Our main touring pedal right now is the the Shimano 324, but I have the 540's on one of my bikes. One of the reasons I like the SPD pedals is the durability of the cleats. My wife and I have used Look pedals for a number of years, and I really like the feel of them. What I didn't like is that on any tour over 2 months long, was having to replace at least one cleat. We both unclip with our right foot when stopping, and that right cleat just takes a beating.

The advantages of the Shimano 324 type pedal has been pretty well coverd. The thing I don't like about them is that the clip always seems to be on the bottom, and requires flipping it over. This is not a big deal, except when starting up on a steep hill. I'm tempted to use the 540's on this summers tour, but when it comes time to prep the bikes, I'll still probably put the 324's on mine.

We both use Lake shoes that are sold as a road shoe( they would take the 3-hole Look pedals, but has a sole more like a mountain bike shoe. They are a good touring shoe, and I wish they still made them, CX 125. We carry walking shoes and change if we plan on doing any walking. I don't want to compromise my riding shoe for something that is "walk friendly." I'd rather carry some running shoes for off bike use. These shoes are about 10 years old and have seen really hard use.

We each have a pair of the more "walk friendly" mountain bike shoes that we wear when riding around town, and for shorter rides. They might be OK for touring, but I've never ridden any longer than 2-3 hours wearing them up to this time.

I took this picture the other day to illustrate the difference in wetness and dirt on shoes, pants and bike when riding in the rain with no fenders. I was trying a new bike out on a short 2-day ride, and was too lazy to put fenders on it even though I knew we would have rain on the second day. Anyway, the clean small foot is my wife's (she has fenders), and the big dirty one is mine.


These are Shimano mountain bike shoes that my wife uses for around town riding and short trips. She thinks that they would make a deceent touring shoe. She also uses Shimano 324 pedals both on her town bike and her touring bike. I have a similar pair, and believe the combination of lacing and velcro strap provide a snug fit. Yes, those are tomato plants in her rack trunk. I should never let her go to the store by herself!