Originally Posted by
creativepart
I went with SPD (mountain bike) clipless for my introduction to bike pedals/shoes. They work very well. I really wanted to be able to walk in the shoes. I found some SPD bike shoes that don't look like hiking boots -- they look like bike shoes -- but they do have a rubber sole and I can put them on in the bedroom and walk to the Garage without worry. Plus they are easy to "unclip" and that's a concern when starting out.
This is my story, too, except that I have no garage. I walk my bike up a flight of steps to get to the road, though, and I like stopping from time to time when I ride. There's a park about 15 miles south of me, a peninsula jutting into the lake, and sometimes I like to lay the bike down in the grass and walk along the shore for a few minutes, then get back on the bike and find another scenic spot.
I have carbon fiber soled mountain shoes. They're incredibly stiff. In fact, you can get SIDI Dominator and other road shoes, but with mountain hole patterns. That isn't what I have, but, if you go down a route like that, there's
no power loss compared to road systems. I don't think you'll lose any noticeable amount of power anyway; shoe flex is more a comfort issue.
Go mountain if you want to be able to walk around easily, and road if you don't.