Commuting - Commuting Pedals

What type of shoes/pedals do you usually use when commuting?

I take my good mtn. bike & use my bike shoes w/ clipless pedals on nice days. On nasty days I ride my commuter, which has regular platforms.

Cages with strapless toe clips, and indoor soccer shoes.

Normal pedals with toe-clips, and 1970s retro-style trainers in summer and Timberland leather trail shoes in winter.
(MKS-Sylvian pedal, Christophe clips with leather straps)

Shimano M535 pedals and Lake MX100 shoes with cleats. I just got a pair of Sidi Forest shoes. Haven't tried them yet.

I have Look pedals on my road bike and sometimes when I'm in a hurry (late to work or lots of traffic behind me :eek: ) I forget which bike I'm on and try to catch my toe on the pedals thinking they are the Look pedals. Agghh! Watch out for the Lincoln Navigator behind you.
http://www.auto.com/art/reviews/lincoln_navigator/98_linc_navigator_red.jpg

I would like to try clipless someday, but right now I'm happy commuting in clips/straps. If I ever have to walk somewhere, I'm ready.

:D

I once had to walk about a mile in my bike shoes after getting a bad flat on my lunchtime ride. There is something to be said for baskets.


Originally posted by RonH

Agghh! Watch out for the Lincoln Navigator behind you.

What lincoln Navigator?http://holly.colostate.edu/~dkeyser/midget.bmp

pedal's with baskets and regular shoes. To be upgraded soon though.

On my commuters I use combo clipless/platform pedals and mostly ride with cycling shoes. I use the combo pedals so I don't have to change pedals in the winter if I want to wear some really warm boots, or if I want to just take a quick spin down the street from work to my PT session I don't have to change my shoes. My road bike is dual clipless.

I have the combos too! I like being able to unclip during traffic. Also, for the trip to the store using only my sandles. My big sandles did not fit into the clips very well.

With two 50-55 minute rides a day, it's worth it to me to change my shoes. I use double-sided SPD's (Shimano 515's on one bike, Ritchey V2's on the other). In warm weather I wear Shimano SPD sandals; in regular weather Specialized Rockhopper Comps; in cold weather Performance booties over Answer SPD neakers over two layers of wool socks.

In wet weather that's not warm enough for the sandals I rubber-band plastic bags over my shoes with a holes for the cleats.

RochC

I use clipless, but am convinced that platforms are safer for commuting. Twice in the past week I've had to make sudden stops and was lucky to get my foot unclipped quick enough to prevent falling over in front of on-coming vehicles. One of these days I may not be as quick or lucky.

cycling shoes work for me. I keep my work shoes under my desk.

I use clipless pedals with BMX shoes (http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=134561&bmUID=1024556574372) that support the cleats. Made in Taiwan but they've lasted me a year without even a hint of tearing. Better than any pear of Nikes I owned as a kid.

Hmmm, there's no selection for Cages With Cycling Shoes which is what I have.

Platform and running shoes, which came in handy yesterday when the pedals started spinning freely about a mile from the end of my trip. (Look Ma! A stationary bike!) Looks like I'm going to learn about cranks and bottom brackets this weekend. Til then, I'm back to fitness walking in my commute :(

Camp record, pro-fit and cycling shoes on my road and touring bikes, crank bros egg beaters on my vacation/dirty road bike and mountain bike.

I used to have my Onza HO clipless pedals fitted, and Sidi shoes, but had some problem with the float resulting in pain in my right knee. Now I use plain platform pedals Tioga Surefoot 2 and regular canvas street shooes.

Anders K
Sweden

i use cycling shoes and clipless pedals for 95% of my commutes.

i also have my old old MTB which has straps/cages that i use on really short trips.

so question: i've always wanted a temporary way to quickly turn clipless pedals into platforms for short rides in normal shoes w/o having to change pedals (i sometimes do actually change pedals but that's a pain). anyway, i think for Shimano/Ritchey type pedals they make the combo pedals

but i've also heard of a platform that clips into the pedal cleat. Has anyone ever used anything like this?

in my case i have Speedplay Frogs and there is no accessory but i've been considering building something myself by bolting a large metal plate onto the cleat, but there are some issues: first how do you keep the platform from twisting and releasing? i assume you would need some kind of tie of fastener. i've also considered maybe cliping into both side of the pedal and then binding the 2 plates together except then you have to buy 2 extra sets of cleats instead of one...

anyone tried anything like this or have any ideas? it doesn't have to be real light weight b/c i won't use it for racing, touring or heavy commuting, but just those short or lazy rides where i don't want to change shoes or want to arrive with normal shoes on.

Nathank,

When I got my bike from the LBS it had Shimano 515 pedals on it with these plastic platforms that clip in. One side of the pedal was a platform and the other side was the clipless. I never had any problem with them falling off when they were on, but I took them off soon because I don't really ride that bike without cycling shoes and they were getting in my way.

I don't know if there's anything like this for frogs, since they're a lot different from the Shimano pedals. If you wanted to try these I'm sure you could go down to the LBS and see some. They're pretty common.

My commuting bike has platform pedals and my road bike has Look pedals. I would rather have the clipless pedals most of the time, but sometimes it is more convenient to have the platforms. My kids often use my commuter, which would be impossible if I switch to clipless. I might put Looks on the commuter and try using the Winwood Instep Pedal Inserts (http://www.performancebike.com/shop/Profile.html?SKU=346). Supposedly, you can strap them to any shoe. I just don't know how well they work.

Originally posted by LittleBigMan
I would like to try clipless someday, but right now I'm happy commuting in clips/straps. If I ever have to walk somewhere, I'm ready.

:D

Pete,
My Lake and Sidi shoes are mountain bike shoes with "slightly" recessed cleats. Walking in them is not a problem at all. They're a lot like sneakers.
Be brave and give it a try. :D

http://www.lickbike.com/2963.gif

Sidi Forest
http://www.calhouncycle.com/images/forest.jpg