NOT good in cold weather), have a little pull tab on the back because they&#039;re intended to get on and off very quickly, often while already clipped into the pedals.<br /><br />Road Shoes: Generally speaking, have more straps, clips, knobs and other doo-dads, therefore can be a bit more cumbersome, have more material to them, and, IMO, are more comfortable.<br /><br />I use LOOK pedals with the red cleats (for float). Before you invest in either shoes or pedals, see a bike fitter. You don&#039;t need to spring for a whole fitting, but at least have him check your foot position. If your position needs a pedal with float, it&#039;s better to know that before investing in a pedal with no float.

To answer the question I missed in the thread title I agree with spunkie. Road shoes are more versatile than tri shoes. A road shoe with two or three Velcro straps works well although I prefer those with a ratchet buckle. I bought a pair of road shoes for my first season and then next season bought tri shoes for racing. <br /><br />Fit is also very important. I was able to get down from red cleats (15 degree float) to grey cleats (7.5 degree float) with the help of Frank Totino at Sunrise Tri. The less float, the less &quot;wasted energy&quot; in your pedal rotation.

thanks for to both for your help.<br />stopped in to sunrise tri and dylan was very helpful.<br />maybe to helpful.<br />might be helping me right onto a cervelo p1,how do i go from shopping for shoes to buying a bike?

I&#039;m going to echo the &quot;Road is a better shoe for bicycling, but the Tri is a better shoe for racing&quot; sentiment. However, I&#039;m going to disagree about less float being better. Speedplay pedals address that point, in the sense that in a rotation of your pedals, your foot will naturally change position because of your anatomy (anatomy is a tough thing to fight). So movement isn&#039;t necessarily energy waste, especially if the motion happens naturally. In fact, fighting a natural movement can waste energy. I have Shimano&#039;s currently, but I&#039;m considering Speedplay&#039;s myself.

i also went with one shoe for training and racing.&nbsp; i bought pearl izumi tri road 2&nbsp; with look pedals and the red cleats with some float.&nbsp; <br />these shoes are very &quot;breathable&quot;&nbsp; so this time of the year i use extra sock booty covers and sometimes a heating pad.&nbsp; specialized is supposed to have the best shoe for the money but this time of the year you should be able to get a great deal on non-winter shoes<br /><br />p.s. my only problem is i got in the habit of leaving the shoes on the pedals all the time (very pro like)&nbsp; but i went to change the cleats for a spin class and realized that my screws rusted.&nbsp; so i might have get another pair anyway. <br /><br />check out:<br /><br />brandscycle.com/itemlist.cfm?category=27...p;catalogId=39<br /><br />brandscycle.com/itemlist.cfm?category=29...p;catalogId=39<br />

thanks for all you help,leaning towards keo sprint,and will definitely take spunkie&#039;s advice on getting fitted. tri- thanks for the link but being my first shoe I&#039;m looking to buy from lbs, looking to establish a relationship,plus being that I&#039;m buying a bike I&#039;d hope that they will work with me.if not it&#039;s gonna be a short relationship. :cheers:

If you have to choose one, tri shoes are easier to get in and out of...