billydonn

These Pearl Izumi X-Alps work well for me for what you describe. If you see some at your LBS you should give them a try... pretty walkable IMO.

Longfemur

There is no shoe that meets the original poster's requirements. Even the walkable SPD shoes are still cycling shoes. You can't have it both ways unless you have it crappy both ways. If the shoe is stiff enough to be a useful cycling shoe, it's too stiff to walk in except intermittently when you have to. If the shoe is soft enough to walk in, it's too soft for prolonged cycling on those tiny SPD platforms. You would be assured of having numbness or pain problems on anything longer than a 10 km ride.

I've read plenty of internet posts and articles in which the author claims to wear the same shoes for cycling and all-day walking. I say that's either baloney or the author isn't very particular, or is someone who posts a lot but doesn't actually ride. Try it for yourself and you'll see. The "walkable" shoe idea is really more of a cycling shoe that is walkable for intermittent use when you have to get off the bike such as to go to the rest room or to stop for coffee.

Besides, even if the cleat doesn't grind or crunch on the ground as you walk when the shoe is new, it's guaranteed to do so as soon as the sole wears down a little.

If you really need both normal walking and normal riding, you're better off using a non-clipless pedals that has a good, wide platform for normal shoes... perhaps with toe clips minus the straps.

Plutonix

I have a pair of Shimano MT21s that seem decent. I mainly use them to ride ~15mi to the park and then to play a round of Disc Golf. My MTB shoes had too much tread that it was hurting my knee to play in them. They definitely flex less than normal shoes, bur not so little that I am constantly bothered by them. They are still not ideal for DG but THEY are not the reason my game sucks.

I have never noticed them click on the linoleum or tile at home nor the concrete Ts at the course the cleats do seem flush, or only minimally recessed, from the sole so they might clack a little on some surfaces.

billydonn

Please tell us how much riding is required of a poster to meet your high standards. OP was only about "moderate amounts" of walking... not all-day hikes.

Longfemur

You'll have to decide that for yourself. Get the shoes, ride and walk with them, and see how it goes. My experience with any extensive walking in mountain bike SPD-compatible was never positive... and that was in shoes that were generally well-recommended. There's just too much of a compromise necessary to make it usable both ways to any great extent. If the rides are short, or the walking is short, then, do you really need SPD pedals, or do you really need walking shoes?

BTW, while I do ride a road bike, I'm not some snotty roadie. I too followed internet advice about this years ago when I first went to clipless pedals. Wasted a lot of money that way. Walkable SPD was developed for mountain bike riding... there's a reason for that.

BengeBoy 

Just to clarify my original question:

- I was looking for "walkable" shoes for moderate walking. I define that as shoes that I might use commuting, or even on a weekend credit-card touring trip. That would mean I'd like to be able to stroll into a store or restaurant, check into a motel, maybe even walk into a movie theater in a small town. I don't expect cycling shoes to be really "good" for walking -- but I would like a shoe that I can wear on a hard-surface floor *without* the cleats clicking on the floor. (Even if the cleats aren't actually damaging the floor, I don't want a store owner thinking that I'm scratching the floor when I walk across it).

- Or, to be more more explicit - on the Washington State Ferry system we put our bikes down on the car deck, and then walk up some stairs to have a seat in the passenger lounge. As you get up to the passenger deck, there is a sign that says, "No Cleats in the Passenger Area." (The surface is tile). Typically what I do is take my shoes off at that point and run around on the ferry in my socks. I'd like to have a pair of SPD shoes that I can wear in the passenger area of the Washington State Ferry system without feeling guilty.

I tried some of the Pearl Izumi's mentioned above and returned them due to "clicking."

- As Longfemur noted, another option I've tried is platform pedals and tennis shoes, which I liked in the summer, but it's not working for me in the rain. Too slippery.

wobblyoldgeezer

I've been just fine with a pair of Nike SPD compatible shoes.

3 years as my main bike shoes now

Only shoes I've brought for week long tours on several occasions . Don't clatter on the floor, comfy for walking, firm for pedalling. Silver velcro is a bit disco glitter ball, but I'm not the most elegant of people anyhow

tsl

I have a pair of these. I wear them for two four-hour shifts every week at work, where I'm on my feet, on linoleum floors, all day.

Never any clicking on smooth floors like lino or my hardwood (maple) floors at home. There's very little clearance so anything larger than a grain of sand will grind, and they'll click on that fancy textured ceramic tile like they use in some restaurants. But on the smooth floors at home and at work they're just fine.

I do find that sometimes they squeak on my A520 pedals. Never the same foot, and I can't pin down the conditions.

EDIT: I give 'em a little spritz of Camp Dry every now and again, and they're pretty good in the wet without booties too.

maddmaxx 

Have you ever tried large platform SPD pedals like A520's?

BluesDawg

Don't you love it when someone tells you not to want what you want?

I think we are all old enough to realize that everything is a compromise. But there are many ways to approach a compromise and it makes perfect sense to look for products that excel at the things that matter most to you and that give up things you care less about. The posters asking the questions here have been riding long enough to have tried a lot of different things and have a good idea of the options available and the strengths and weaknesses of each type of shoe/pedal/cleat type.

I am not a person who seeks one kind of shoe and pedal system for every application. I don't mind having different shoes for different bikes or different rides.

For ultimate stiffness, riding comfort and performance, I go with road shoes and Look (or similar) pedals without hesitation. A quick duck-walk into a convenience store or restaurant is no big deal when riding is the clear priority.

For ultimate walkability and convenience, regular shoes with platform pedals or cage pedals with toe clips and straps would be the obvious choice.

What I'm looking for with this new bike is a different set of priorities. I'm looking for shoes that would be suitable for walking a little more than my road shoes allow. Not all day walking, but maybe a half hour or an hour of walking around at some interesting attraction I see while riding or for walking a few hundred yards of hallways, stairs and floors between the parking lot and the showers at work.
The magic mix of features I want is a shoe that is comfortable to wear, has recessed cleats to make walking more practical, has soles stiff enough to prevent hot spots and has tread soft enough to grip floors better than the hard lugs on my dedicated MTB shoes.

The route I want to take is Crank Bros. pedals (Smartys for now because I already have a spare set, probably an upgrade to Candys later) and compatible shoes with more of a commuting/touring bias than for hardcore offroad use.
I'm not looking for an unattainable ideal, but looking for something that provides as good a compromise as I can find for the priorities of this bike and the riding I have in mind for it.

Homer & G

I have a pair of the Bontrager "Street" shoes that seem like a good compromise when I use SPD for situations where I'll be on and off the bike. Mine don't click on hard floors, but the soles aren't very worn yet. The center section removes so the SPD cleat mounts in the recessed area. Review here.

Longfemur

I'm not telling anyone what they should or shouldn't do. I'm just suggesting things they might want to think about.

All in all, if walking is important, I think it's better to use non-cycling shoes that are comfortable on regular pedals with a toe clip (strap or no strap), than it is to use a cycling shoe that is marginally walkable. My experience with various mountain bike-type compatible shoes is that even if you get no clacking when they are new, you do when the sole wears down a little. Also, if you ride a finely tuned and painstakingly set-up road bike, the walkable SPD-type shoes are like dancing the ballet in big heavy construction boots. It has to be that way, because if the cleat is to be recessed enough for walking, you pretty much have to have a big clunky sole around them.

By the way, don't bother suggesting other brands or models of pedals, because it's not the pedal, it's the shoe.

kr32

try these, I have a pair , they work real well.

https://road.cc/content/news/955-firs...sh-mt32l-shoes

maddmaxx 

Only recomending that which Shimano calls their Road Sport and Touring Shoe and Pedal system.

Dellphinus

[QUOTE=BengeBoy;10020745]My update (si

Dellphinus

Lets try this again, last post from phone didn't work so well.
If you liked the tennis shoes, try picking up a pair of MKS touring pedals or similar, and a pair of Powergrips. I rode these for four years, with tennis shoes, hiking boots in winter, and MTB shoes without cleats. They really are worth checking out, might be your ultimate solution.