Difference Between Road Bike Shoes And Mountain Bike Shoes

It depends on what mountain bike shoe.

Difference between road bike shoes and mountain bike shoes. Here is an answer geared towards the high dollar persnickety end of the gear spectrum. Cheaper shoes or fashion oriented shoes might even have laces which take a long time to tie and untie. What it really comes down to is that road shoes are designed for comfort and performance while tri shoes are designed for quick transitions and sockless comfort. 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.

At the higher end both will offer stiff soles for excellent power transfer. The advantages of mtn shoes are many walking not having multiple shoes etc. Road shoes optimize going straight as efficiently as possible and thus tend towards being stiff light and aerodynam. Road shoes are designed for road cycling with a different purpose as road cycling and mountain biking are two completely different sports.

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. 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. One thing people forget to mention is the use of a top of the line mtn shoe on your road bike.