Touring - Shoes and Pedals

I'm in need of some shoes and pedals to go along with my new bike. I would like some shoes that the cleat fits inside the tread some I can walk easily in them. These shoes will be mostly used for touring. I've seen the offerings by shimano, nike and garneau (sp) and was wondering if you guys had any opinion or pros and cons about touring shoes and pedals in general.

Thanks in advance for you help,

monkd

I recently went with Crank Bros Smarty pedals which are egg beater style with a medium platform.

Absolutely Love Them!

I also love the shoes I got. Forte Kingston. The cleats are recessed, the sole isn't too stiff to make you walk around funny. The tread is a casual wear around town or at work tread. You could make these your only pair of shoes while touring. And I love the fit.

Here's a link to the shoes I'm talking about:
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=23508&subcategory_ID=2120 (http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=23508&subcategory_ID=2120)

As for opinions on shoes and pedals in general, I am 100% satisfied with my choice of shoes and pedals. The pedals were easy to learn on (my first time clipless), and the shoes were a perfect fit for me.

Hope that helps!

Hi,
1) The 2 issues with shoes is quality and fit. They must fit really well or you will not be a happy camper. The ONLY way to find out what fits is to keep visiting different bike shops until your feet are happy.

2) Pedals... I have 2 pairs of eggbeaters in the cellar. They gave me hot spots.
Because you can spend several hours pedalling, picking pedals is a bit tougher.
This one is worth a try
http://www.lickbike.com/productpage.aspx?PART_NUM_SUB='0767-05'

Since you will at times be walking, I suggest avoiding systems with large cleats.

I've been satisfied with my specialized Taho MTB shoes and various SPD clipless pedals, but I have nothing to compare them to other than a pair of Pearl Izumi shoes that are now 5 years old and were too flexy. I've been wanting to try the Shimano sandals for the longest time, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Even with MTB shoes, there are annoyances, incidentally. Like all shoes, the tread wears on them the more you walk around in them, and it doesn't take long to get to the point where you'll be hearing "crunch, crunch" as the metal cleats on your feet meet the concrete (Sorry, couldn't resist the rhyme scheme there :D).

Ultralight and ultra-efficient tourists will groan from hearing this, but I often carry an extra pair of hiking shoes for extended tours if I plan on doing hiking away from my camp spots, just to postpone the eventual death of the tread on my MTB shoes (and because they're just better for hiking, of course).

I like my Time ATAC pedals alot more than my Shimano SPD-M520. I also use the Specialized Taho MTB/Casual shoes. Very comfy

I've been very happy with Shimano's now discontinued SH-T092 shoes and Speedplay Frogs. The shoes seem to have been replaced with the new SH-RT50. Both have recessed cleat mounts without the clunky lugs of MTB shoes. Because of this, I find the T092s are actually better for walking than MTB shoes while still being stiff enough to avoid hot spots and toe numbness.

http://bike.shimano.com/catalog/cycle/products/shoe.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441780291&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302050754&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181674&bmUID=1175453320623

The Speedplay Frog pedals and cleats are lighter than most "road" style pedaling systems and have a lot of float to avoid knee pain. The pedals themselves use nice replaceable bearings and have grease ports to simplify maintenance.

I use Specialized Taho shoes and Eggbeaters pedals. Theres enough tread on the shoes, and the cleats are short enough that I hardly ever hear them scrape when walking. Usually they only only scrape on cement with a heavy pepple coating (stairs at the apartment)

I've been using the power strap and a [pair of New Balance tennis shoes. The New Balance are very comfortable for walking. The power straps are nice as ven though I wear a 4E shoe, they still fit finely.