Originally Posted by
Don Gwinn
So I've been looking around, and the first thing that caught my eye were "pedal covers" that convert some pedals into platforms. It's hard to figure out what search terms to use, but I found a few examples that look like they would fit Egg Beaters and some that look like they're made for Speedplay Frogs. I could see leaving those in my panniers until I have a use for them. Couldn't find any discussion of them here, though, and they don't look all that durable.
They're not. I have some, used them a few times between maybe 5-10 years ago (same reason as you). The plastic part of them simply cannot last when being used as a virtual cleat. They're pretty much single-use only unless you want to disassemble your pedal to put them in and take them out. And they're not that sturdy either.
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
I don't understand this need for riding your bike in street shoes. If I have my bike with me, my
bike shoes are near by. Changing shoes isn't al that difficult and, if you are using recessed cleats, bike shoes are comfortable enough for walking. I've even walked 10 to 15 miles in them...not suggesting anyone do that
Agreed. If you would go to the trouble of putting on "pedal covers" then you might as well go to the smaller trouble of just using shoes with cleats. I have Crank Bros Candy on both my bikes, and you can ride them with regular shoes well enough, especially if you have an athletic shoe with a decent tread, such light hiking shoes or even cross trainers. The pedal parts and protrusions will dig into your tread and give you a decent pedalling platform.
I also have two pairs of shoes, one is the "commuter-style" Shimano MT21 (very easy to walk in, does not look like a bike shoe, has standard laces, very durable sole, out of production but you can Google Image Search what they look like) and a pair of older Specialized MTB specific shoes (stiffer, narrower, harder to walk in, great on trails, not bad for road rides either, esp when you have to walk to a tree to take a leak and everyone else is duck walkin'). But I've even done group rides in my commuter shoes - they are pretty much a do-everything shoe.
When I ride unclipped (in my bikes shoes of course) because there's extra caution needed, I just bring my foot forward a bit and ride more on the front bridge of my foot than the ball. It works fine for short distances, and if I'm unclipped I'm going slow anyway.
My 2c.