Originally Posted by
Jrasero
It seems like your still in the denial phase of cycling. No I don't need spandex, no I don't race fit tops, no I don't need cycling shoes. Technically no you don't need them, but if you want to take your performance up a notch and become more efficient than yeah clipless pedals and shoes makes a lot of sense and frankly are a pretty good investment as long as your feet aren't growing anymore since you can move your pedals from bike to bike and biking shoes really don't ware out like walking shoes do, so you could in theory have cycling shoes for years upon year and just need to changeout your cleats.
Some of us do some pretty serious long-distance riding staying in that "denial phase."
I've ridden tens of thousands of miles in flat-soled New Balance sneakers as they best fit my terrible feet. I rode 178 miles that way in the last 3 days. I made the mistake of buying cycling specific shoes once, and they were awful for my feet (5 10s, btw). Telling other people what they need in footwear is ridiculous. People's feet vary way too much to identify a "normal".