Mountain / XC / Cross shoes for the road
 

Hi all

I have a pair of road-oriented clip shoes and looking for a pair with good off-bike walkability and casual style. I'm going to be doing some events like the NYC 5-boro ride and want to have good power on the bike but not need to bring another pair of shoes to walk around / ride mass transit after. I have eggbeaters on my roadbike so I do need something with a reasonably stiff sole for power transfer to the little pedal. The Specialized 2FO Roost look nice and well priced. The Crankbothers mallet do too. I like that both look "street" not "bike". FWIW the ~40mi 5-boro tour is on the long side for me, I typically ride ~25mi for pleasure, not competition. Live on the shore of CT. Since my road shoes are very well ventilated I don't mind if this pair is a bit more shoulder season friendly.

https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/sh...t-clip-review/
https://www.crankbrothers.com/collec...c2b525ee&_ss=c

I've honestly never had a pair of recessed cleat shoes that were good for actually walking around in; yeah, they're a lot better than a traditional 3-bolt road shoe to walk in, but that's not saying they're what you'd want to wear to walk a few blocks to the store or do a day at the museum in. Therefore, if you really want to walk around, I'd suggest looking at platform pedals or cage pedals w/ toeclips, and find a shoe for those.

The problem with recessed cleats is that the metal cleat is only like a millimeter of the floor, and either is constantly making some contact with floor at some point as you roll through your step, or it's grinding on irregularities on the ground, crunching on tiny rocks and various detritus, which I find very annoying.

That said, The Pros' Closet has crazy-low closeout prices on Mavic shoes, so getting something like an XA model for $30 is probably as painless as trying out a recessed cleat shoe can be.

I have XC shoes with cleats, but if I am planning to walk more than about 12 ft., I bring a pair of sandals to change into.

I wear MTB shoes with all my bikes and while I can walk in them, it's certainly no joy.

I now use spd pedals on all of my bikes. Two pairs of shoes I really like are both Giro, Republic and Berm. The Republic is a standard lace up shoe, the Berm uses velcro straps. The spd's just all around work better for me as I get off the bike, more steps, than I used to. Never had a problem walking in them, but that is almost always short distances. I think the farthest walk with spd's was 2.5 miles, after a blow out. I had no issues with that.

The other real plus is the durability of the cleats. They take a long time, a lot of miles and steps, before they need replaced. One pair of Republics I have had for maybe 10 years and at least 20,000 miles, I replaced the cleats once.

Appreciate all the feedback guys. I'm familiar with the kind-of-okay walk in MTB shoes. I have an old pair that are "soccer cleat" style and wondered if the more "skateboard" style shoes with full street style rubber soles would be an improvement. Understood they're not for a day walking on the museum parquet floor.

Thanks too for the tip at Pro's Closet - lotsa insane deals (for those with size 7 feet...)

This ^^^^^

Mtb clip shoes are a little better than road shoes for bathroom breaks but I would not want to have to walk home in them if I got a flat tire.

I recommend flat bottom 510 Pro shoes or something like that and big pedals that are least 100mm by 100mm.

I'm not saying walking in mtb shoes is the most comfortable thing in the world but we do it all the time and it is fine people are over playing this. On flatish ground they aren't a problem at all, pushing up super steep trails is bit annoying since they are so stiff your heel tries to pull out but still doable. I've had race shoes and currently use 510 kestrels and the ones that suck are the race shoes and not because of stiffness, the 510s are stiff as hell too. The problem was more the tread pad on the heel is so small they were more like a low profile high heel shoe and unstable, easy to twist an ankle on rough ground. If I can hike and bike around in the woods I don't think walking a bit to a subway would be a problem.

Wear whatever you are comfortable with. Plenty of people ride road bikes with MTB pedals and shoes. Some brands also make "touring" shoes which have recessed cleats but no studs/lugs on the sole like your typical MTB shoe.

I wear an older pair of lace up Specialized that have a similar tread pattern to the Recon line. They are just fine for walking around, driving... whatever. I often put them on at home... The cleats are completely recessed and don't touch the ground - and they last a long time.

I hate road shoes and only wear them because I have an older set of power meter pedals that I got for free - if not, SPD's would be on all of my bikes. All of my future bikes will have crank based power meters and SPD's...

I almost wrecked yesterday - had to stop fast at a light, put my foot down just a bit too early and my road shoe skidded over the tarmac - that could have been a full split, groin tearing, wreck... I just don't like road shoes.

Took a chance on a well priced pair of Specialized Recon 1.0, Hi-Viz color (always appreciated).

I put my eggbeater cleats on, using the spacer for one and no spacer for the other. To my great joy and surprise, the no-spacer cleat is exactly as easy to get in and out of as the spacer. And sits above the bottom on the cleats. I set both sides up this way and went out for a ride = all good. I am pretty happy with this as it ought to mean long life for the known-fragile eggbeater cleats and makes walking pretty darn close to street level comfort.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7a187cdb91.jpg

One more option for a two bolt cleat is the Adidas Velosamba. I have two pairs with SPD and have done 25 miles in them, no issues. Not bad for walking a block or two, the slight scraping would probably get annoying after that.

I’ll be doing the 5Boro in Looks, but I can ride to the start and ride home once I get off the ferry. Wouldn’t want to duck walk through Grand Central with those cleats!

I use Time ATAC pedals on all but 1 of my bikes and use Shimano XC-7 shoes. Very stiff and very comfortable for me, easy to walk it. The bottoms are very grippy, so will not slip on slick floors.