Commuting - going to clipless I think

I started commuting to work. It's only about a half hour ride. I have a Specialized mountain bike with smooth tires with clips. I was thinking of going clipless and work in those shoes. There are sales on both the Mavic shoes and Cannondale shoes for $39 each which is the cheapest price I could find. I found pedals with cleats for an additional $33.

I was wondering if going the clipless route is that more efficient biking and if so, would both of these shoes be comfortable enough to stand in, and walk around in, all day. Thanks.

The shoes are:
Mavic Cruize Mountain Shoes
Cannondale Range Mountain Shoes

I started commuting to work. It's only about a half hour ride. I have a Specialized mountain bike with smooth tires with clips. I was thinking of going clipless and work in those shoes. There are sales on both the Mavic shoes and Cannondale shoes for $39 each which is the cheapest price I could find. I found pedals with cleats for an additional $33.

I was wondering if going the clipless route is that more efficient biking and if so, would both of these shoes be comfortable enough to stand in, and walk around in, all day. Thanks.

The shoes are:
Mavic Cruize Mountain Shoes
Cannondale Range Mountain Shoes


Mountain shoes are more comfortable than road shoes, but there's no way you'd want to be wearing them off the bike all day.

Mountain shoes are more comfortable than road shoes, but there's no way you'd want to be wearing them off the bike all day.
+1

What pedals are you thinking about? I like Eggbeaters. Rode them for 4 years when I was commuting.

Leave more comfortable shoes at work is the solution.

[unless personal things disappear when left unattended, of course]..

Pick the Spud Shoes that fit best , are these local, to try on?

The Shimano shoes (with recessed spd cleats) that I wear are fine to walk a block to my office but I wouldn't want to wear them all day.

+1 on leaving shoes at work. Wearing cycling shoes all day would not work for most people.

You can also use Power Grips (http://powergrips.mrpbike.com/). I have them on both of my bikes and I can wear any shoes I want.

Thanks for all the replies. That pretty much tells me what I wanted to know. I'm currently using the clips/straps with stiff trail running shoes and they work well enough, both for the bike and work, so I guess I'll stick with that. I also own a road bike with the "slipper" shoes and clipless pedals that I bought years ago on ebay and never use outside and could switch them to the mountain bike if I wanted to change shoes at work. I never held a pair of mountain bike shoes and never knew about them before now, so I didn't know how stiff they were and how they'd be as normal shoes off the bike. Thanks again. [I was going to get the Shimano PD-M520L MTB Sport Pedals with Cleats]

I'm currently using the clips/straps

Those are called 'toe clips' in Bicycle Language.

I could wear my Pearl Izumi X-Alp Seeks all day but I don't.

I occasionally wear my Shimano MTB shoes during the day at work, but it isn't really comfortable. I mostly sit all day -- if I walked around much, definitely not.

Enjoy the crunch of your cleats on concrete.

I could wear my Pearl Izumi X-Alp Seeks all day but I don't.

I recently did that with a new pair, to make sure they would be comfortable off bike for touring. They are so comfortable that I forgot I was wearing them. PI has done a good job making them walkable while remaining stiff from the cleat back. FWIW they are more comfortable than my Shimano MT31s (which aren't bad either, but heavier)

I have Shimano M540 pedals and Shimano MT-41 shoes. I did forget my regular shoes once,and I had to teach all day in my cycling shoes...they weren't as bad as I thought they would be.

Tim C.

Those are called 'toe clips' in Bicycle Language.

When I bought my first clips and straps somewhere around 1964, they were called "clips and straps". I wasn't aware the usage had been deprecated.

When I bought my first clips and straps somewhere around 1964, they were called "clips and straps". I wasn't aware the usage had been deprecated.

Interesting. I didn't learn of toe clips until the mid-70's, and I remember seeing and hearing them referred to as that.
My understanding is/was that toe clips meant toe clips with straps, unless you were talking about mini toe clips.
Looks as if there have been toe clips without straps available going back a long time.
http://www.speedplay.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=pedalmuseum.straps

When I bought my first clips and straps somewhere around 1964, they were called "clips and straps". I wasn't aware the usage had been deprecated.

I actually disagree with the other guy slightly. "clips and straps" makes it 100% clear what you're using. When people say "toe clips" other people start to get confused about which one is "clipless pedals" and which one is "clips and straps". Not everyone, but I've seen it happen before where a big argument starts then someone realizes that the term meant the opposite of what they meant. Once you add "straps" in the term it's far more difficult to get confused.

Mountain shoes are more comfortable than road shoes, but there's no way you'd want to be wearing them off the bike all day.

I wore Shimano BMX shoes all-day for over a decade with SPD cleats until I switched to Bebop pedals that don't have an entirely recessed cleat. They were fine but not entirely silent outside as the soles wore down.

Like these

http://www.bicyclebuys.com/shoes/ShoeMTB/SHMP66WPART/goog

Other companies like Keen make shoes that would pass aesthetic muster in environments where sneakers are inappropriate.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160525771370&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT#ht_562wt_67

PD-M505's and cleats on ebay with a starting price of $1

I actually disagree with the other guy slightly. "clips and straps" makes it 100% clear what you're using. When people say "toe clips" other people start to get confused about which one is "clipless pedals" and which one is "clips and straps". Not everyone, but I've seen it happen before where a big argument starts then someone realizes that the term meant the opposite of what they meant. Once you add "straps" in the term it's far more difficult to get confused.

"clips and straps" does describe the equipment but it's not the terminology that I have seen or heard used.
Judging from Sheldon Brown's glossary, 'toe clips' is the most commonly-used term and is the traditional term.
"Toe Clips are stirrup-like devices that attach to pedals. They are normally used with leather or fabric straps. Actually, the straps are more important than the clips, but without the clips it is nearly impossible to get into the straps, because the clips hold the straps open, allowing the rider to slip into them." http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_ta-o.html#toeclip
No listing of 'clips' or 'clips and straps' in the glossary, which does not mean that it's incorrect to use those terms.

If clipless pedal systems didn't exist, I'd still be using toe clips............or Power Grips.

Brand-new Shimano M520s for $29 + S&H:

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/mtb-bmx-bike/Pedals-MTB-Shimano-Clipless-Spd-M520-Pedals/SHIMPEDM160

Spend $54 or so and you can get the pedals for $23. The M505s are about $26/$21.

Then go to your local bike shop and buy a pair of shoes that fit. Unless you really know your size AND the size of the shoe you want to buy, or you're willing to risk them not fitting, don't buy shoes online.

I've bought a few pairs of cycling shoes online and have been lucky, very lucky. Online shoes are not a sure thing, sizing-wise, especially cycling shoes.

"clips and straps" does describe the equipment but it's not the terminology that I have seen or heard used.
Judging from Sheldon Brown's glossary, 'toe clips' is the most commonly-used term and is the traditional term.
"Toe Clips are stirrup-like devices that attach to pedals. They are normally used with leather or fabric straps. Actually, the straps are more important than the clips, but without the clips it is nearly impossible to get into the straps, because the clips hold the straps open, allowing the rider to slip into them." http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_ta-o.html#toeclip
No listing of 'clips' or 'clips and straps' in the glossary, which does not mean that it's incorrect to use those terms.

If clipless pedal systems didn't exist, I'd still be using toe clips............or Power Grips.

"Toe clips" just doesn't ring a bell for me, it really seems like there's a more commonly used term. I mean otherwise, when you said "clipless pedals" people would go "oh, the kind without clips". Not the usual response I get "What the hell are clips - if they AREN'T the special bike shoes and bike pedals?".

Come to think of it, *I* thought "clips" were an entirely different system from cages or clipless until rather recently...

"cages"?

'clipless pedals' is one of those secret words or phrases that can be confusing to many but makes total sense to those belonging to the cult of bicycling. It means 'pedals with a foot retention system but without toe clips' and makes little sense without knowledge of toe clips.
Words can get in the way of communication, have you noticed?

I started commuting to work. It's only about a half hour ride. I have a Specialized mountain bike with smooth tires with clips. I was thinking of going clipless and work in those shoes. There are sales on both the Mavic shoes and Cannondale shoes for $39 each which is the cheapest price I could find. I found pedals with cleats for an additional $33.

I was wondering if going the clipless route is that more efficient biking and if so, would both of these shoes be comfortable enough to stand in, and walk around in, all day. Thanks.

The shoes are:
Mavic Cruize Mountain Shoes
Cannondale Range Mountain Shoes

Why?! For 30 minutes you can ride with your bare feet...

..."cages"?
Caged pedals usually refer to pedals that have resin or alloy body with a steel cage like these:
http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_info.php?products_id=433871

I've always used the term "clips and straps" (which can be mounted to caged pedals) for those other things.

'clipless pedals' is one of those secret words or phrases that can be confusing to many but makes total sense to those belonging to the cult of bicycling. It means 'pedals with a foot retention system but without toe clips' and makes little sense without knowledge of toe clips.
Words can get in the way of communication, have you noticed?

lol, yes, words can sometimes definitely get in the way of communication.

I don't really want to get into a longer debate than we've been in so far on the topic of word definitions. I'm just saying that when people try to "correct" the OP's terminology, as a biker for the last 15 years and a forum member for the last several years my gut doesn't quite agree with the corrections. Calling anything "clips" make sense to me on a technical level but wasn't commonly enough used that I even really knew what they meant until the last year or two (if it was very common I expect I would have heard of it before, I've know what clipless pedals and disc brakes were for...years and years). And "cages" meaning the outer part of a platform pedal? Well now I'm just out, lol.

Mountain shoes are more comfortable than road shoes, but there's no way you'd want to be wearing them off the bike all day.

Depends on the shoes, but they were usable for me.

Then again, I'd highly recommend to the OP that he try the shoes on first before buying them. Someone else has probably said the same thing in this thread already.