# What is this? And do I need it?



## FDokinawa (Jul 31, 2011)

Was hoping someone could help me. I bought a new pair of Shimano SH-R087G's a couple weeks ago and I noticed the following picture on the paperwork that came with it.

View attachment 283594


I'm wondering what the circled part is. Nothing like that came with my shoes, and I recently bought a new set of SPD Shimano cleats and they didn't have anything like that. 

My shoes for the last couple of years were ones I could walk around on. Probably MTB shoes..  I got them for free so I rocked them for a while. Well I've decided to upgrade to real road bike shoes. 

I decided to stick with the SPD cleats over the SL's, mostly because I've read that it's easier to get in and out of SPD's. 

Not trying to get into a discussion about cleats though, just want to know what that part is, and what it's supposed to do? I did notice it's a lot harder to find the cleats on my new shoes over my old ones.. and was hoping something like that would help out. 

Thanks in advance for any help or information.

Bret


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## tihsepa (Nov 27, 2008)

Thats an adapter to run a spd cleat on a 3 hole road shoe.


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## tihsepa (Nov 27, 2008)

Sidi SPD Adapter Plates | Sidi | Brand | www.PricePoint.com


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## Cyclin Dan (Sep 24, 2011)

FDokinawa said:


> Was hoping someone could help me. I bought a new pair of Shimano SH-R087G's a couple weeks ago and I noticed the following picture on the paperwork that came with it.
> 
> View attachment 283594
> 
> ...


I'm pretty sure it's an adapter plate for shoes that don't have the two mounting points close together, but only have the 3 as shown in the picture on the left. My shoes only have the 3 mounting points and would need an adapter to run those cleats.


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## FDokinawa (Jul 31, 2011)

Thank you! =)


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## Ledipus (Apr 17, 2007)

It's actually not exactly an adapter plate as the SPD cleats will mount to the shoe without the plate. It does to under SPD cleat and provides side supports for the cleats so that they are more stable on the pedal. On a true MTB shoe the sole actually sits on the SPD pedal and stops hp the cleat from rocking side to side. This plate mimics the sole of an SPD specific shoe in the two areas that contact the pedal.

If you want more information it is the SH-40 adapter, or sometimes called the pontoon adapter (due to the boat looking shape of the previous version). I would say yes you need it.


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