What shoes?

nwallace

I'm looking for a pair of shoes...
Ideally they could cover Road Cycling, both "fast" and touring and MTBing.
Also just to be more annoying I don't want to go clipless...

For the MTBing I'd probably stick with knackered trainers for trail centre blasts so really it's for wild stuff including Epics, so is really flat pedaled touring...
My DMR V8s destroy trainer soles of course.

Road and touring bikes I use GR-9s with straps and clips so the upper needs to be strong enough not to be wrecked quickly by the strap friction.

Oh and I have a budget of around 70 quid.

I currently ride in standard trainers for all of the above so I have no problem trading off between the different types of riding I do for whats on my feet, as right now I've got totally the wrong shoes for everything.

Obviously for sizing I need to go to a shop, particularly since my feet are "tiny" and there is a whole UK size difference between left and right. But I could do with an idea of what would be suitable.

Anyone got any suggestions.

Of course I could go nuts and buy 4 sets of pedals, some touring shoes, some road shoes and some MTB shoes, but my net pay is gonig to be cut by £35 quid from next month so I'm trying to avoid spending money as it is.

unixnerd

Get Shimano MTB/touring shoes. You can add cleats to them later if you want to.

When I bought mine I used them as normal shoes for a few months, then added cleats but only used them that way on my tourer. I rode my mtb with normal pedals for a bit then went to clip-in pedals on it too. Can't imaging not using SPD pedals now, but I was very nervous of them until I got some.

Nice thing about those shoes is that they have a solid sole and that makes them far superior to trainers.

nwallace

Any particular model to look at?

My problem with cleats is likely to be the angles my feet sit at, think Duck.

nwallace

Hm.. Small nightmare.

4 bikes

1x Hardtail (Obviously SPDs)
1x 26" Tourer (Obviously SPDs)
1x 700c Road Bike (Seemingly obviously SPD-SL or Look)
1x 700c Commuter/Road Bike (Um...)

Spotted today that you get road shoes that take SPD and SPD-SL is there anything massivley against this as a starting point?

What I don't want to be doing is changing pedals on the bike where I will be walking into the office (about 5 minutes from my bike box (it's a BIG Hospital)) or will be doing long days in the saddle...
I suppose one option is to go for road cleats and then keep a pair of cheap nasty shoes in the box for the walk.

unixnerd

You want SPDs for the commuter. Far easier to clip into. Also be aware that by law you need reflectors on your pedals, that's why new SPDs are sold with plastic inserts that have reflectors. It's not legal to run SPD-SLs in the UK, but as I only use my road bike in daylight it's a moot point(?). I run the commuter at night a lot, so SPDs.

nwallace

unixnerd wrote:

You want SPDs for the commuter. Far easier to clip into. Also be aware that by law you need reflectors on your pedals, that's why new SPDs are sold with plastic inserts that have reflectors. It's not legal to run SPD-SLs in the UK, but as I only use my road bike in daylight it's a moot point(?). I run the commuter at night a lot, so SPDs.

Yeah I'm aware of the legal issues with running a bike during Lighting up time (30 minutes after sunset and 30 minutes before sunrise).

Looks like I'm going to end up with as many styles of shoe as bike!

unixnerd

If you put Shimano A520s on the road bike they look pretty good and you can still use SPD shoes, I did this for about 18 months until I bought road shoes.

nwallace

Aye had spotted them, muckle big MTB shoes might look odd on them on a sportive though; at least the road sportive is the day before the MTB Marathon.
(Selkirk)

Thanks, I think I have a good idea of what I'm gonig to do now... Bet I change my mind!

unixnerd

They may look odd but I find my SPD shoes much more comfortable as they have more padding. Also, road shoes have mesh uppers to keep your feet cool, perfect for the Highlands (not). They let water and cold winds in wonderfully.

nwallace

unixnerd wrote:

They may look odd but I find my SPD shoes much more comfortable as they have more padding. Also, road shoes have mesh uppers to keep your feet cool, perfect for the Highlands (not). They let water and cold winds in wonderfully.

Ha Ha of course, I'm in the realtivley dry NE Fife, just got the odd Sandstorm to dea l with. (The soil is mostly sand, add in an unhindered North Sea gale and there's a free for all on filling sand pits for the local kids.)