Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Going Clipless

I have been debating about getting clipless pedals for a little while now. I remember reading a thread not so long about about favorite pedals and people seemed to like the egg beatters. I want to spend as little as possible but get something good. Which ones are good?

I have been looking at cycling shoes and are there any that don't look like cycling shoes and more like slip ons or something?

Crankbrother Eggbeaters and Time ATACs are the two most recommended pedals around here which will also let you use MTB shoes (MTB shoes = walkable).

I personally have Eggbeaters (or their variants which include Candy and Quattro pedals) on all 3 of my bikes and couldn't be happier. I've gone with the SL models for all 3 though alot of other people have gone with the less expensive versions with good results (and afew have had less then stellar results, though the Crankbrothers warranty is pretty much fantastic by all accounts).

lol @ slip ons.

I just want a biking shoe that doesn't look like a biking shoe something I can wear around.

adidas makes a sneaker with a cut out in the bottom for an atac or spd cleat and so does lake,.... i use SPD clipless.

Pros... they have tension screws so you can make them really tight and thus limit your risks of pulling out of your pedal during monster skids and they're relatively cheap and fit mountain shoes/clipless sneakers

Cons... as opposed to ATAC's there is only one position that the cleat can clip into on the pedal. on Atacs there is a pretty lot of float side to side as to where you can clip in on the pedal. Also there are a lot more little pieces/springs/mechanisms in SPD pedals to get dirty and or dry out. You need to keep them clean and lubricated for them to last.

but then again that's just my opinion....

there are sneaker style shoes out there, but they're still ugly and are way outperformed by skiboot looking, performance driven bike shoe designs. i guess you gotta consider why you want a clipless system.

^ that dude beat me up.

yeah but i didn't mention that the lake and adidas shoes are horrible for heavy dudy skidding and up pedaling,... the sole is way to flexable and rubbery and ends up having a very similair feeling of float to clips and straps,... good call ^_^*

pros: general awesomeness
cons: you will fall and two girls will point and laugh at you.

Im sure when fixies become even more trendy some company will make shoe targeting the fixed gear hipster crowd. Its only a matter of time really.
Then we can have a 10 page thread fighting about how stupid or awesome they are. Some people will talk about how our their little culture fell to capitalism while others will embrace it.
Similar to the Nike track bike thread i guess. Yeah.
Then dutret will come in and be an ass to someone and itll branch off and dwindle out.

Don't decide to go for clipless and then settle on half measures when it comes to shoes. Half the advantage of using a clipless system is that you use stiff soled shoes. Check out the Specialized line. They are affordable and are very nice.

Go with the mallet by crank brothers. It has an egg beater center, meaning you can use mtb shoes which allows you to still walk around with out looking dumb and jacking up the cleats. Plus, it lets you pedal with normal shoes on as well seing as there is a platform pedal sorrounding the clip. Then again if your bike is purely riden for fitness just go with the egg beaters, or better yet a standard look road clip.

I have adidas cyclone shoes. I like the way they look. They work as cycling shoes okay too. They're not in the "spend as little as possible" category though.

Specialized sonoma is a nice compromise between a true bike shoe and a walkable one. The Shimano DX bmx shoes are also excellent every day wear shoes.

But you are not going to find one shoe to do it all. Specialized/Adidas/Nike/lake walkable shoes for day to day riding. Fluro disco shoes with a rock solid sole for distance and flossing.

six one six expert with candy eggbeaters.
you can wear them in the bar without getting beat up.

I have been debating about getting clipless pedals for a little while now. I remember reading a thread not so long about about favorite pedals and people seemed to like the egg beatters. I want to spend as little as possible but get something good. Which ones are good?

I have been looking at cycling shoes and are there any that don't look like cycling shoes and more like slip ons or something?

SPDs. Both Nashbar and Wellgo make shimano knock-offs, which are reasonably priced

Don't fear going clipless, just buy a mountain SPD system as the cleats are recessed into the shoe so you can walk around no problems.

I still have and use the first set of SPD pedals (Shimano M737s) I got like 18 years ago. My latest set of Shimano M121 shoes have lasted about 10 years so far as well. They smell a bit, sure, but hey who asked ya?!

Definitely get some "real" SPD shoes, the stiff sole makes a big difference

I'm an SPD-SL guy myself... on my geared bike at least. I ran SPD-SL on my fixie for a while, but ultimately I like being able to hop on my fixie and go without having to change shoes. So I stay clips-n-straps on my fixie for the most part. I will swap pedals and put my Ultegras on my fixie from time to time, depending on the ride I'm going for.

So are the road shoes pretty much unwalkable?

Not unwalkable, no. But the SPD-SL (there's another cleat that similar to SPD-SL as well... one of the Look cleats, methinks?) cleats are HUGE and make you walk funny. More so if you have cleat covers like I do. SPDs aren't so bad. I don't know about Eggbeater cleats and the like.

road shoes can be very slippery.....especially on thin carpet. on concrete I have had more luck but you know you are wrecking the bottoms and that is kind of sad.

Clipless-wise, I have used SPDs longest......but I just got pair of Candy SLs last week. So far I like them a lot. Enough of a platform to use with regular shoes for short jaunts to the store, etc. Much more float than the Shimano pedals I have used. I am not sure how much I like that though-- the solid engagement and more audible click is nice too/what I am used to.

Shoes: I picked up a discounted pair of Sidi mountain shoes (not the Dominator but a three velcro strap model) for $90. Not bad. Super stiff. I need to tighten them down like mad to stop the 'foot pulling off the sole' felling that clips and straps do so well to prevent.

oh yeah---- not sure if they are selling in the US too, but the Gap in Japan has a new series of shoes. they are sort of Converse styled and also include a slip-on. thing is, the soles are suuuper stiff! they've only got up to size 9 here in Tokyo so I am SOL, but they might be looking into if you want stiff soled casual kicks.

shimano had/has some sandals, they don't look like cycling shoes and you could probably wear em loose enough to slip in & out of. I'd go with spd if you went that route, loose sandals will probably be harder to disengage with Times or Crank Bros.

I personally am not a big fan of SPDs, but I really love the ATACs. There's a ton of float and the pedals are big enough that if you needed to, you can ride semi-comfortably in flat shoes.

These Airwalks dont suck too much - http://www.bicyclebuys.com/manufacturer/Airwalk/shoes
I currently have a pair of Urbans and had their predecessor before this pair. The soles arent as stiff as you might like, but it makes walking up stairs not suck. They are kind of hard to find in my experience, I have bought both my pairs over the internet.

Cannondale makes some nice spd sneakers. Personally I'd pick velcro over laces whatever you choose because loose laces + fixed gear can be very dangerous. I know lots of people run laces with no problem but I'm a wuss and would rather not worry about it.

Cannondale makes some nice spd sneakers.

Yea, I had some Cannondale sneakers... they weren't the prettiest things but they worked fine. Not a very stiff sole so it was comfy for walking.

atacs and sidis