timacn

I asked for some help finding wide bike shoes a few weeks ago. I was looking for shoes that would work with toe clips, which, after several attempts at using clipless pedals landed me on my derriere, I use exclusively.

The good news is that, with your kind help, I did find a few brands offering wide sizes. The bad news is that they almost always are designed for use with cleats.

So...would there be any advantage to wearing clipless shoes without cleats over the old running shoes that I presently use? I've read that proper bike shoes have more rigid soles which would help with energy transfer, but would such shoes be really that much of an improvement over what I am using now?

Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help.

Gconan

Not sure. But I have my spd pedals set for super duper easy release. There is an allen bolt on the back of each side of the pedal that you can adjust to super duper easy release.

philbob57

I tried 3 pairs of road shoes in toe clips/straps. A Nike model worked fine. The lowest end Bont did not. The lowest end Bontrager worked fine. I scuffed up the soles of all 3. The Bonts didn't scuff well at all, which is probably in their favor. The Nike and Bontrager remained pretty slippery, though - I fell once when I put my foot down on sand. I had to make sure the force was vertical when i put my foot down. If there was too much horizontal force in my step, the shoes slipped.

timacn

I'm getting up there in years and I don't fall as well as I used to. I'm thinking maybe of a nice mountain bike shoe with a recessed cleat attachment point that you can also walk on safely. (without the cleats)

Steve B.

Have you considered flat/pinned pedals ?.

Very popular with mt. bikers who are not comfortable on clipless or are just like the design. The pins help keep the shoe in the pedal, you can easily re-position the foot for different scenarios and use a less stiff shoe as the larger pedal does a better job of supporting the foot.

Only downside I see is a some what steep learning curve to keeping the shoe positioned of standing, sprinting, etc...

Gconan

Shimano SH-ME3

I got them in a wide version. I can walk fine in them. Walked across a creek on a fallen tree carrying my bike on my shoulders with them

timacn

Quite a performance, Gconan. Walking across the creek on a fallen tree in bike shoes would have been impressive enough. Carrying the bike while doing it is REALLY impressive.

Rick

The rigid soles protect your feet from bruising on long hard rides.

TiHabanero

Back in the day before clipless pedals, the standard for non-competitive use was pedals with toe clips and tennis shoes. Converse All Stars or Jack Parcell's worked best due to a smoother sole making it easier to enter into the toe clip. They were very flexible, thus Bata Bikers and Avocet riding shoes came about. Stiffer sole and some faux type of cleat molded into the sole allowing the ability to pull when pedaling.

I know of people saying they use hard soled dress shoes for casual riding and even touring. Never tried it, but it sounds like a possibility. Personally, I opted for platform pedals, no toe clips and Merrill low cut light hikers. Works really well for me. My daily rider has Look pedals. I use Sidi Genius Mega shoes.

Thinking about it, I wonder if using a smooth soled road shoe with the sole doctored up with Shoe Goo or black silicone would work long term. Perhaps gluing high durometer rubber sheet to the sole of the shoe would last long term. I believe there was a post about that last one in the touring forum.

timacn

Converse All Stars were cool. And the black lowcuts for bike riding were the coolest of all. Matched up with a pair of cutoff jeans, you were ready to roll. No helmet or water bottle to worry about.

TiHabanero

Timacn, my riding partner and I rode all over the Midwest like that. Cut-offs, Jack Purcells and no helmet. Never had a problem, and we looked like the typical long hair kid of the day when off the bike. Our trips to the southern states were, well, a trip. Restaurant's would not serve us because we were on bikes and had long hair. It was quite funny at the time. As Northern boys, we weren't used to that kind of thing, but after the first beer cans were chucked at us, like Dorothywe understood that we weren't in Shangri-La any more.

Life was simple, easy, and good.