Branko D

When not hiking in nature, you won't see people wearing hiking boots when walking in cities.
​​​​​All the hikers I know have normal shoes which they wear when not hiking in nature.
​​​​​

wolfchild

I don't know what country you live in, but here in Canada I see plenty of people using hiking shoes or boots as their daily casual footwear.

Yan 

Because when you're walking 45 seconds between your car and your house, walking five minutes to the corner store, walking 10 feet between your desk and the water cooler, you don't need excellent walking shoes that are designed for walking many hours. You can wear whatever fashion shoes, dress shoes, slippers, loafers, stilettos, etc you desire in an urban setting. You are pampered by civilization.

Maelochs

LOL ..... unclear on the concept of "Bike Forums."

So if not for that, why did you join BF?

Kapusta

The hiking boots/ shoes you see people walking around in are not nearly as stiff soled as clipless shoes that are worth bothering with.

livedarklions

You know they make walking shoes that are a lot better suited to long walks on pavement than hiking shoes, right? Call me pampered, but I don't dress like a mountain climber to go up stairs either.

livedarklions

In August? Bleccch!

Yan 

In this day and age of modern first world America, the only people who take long walks on pavement are the homeless.

Even tourists here in NYC don't take long walks. They take the open top double decker buses. Jump off for 30 seconds to snap a photo, get right back on. The country is getting fatter everyday.

Yan 

Apparently you lack experience in both clipless shoes and hiking shoes. Because your statements about both are wrong, in the same sentence. Quite an achievement.

Here's a photo I just took of one of my pairs of cycling shoes. Shimano ME3. These shoes are nothing special, just some totally bland, inexpensive mountain bike shoes that I bought for commuting. This particular model of shoe is very popular and people like them. It has 4.3 stars in REI reviews, which is why I bought them. Notice how flexible the toe area is. That's almost my total toe flexibility. I use Time ATAC pedals and the shoes are great. No hot spots when I wear them on full day rides.

I just pulled some very expensive Salomon hiking boots out of my closet to compare. The hiking boots are stiffer. FYI boots go all the way up in stiffness depending on what terrain they are designed for. I have a pair of La Sportiva mountaineering boots that have a steel bar in the sole to prevent any bending at all. My longest walk in them is over 60 miles on a multi-day trip.

So no, clipless shoes are not always stiffer than walking shoes. There are soft walking shoes and stiff walking shoes. Just as there are soft clipless shoes and stiff clipless shoes. You determine what kind of use scenario and terrain you have, and then you get the correct type of hiking/clipless shoes. Are you a race cyclist or a bike tourist? There are good clipless shoes for every user. You have multiple pairs of hiking boots depending on what kind of terrain you will be walking on (at least I do, maybe you don't), just as you have multiple pairs of clipless shoes depending on which bike you're riding.

Seriously is everyone around here living the monk life or what? Or am I just a totally corrupted consumerist? Yes, I know there are people in Afriae living on $1 a day. I'm sorry.

https://www.rei.com/product/141419/s...ike-shoes-mens

Branko D

Boom, obesity epidemic. Walking is alive and well in most European cities which are even remotely walkable (which is most of them). I don't see people doing it in hiking boots, that'd be ridiculous. There are different shoes with different purposes and shoes which match different clothes aesthetically because style is a thing.

I mean, I understand that if you're going on a bike tour and you want to be clipped in and you don't want to bring any extra shoes, a touring type shoe with MTB cleats makes sense. For people who have other use scenarios, it just doesn't. When commuting being clipped in offers no objective benefit, and the disadvantage is that you're stuck with some sort of bike shoes, which aren't as nice to walk in, and might not go with the rest of your outfit. On the other hand, for people who're going to race, the dedicated road shoes are lighter, don't have excess stuff on them, and are stiff yet comfortable.

Sure, if I was limited to only one bike and only one pair of shoes, I can see your point, the touring style clipless shoe is an acceptable compromise, but I'm not.

Maelochs

The biggest issue with clipless commuting, in my experience, is safety .... if you need to contend with rush-hour traffic on bad roads in a city which regularly reaches the top three in cycling fatalities, you want to be able to get off and away from the bike in a hurry because if you go down in traffic traffic will go up and over you.

livedarklions

Complete BS.

livedarklions

TIL only people who live in monasteries don't use clipless.

Kapusta

I have extensive experience with both.

Wow, you managed to bend the toe. Impressive.

Yan 

Yes, it's impressive because it showed how clueless you are.

koala logs

When we just had our stationary bike, the pedals have quite pointed edges and I can feel it on the soles of my shoes and actually caused pain and even numbness.

Until a solution was found, I used hiking shoes on the stationary bike because it's the only shoes where I didn't feel the unusually pointy edges of the pedals. The soles are quite stiff. Eventually, I got used to the shoes and just kept on using the hiking shoes on the stationary bike.

Highcad

I definitely pull up when doing quick acceleration out of the saddle. It's funny how many "myths" are out there in cycling - from equipment to technique to bike fit, etc....

redcon1

Poster on BF: 'I got a new Trek bike for my wife'

BF response: 'Depending on the frame and components, good trade!'