Originally Posted by
BillK
My answer depends on how you plan to use the bike. I started my return to road biking with a pair of Crank Brothers Candy C pedals (inexpensive, very easy to clip in & out even when dirty, good rep for quality) and Shimano mountain bike shoes. It was easy to hop on & off the bike and, as others have said, the shoes made it easy to walk into stores to pick up a snack (banana, pie, you name it).
I noticed, however, that as my mileage increased (~50+ miles), so did the "hot spots" on my feet. So after about three years I switched over to a pair of Look A5.1 pedals and Specialized road shoes (for folks who over-pronate). The hot spots immediately disappeared. On the other hand, I will admit that walking in road shoes is a bit tricky, even with cleat covers.
We have a BINGO!
I'm an un-apologetic restaurant-to-restaurant bike rider. It's unusual for me to ride more than 25 or 30 miles without getting off to do something else (usually eat) for a while. I own 3 pairs of mountain bike style shoes and no road style shoes. I like it that way.
The guys that I work with, on the other hand, are race oriented and are horrified by the pedals that I have on my road Klein.