Question about set up for my first metric century

[Jaunty_Joe]

I hope this is the right forum! I've got 3 weeks to train for a metric century, currently ride 50-80 miles / week (Started ramping that up). I am going to step up to my first clipless setup; unfortunately my budget is very tight. I'm thinking about Shimano M520L and Pearl Izumi All-road MTB Shoes. What do you guys think?

FWIW: I'm riding a 2007 Norco CCX, and want something I can unclip and walk around with as well (running my bike up stairs on the trails, walking around the house / office etc...), without the cleats contacting the ground.

[Damitletsride!]

Hey,

If you only have three weeks left then I'd advise backing off the mileage with about ten days to go. You could take it as close as seven, but then there's more of risk you might not recover in time. After that you really just need to do a bunch of shorter rides with a few hard efforts.

About the shoes and pedals, the best shoes for you are the ones that fit best. I have the XC race style shoes and have walked/hiked/ran for 20km straight with them during Iron Bike, they are fine, a more walking style bike shoe would make the biking slightly less efficient, in my opinion. I've never been a fan of Shimano pedals but I know some riders swear by them.

Good luck.

[phsycle]

All of my roadies are set up with Shimano 540 or XT pedals. I find any MTB easy to walk around in. If you're talking extended hikes in the shoes, maybe something softsoled would be better, but then you lose some stiffness and potential hotspots. I ride Specialized MTB shoes (Expert) and never had issues walking around or the semi-frequent hike-a-bikes.