Cycling shoes

[Jester]

Not the weightiest subject matter for this forum, I admit, but I am in the market for new cycling shoes, and I'll admit that I don't know much about them, having only ever owned one pair, which recently failed....epically.

Any cyclists in here are knowledgable about such things, I could certainly use your help and guidance as I search for a new pair that is both right for me and somewhat within my budget.

[BlaqueKatt]

Any cyclists in here are knowledgable about such things, I could certainly use your help and guidance as I search for a new pair that is both right for me and somewhat within my budget.

What type of cleats/pedals are you using?
What are your most important features* to have?
Main usage?
Road/mountain/hybrid bike?
Budget?
(I'm down to two bikes, from my high of six, I currently own two pair of cycling shoes**, but have destroyed many more due to my previous biking over 200 miles per week)

*walkabilty, lacing style, weight
**current shoes are $120 bontrager road shoes and $30(on clearance) Shimano sandals, I really wanted the Keens but couldn't pass up $30 vs. $90 shoes.

a good place to pick up inexpensive styles is Nashbar I've purchased both shoes and other accessories from them including a $100 racing saddle for $20 because it was listed as "brand name" and rebadged as nashbar(manufactured by Velo)

[crazylegs]

Any cyclists in here are knowledgable about such things, I could certainly use your help and guidance as I search for a new pair that is both right for me and somewhat within my budget.

It would be helpful to know what you use your bike for (commuting, road racing etc) and what your budget is...

[Jester]

Okay, some more info.

I have three bikes:m
--Betsy, a Giant mountain bike for commuting, which has regular pedals and for which I don't need shoes.
--Amanda, a Softride Norwester road bike, for road riding, organized rides, and perhaps one day racing.
--Rebecca, a Giant OCR3 road bike, for the same usage as the Softride.

Both Amanda and Rebecca have the same kind of pedal, so I'll only need one kind of shoe. And I'm pretty sure I can get any shoe with removable cleats, as I have the cleats from the old shoes and new cleats that came with the new pedals I had installed on Rebecca. The new pedals, by the way, are Shimano SPD M-520 pedals, if that helps y'all. According to the guy at the bike shop, those go with SPD cleats, or cleats of that style.

As for style, the pedals are dual-sided mountain biking pedals, as I can't be bothered with the one-sided road biking pedals, and I'm not a purist, as I think I said. And mountain biking shoes seem to be more flexible and breathable, so I'll continue the blasphemy by getting those for my road bikes.

I prefer Velcro straps to laces, as I hate getting laces caught in the cranks, and Velcro worked for the old shoes really well. And since I live in Florida and plan on moving backing to Arizona, they need to be shoes that are good for warm weather biking, as the vast majority of my biking will fall under that category. After all, I avoid cold like goths avoid the sun. I don't really care if they're good for walking in, as I'll only be walking to and from the bike in them, not working in them or anything.

As for budget, I'd like to keep it below $70, if possible, or below $100 at the worst.

What else do y'all need to know?

[Jester]

Photo of the SPD pedal...

[wolfie]

--Betsy, a Giant mountain bike for commuting, which has regular pedals and for which I don't need shoes.

Please reconsider - riding barefoot is dangerous.

[Jester]

Dork. You know that I meant I don't need cycling shoes for my commuter. Just sneakers or sandals are just fine. And it's not the danger factor that would keep me from riding barefoot, it's that those pedals are spikey, and hurt the bare feet! (Unless that's the danger you were referring to....)

[bbbr]

nashbar.com has a fairly good selection of shoes that fit the bill- spd compatible (2 bolt with actual tread), velcro and don't cost a fortune.

My own favorites are Pearl Izumi Selects as they run true to size and meet the same requirements. Unfortunately they've been discontinued, just they did to my prior favorite cycling shoe. Those one came with steel toe studs and I used em' more to spray sparks down the road than actually climb hills off the bike.

[BlaqueKatt]

And I'm pretty sure I can get any shoe with removable cleats, as I have the cleats from the old shoes and new cleats that came with the new pedals I had installed on Rebecca.

NOOOO, *some* are universal, many are cleat specific, 2 bolt for SPD, 3 bolt in a triangle configuration for SPD-SL, unfortunately most of the road bike shoes on nashbar within your budget are 3 bolt, and the 2 bolt (generally for mountain biking) are more rugged and have less ventilation than road bike shoes. That being said these three fit your budget, are 2 bolt compatible, aren't lace ups, have adequate ventilation(also good reviews), and are walkable, even though it wasn't in your list of requirements, it's a good thing.(i've fallen on my ass walking the three feet from where I locked up my bike into my job because road shoes have no traction and you end up walking on just the metal cleat)

style one-a sandal-these are similar to the keen sandals I really wanted as mentioned in my previous post, my Shimanos *don't* have a toe guard like these.

style two-basic sneaker style, not much else to say.

Style three-a mix of sneaker and road bike shoe, with sneaker material and road shoe styling.


If I were looking at these three I would go for the sandals, but that's just me because I hate having to change out of sweaty cycling socks to have dry socks to wear at work.

[Jester]

Thanks for the recommendations. I would never go for the sandal myself, but then, I would never be taking my cycling shoes (or either of my road bikes) to work. That is what the mountain bike commuter (with normal pedals) is for.

It's been my experience, at least from the shopping I've done online and in some mainland bicycle stores, that mountain biking shoes are more breathable than road bike shoes, not less. Or at least that's the appearance they've given me.

[BlaqueKatt]

It's been my experience, at least from the shopping I've done online and in some mainland bicycle stores, that mountain biking shoes are more breathable than road bike shoes, not less. Or at least that's the appearance they've given me.

depends on what you mean by "breathable", *most* road shoes are ventilated(seriously my road shoes are mesh except for the heel cup), while mountain shoes are usually rugged leather. It's like running shoes vs. hiking boots. due to the nature of the sport. Road biking is focused on speed and power transfer(high speed=sweat), while mountain biking is more on trails etc. that may or may not be mud covered and you don't want puddle soaked socks(plus numerous mountain bikers use the bike to get to hiking trails around here at least, and don't change shoes to hike).

[Jester]

I do understand the difference between road and mountain biking. I have two road bikes, and those are what I use for recreation. While I do have a mountain bike, it is my commuter, for many reasons, one being that there is no such thing as off-road down here. Unless, of course, you're on a jet ski.

That being said, while I engage in road biking, I use mountain biking shoes, as I prefer the double sidedness of the, which allow me to lock in from either side, rather than hunting for the one side that locks in. Because of my pedals, I am seeking mountain biking shoes. I prefer somewhat breathable mountain biking shoes, but due to my preference for dual sided pedals and the fact that both of my road bikes have mountain biking pedals, I am looking for mountain biking shoes. As breathable as they can be, but still mountain biking shoes. However great road biking shoes may be, I am not in the market for them.

Period.

Back to shopping.....

[Jester]

Update: I finally got the shoes delivered yesterday!

After much shopping and deliberating, and a couple of emails to the company selling these shoes to inquire both about the shoes and the sizing (since they all seemed to be sized by the European scale, which is foreign to me, knowing only the American sizing scale), I finally settled on these shoes.

Of course, there was a bit of a delay, because dopey me, I hadn't bothered to check my email in a while, so when I called the company to ask what was taking so long on the delivery, they informed me that they had emailed me three times to clear up a discrepancy in my order. What was that discrepancy? Well, I had stupidly listed my work address as not only the place for the shoes to be delivered, but as the billing address for my credit card, which it most certainly is not. Had I checked my email sooner, I would have known this a while ago.

So we cleared that all up this past Wednesday, and they got the shoes right out to me. Of course, now that it is Fantasy Fest here in Key West, it's gonna be at least another week or so before I can make use of them. C'est la vie!