I am just about to buy a pair of mountain bike shoes (Specialized womens) and want to know just so what cleats are. Are they the pedal, or are they the part on the shoe? When I buy my shoes, do they by now have the metal holes in them, or do I fit them, etc etc.
Sorry – sounds like a silly question, but I ride on normal pedals now and its about time I graduated!!
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Cleats are the metal part that attaches to the bottom of your cycling shoe and snaps in and out of the clipless pedal. Each type of pedal has a different type of cleat. Most mountain bike shoes use either Shimano SPD or Crank Bros. cleats depending on what type of pedal you are using. The cleats only cost a few bucks and usually come with the pedals. Once you go to clipless pedals, you will by no means go back.
Normally mountain bike-specific shoes will have a spot to attach two-screw cleats, but since cleats differ depending on the brand of pedal, they do not come with cleats.
When you buy pedals, they will come with cleats. Like I said, your mountain bike shoes will doubtless have a spot for two-hole cleats, so make sure you buy pedals with two-hole cleats (many road bike pedals use three holes since they can be larger and don’t have to fit inside a rubber sole like for mountain shoes.)_