Commuting - Shoes for commuting, what do you use?

I was just wondering.

My commute will be about 30-40 miles per day, so I was planning on using roadie shoes and look pedals, but many people seem to perfer the SPD size cleat on a MTB or tennis shoe style shoe.

I am leaning toward the roadie shoes due to the longer distances i'll be going, but maybe i will try to commute with road shoes and it will drive me nuts.

What do you think?

peas,

Steve

Most of the time, Shimano SPD Sandals.

Below freezing, SPD mtn bike shoes that are two sizes too large.

Dave

In descending order of ambient temperature:

SPD Sandals
SPD Sandals and Coolmax Socks
SPD MTB Shoes and Coolmax Socks
SPD MTB Shoes and Wool Socks
SPD Tennis shoes, Wool Socks, Booties (booties don't fit over MTB shoes)

I commute 26 miles a day. More importantly, I want to be able to walk around in my bike shoes, and when I get to work I have to navigate slippery tile flooring to get to my office, and road shoes can lack traction.

On my commute, ultimate efficiency isn't that critical, with all the stoplights and stop signs and rush hour city traffic. Road shoes wouldn't really gain me any advantage.

RichC

I mostly use SPD pedals and SIDI ATB shoes. I have a lot of lights and stops up hills. SPD's are easier to go into/out off. The shoes feel very nice and firm holding the foot securely and comfortably, yet allow you to manouver quite quickly when you need it. Day before yesterday I had a close call with a BMW, which decided to turn into me at the light. At that moment, having a much better setup in terms of bike control than you need vast majority of time, was a bone savior. If I were riding more on a open road, I'd probably preffer very good road setup.

nike road shoes with spd cleats and shimano m-636 pedals, 37 miles per day round trip winter and summer.

I commute 25 miles round trip and I use Sidi Genius and Look pedals. I prefer the road shoe setup.

I use SPD's on tennis style shoes. Much more confortable than my normal road shoes and the cleats are recessed, which makes for easier walking.

I am using Look pedals and road shoes. I only did this to save money. I already had some Look pedals I wasn't using and was able to find a pair of shoes on sale. Cheaper than either buying a second pair of Campy pedals (what's on my road bike) or new pedals and new shoes. Seems to be working so far.

If I continue commuting past the summer I may decide to buy shoes/pedals that are easier to walk in.

My commute is 31 mi. R/T.

Sidi Genius road shoes with spd. Even with the adaptor plate, you can't walk very far with these things. So, I hang slip on sandals on the kryptonite that I leave locked on the bike rack. I just wear the sandals to the locker room where I change into my wingtips and work clothes.

Keep in mind that I have a protected bike cage and Sacto is hot and dry in the summer so this probably won't work for everyone.

Pearl Izumi Vagabond MTB SPDs. The only thing I can afford that's better than platform.

Depends on the bike that I'm riding (which itself depends on the mood that I'm in and what I'm going to do 'en commute' as it were).

Geared Commuter with panniers: SIDI mtb shoes with Eggbeaters
Fixed-gear all-round urban warrior: street shoes with platforms, clips, straps
Fixed-gear for fast riding: SIDI road shoes with speedplay zeros
Roadie: SIDI road shoes with speedplay zeros.

I split the time between the geared commuter and the fixed-gear all-rounder for most of the commuting. Which one I take largely depends on how I feel that day and whether I have stops to make on the way home. If the later, I ride the fixie so that I have regular shoes.

The fast fixie and the roadie only make an appearance when there's a semi-organized after-work ride with co-workers (about twice a month).

Sometimes, though, I think about putting platforms/clips/straps on everything except the roadie. I figure that's the only time I wear lycra, so maybe it should be the only time that I'm clipped in. Who knows.

Oh, and my commute is 45-60 minutes one way (depending on the route, the weather, how I feel and what bike I take).

Eggbeaters and Sidi Dominators; only got one bike, so it's that or nothin at all:D The Dominators are Mtb shoes, and have those knobs that let you walk. I have a pair of Sidi road shoes on layaway; but I won't be using those for commuting.

Originally posted by jester69
My commute will be about 30-40 miles per day...
Wow that's some commute!!
I thought I was riding a lot with my 29 mile round trip commute. :o

I have SPD pedals (on my old road bike) and Lake MX100 shoes.
Two sides make it easy to clip in when in traffic and the shoes are kinda like "regular" sneakers so I wouldn't walk funny when I got to work. ;)

I use SPD pedals and Lake MX101's. There wasn't much research or thought put into this, though. I had decided a few months back I wanted to try clipless pedals, and after a ten minute talk at the bike shop, settled on the SPDs. I then tryed on a few pairs of shoes, and the Lakes were comfortable and looked ok.

I have SPDs on all three of my bikes, so I can choose to ride any bike with any shoe -- it's more of an economic choice than anything else.

That said, I commute in Pearl Izumi Groove shoes. They're MTB shoes, but they're very casual looking and the cleat is recessed, so I don't have to change shoes immediately to avoid clip-clopping through my office. (I leave nicer shoes at work as needed, but I have spent whole work days riding and working in the Grooves without discomfort or damage to the floors at work.)

And I just saw that the Grooves are on sale at Performance, if that's any help.

I also have Sidi Storm 2s if the weather requires, but I don't think I've commuted on them yet, just riding on the weekends in the cold and wet winter.