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What is your shoe for riding with toe clips?

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What is your shoe for riding with toe clips?

Old 06-24-21, 10:33 AM
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Old Steelhead
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What is your shoe for riding with toe clips?

I have toe clips on my '70s 10 speed/rat bike/touring bike and I was wondering what sort of shoe people prefer when riding with toe clips. My jogging shoes have too much tread and get hung up when getting on or off the pedal.
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Old 06-24-21, 10:57 AM
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https://www.tiralento.com/shop/shoes...rainite-model/
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Old 06-24-21, 10:57 AM
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I recently bought these Skechers to ride with toe clips, because they kinda looked like cycling shoes, the uppers are 100% leather, and they fit the clips well. Really comfortable, too. Price was right at $55.

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Old 06-24-21, 11:08 AM
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Vintage German army trainers.
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Old 06-24-21, 11:16 AM
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Giro Rumble.
If someone would reinvent the Avocet Touring shoes of the 1970s-80s, I would buy those.
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Old 06-24-21, 11:22 AM
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Touring shoes are your best bet. But they are getting tougher to find.

Best ones I have found are Specialized Elite Touring. Unfortunately they are discontinued, but pop up on eBay with some regularity. But you can Google to check them out.

They have a semi-rigid walkable smooth rubber sole with a covered recessed spd mount, which I don’t use since I ride without a cleat. Easy to slide in and slide out. They have velcro straps. The look is like a modern road cycling shoe.

The nice thing is that the toe doesn’t get beat up riding against the clip as some shoes do. I had a pair of Specialized Sonomas and had to use a sharpie every now and then.

They are going on 7 years showing little wear. But I bought a backup pair for down the road.

John
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Old 06-24-21, 11:38 AM
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Though I do not like toe clips and straps I do have this set of shoes, my size, and still in very good condition. I should put them up on Ebay for sale but I am even less happy with Ebay policies than when I stopped selling there a few years ago...

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Old 06-24-21, 11:49 AM
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I wear Pearl iZumi x-alp mountain bike shoes, good for on and off the bike. My toe clips are the MKS "deep" variety which I find to be better in every metric than the super shallow clips of yore.
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Old 06-24-21, 11:52 AM
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Chucks (albeit I like the fancy "70" model), with a pair of Superfeet insoles.
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Old 06-24-21, 11:59 AM
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Still using a pair of Quoc shoes made for clips and straps. Had them for seven years and they're about done. Not sure if they're still made, but they worked fine. Did tend to get a little uncomfortable on century rides, but not too bad.
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Old 06-24-21, 12:11 PM
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I too like a smooth sole for toe clips. I have Sambas and used them on Eroica CA 2019


Last edited by DiabloScott; 06-24-21 at 12:14 PM.
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Old 06-24-21, 12:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Dylansbob
Chucks (albeit I like the fancy "70" model), with a pair of Superfeet insoles.
Chucks? As in Converse Chuck Taylors?
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Old 06-24-21, 12:44 PM
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...if you really don't need the extra stiff soles of purpose build bike shoes, You can smooth off the tread that gets hung up on the forefoot using a belt sander or other grinder. I need it. so I bought two pair of these, when they were closing them out at REI. They have regular running shoe uppers and a purpose built for cycling last, sole support, and a sole without too much tread. But they do have some tread. Sometimes, you have to develop a technique for exiting with toe clips, where you press down with one foot, and lift up the other one as you pull it loose from the clip/strap.

Also, with these MTB shoes, I find I need to bend the clips upward and form them to fit the toe of the shoe better.

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Old 06-24-21, 12:57 PM
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If you have wide feet, don't buy European shoes without trying them on. Most are quite narrow. I bought a pair of Dromarti shoes that I can't wear because they are so narrow.
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Old 06-24-21, 01:12 PM
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Adidas Samba and Gazelle.
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Old 06-24-21, 01:22 PM
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I think we get this question on average once or twice a year. Not an indictment, availability will change so worth asking again every once in a while. Here are some other threads of various age.


https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...toe-clips.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...00-pedals.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...s-w-clips.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...oad-shoes.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...hoes-help.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...tro-shoes.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...t-touring.html
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Old 06-24-21, 02:30 PM
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AGreed on the Avocet grey and black...those were awesome.

what do you like about the Rumbles! Are the Rumble VRs? Any issues with getting feet to fit in the toe clips smoothly and snug-removable?


Originally Posted by John E
Giro Rumble.
If someone would reinvent the Avocet Touring shoes of the 1970s-80s, I would buy those.
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Old 06-24-21, 02:36 PM
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Originally Posted by droppedandlost
If you have wide feet, don't buy European shoes without trying them on. Most are quite narrow. I bought a pair of Dromarti shoes that I can't wear because they are so narrow.
When I worked at Bikecology, we made sure folks with narrow feet tried Italian shoes, whereas those with wider feet tried Belgian shoes.
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Old 06-24-21, 02:40 PM
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Originally Posted by jdawginsc
AGreed on the Avocet grey and black...those were awesome.

what do you like about the Rumbles! Are the Rumble VRs? Any issues with getting feet to fit in the toe clips smoothly and snug-removable?
Yes, blue suede Rumble VR. These are my go-to shoes for transportation cycling, including shopping and commuting. They are quite reasonable for walking, fairly stiff in the sole for pedaling, and not bad for getting into and out of toeclips. I normally keep my clips just loose enough to facilitate jerking my feet out.

They do work better with larger than with smaller toeclips. I have set pair of Diadora mountain bike shoes which seem to work best with the Campag. pedals and clips on the Bianchi, and a pair of flat-soled Lake BMX shoes that are almost as good as the Rumbles with larger clips. I still miss the Avocets with the steel shank, rubber sole, and four parallel transverse cleat-like grooves.
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Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
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Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
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Old 06-24-21, 02:41 PM
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Originally Posted by acm
I wear Pearl iZumi x-alp mountain bike shoes, good for on and off the bike. My toe clips are the MKS "deep" variety which I find to be better in every metric than the super shallow clips of yore.
The MKS deep toe clips solve a lot of problems since they work with shoes that have a large toe box. You can use MTB style shoes nicely with them and those are good shoes for cycling and walking.
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Old 06-24-21, 02:52 PM
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I’ve been wearing these Pearl Izumi’s the past year and like them quite a bit. About $100 at REI. On short rides around town I wear Vans.
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Old 06-24-21, 04:06 PM
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+1 for Giro Rumble VR

Originally Posted by John E
Yes, blue suede Rumble VR. These are my go-to shoes for transportation cycling, including shopping and commuting. They are quite reasonable for walking, fairly stiff in the sole for pedaling, and not bad for getting into and out of toeclips. I normally keep my clips just loose enough to facilitate jerking my feet out.

They do work better with larger than with smaller toeclips. I have set pair of Diadora mountain bike shoes which seem to work best with the Campag. pedals and clips on the Bianchi, and a pair of flat-soled Lake BMX shoes that are almost as good as the Rumbles with larger clips. I still miss the Avocets with the steel shank, rubber sole, and four parallel transverse cleat-like grooves.
I have a pair of Giros in black and am pretty happy with them (lukewarm on the orange trim, but maybe they have new color combinations). My memories of the avocet grey touring shoes were that they were good for the first couple of thousand miles but the rubber sole was soft and the pedals would wear a deep groove in the sole. I think mine split in half after a year or so. The Giros are a much more solid shoe.
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Old 06-24-21, 04:10 PM
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Originally Posted by retroshifter
I have a pair of Giros in black and am pretty happy with them (lukewarm on the orange trim, but maybe they have new color combinations). My memories of the avocet grey touring shoes were that they were good for the first couple of thousand miles but the rubber sole was soft and the pedals would wear a deep groove in the sole. I think mine split in half after a year or so. The Giros are a much more solid shoe.
You are correct. My Giros are holding up well. "Don't step on my blue suede shoes."
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Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
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Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
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Old 06-24-21, 05:15 PM
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Originally Posted by retroshifter
I have a pair of Giros in black and am pretty happy with them (lukewarm on the orange trim, but maybe they have new color combinations). My memories of the avocet grey touring shoes were that they were good for the first couple of thousand miles but the rubber sole was soft and the pedals would wear a deep groove in the sole. I think mine split in half after a year or so. The Giros are a much more solid shoe.
This is what Sharpies are for, quick, easy, done.

I use them for many things just like this.
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Old 06-24-21, 07:27 PM
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Glad to see other people still wearing toe clips. I've even gone so far as to just wearing toe clips without straps as I find the tread on the bottom of many athletic shoes gives me enough forward/rearward grip that I don't need the straps to hold my feet in. Lot easier to get my feet disengaged from the pedal, too.
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