General Cycling Discussion - Cleated shoe for General Wear

I am a left below knee amputee. It is so hard to get my bicycling shoes on and off of the posthesis that I thought it would be nice to get a shoe that I could wear all the time such that the cleats would not touch the floar because the cleats are bad on bare hardwood or tile floars. They would probably have to be mountain shoes with very long lugs on the soles. However all of the mountain shoes that I have examined at the four bike shop that I have available do not have lugs soles that are long enough. Some in the catalog llike Sidi look good but are too expensive to experiment with. Any Suggestions?

Take a look at Lake's. They make some great shoes with recessed cleats. I have a pair that I wear for commuting and around town with SPDs and they don't hit the ground at all.

http://www.lakeshoes.com

-s

I have a pair of Shimano M020s, they're great. Shimano's cheapest shoe, and it actually looks like a shoe, not a huge hiking boot, like most MTB shoes. The cleats (SPD) are recessed, and there's very little cleat-to-floor contact (we have tiled floors throughout our house, I haven't scratched them yet :) ). They're a bit awkward on gravel and very uneven concrete etc, but a lot better than regular road shoes! And they are excedingly comfortable.

I am a left below knee amputee. It is so hard to get my bicycling shoes on and off of the posthesis that I thought it would be nice to get a shoe that I could wear all the time such that the cleats would not touch the floar because the cleats are bad on bare hardwood or tile floars. They would probably have to be mountain shoes with very long lugs on the soles. However all of the mountain shoes that I have examined at the four bike shop that I have available do not have lugs soles that are long enough. Some in the catalog llike Sidi look good but are too expensive to experiment with. Any Suggestions?
Send this thread to the different shoe companys and see what the reply is.

saw some of my mtb friends use these...

they look like regular rubber shoes...

http://www.omegacycling.co.za/Images/Shoes/sm101.jpg

These (https://secure7.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=icycles&BusType=BtoC&Count1=446132838&Count2=363273262&Target=products%2Easp&CategoryID=32), I think would be perfect - and the price is right.

Bad news : spd cleats can also damage soft / brittle floors , not with every step but I´m not now allowed to walk in the house with them on ..............

These (https://secure7.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=icycles&BusType=BtoC&Count1=446132838&Count2=363273262&Target=products%2Easp&CategoryID=32), I think would be perfect - and the price is right.

If the link does not take you right to the shoes - type in Sidi in the search box - it's the Police model.

As far as I know, all the "mountain" SPD shoes by Shimano and other compatibles (Cannondale, Specialized, Lake...) feature recessed cleats. The cleat is just 1-2 mm away from the surface of the sole, however, so I assume that with a reasonable amount of wear, the cleats won't be as much recessed.

I'm not sure that you could build up the centre part of the sole too much, because then the sole would interfere with the body of the pedal. However, if you use smallish pedals, you might be able to have a cobbler glue another neoprene sole under it after you wore the original sole.

I can't give you definitive figures on wear and tear. I had a pair of laced-up Shimano shoes that I wore almost full time for 3 years (including camping), albeit without cleats (using toe clips), The little rubber protectors flew away after 1-1.5 years and they now have little rubber left. I now have fairly new ones with cleats, and so far they don't scrape the floor, but they have less than 1 month of wear.

Regards,

Just another note on the Lakes. They don't list my exact shoes on their site but they look very similar to the LX G2. They have a stiff sole for biking yet a recessed cleat that works fine with my old style dura ace road pedals, my 747's and my 959's. Tonight I rode with them to the bar, danced in them for an hour and played pool in them for 2. I never once thought abouit the fact that I was wearing cycling shoes and the cleats never hit the ground. I'd say there is about 2mm of wear before they touch. Given that this is in the center of the shoe I think it will take awhile. Don't work for Lake just love these shoes.

http://www.lakeshoes.com/sport.html

-s