I have shimano MTB shoes M087 and eggbeater 2s. They are golden, work great and are low maintainence, bought through performance bike for $90 and $60 respectively (patience and heavy discounts were key here, but good/better deals can probably be found on ebay and amazon). I feel similarly about the frustration with lack of power transfer and stability with non-clipless. I commuted for 4-5 months on platforms and tennis-shoes, and it worked, but it wasn't as fun or satisfying. I was thinking about getting the candy's when I built a new bike, but the eggbeaters worked so well and I was concerned that the platforms on the candy's would do more harm than good (the concern seems unfounded from prior posts on this thread). Tennis shoes with cleats always seemed so much heavier than all the other shoes, so I shied away, but to be honest, my mountain shoes are pretty hefty themselves. I would recommend any shoe with a nice heel, pegs or platforms under the ball to keep the cleat from being the only contact with the ground, some rubber on the bottom and SPD style so they're compatible with eggbeaters.