Originally Posted by
staehpj1
For me the answer depends on how much hiking and how tough the expected terrain is. I insist on "real" bike shoes which to me means bike specific shoes with cleats for clipless pedals. If the hiking is fairly short distances (a few miles at most) and the terrain not too difficult, just my SPD Sidis are fine. If I require better hiking footwear for long/difficult hikes I carry a second pair of footwear. In that case I might take any of a variety choices. Racing flats seem pretty ideal, but I have used a number of other shoe types successfully.
+1
I use a bike shoe that is efficient and comfortable on the bike.
Mine are Lake shoes similar to Machka's, but I also carry a pair of lightweight running shoes. We do a lot of walking on our tours, and it is also nice to get out of the bike shoes at the end of the day.
On one of our tours we did 40 miles of trail hiking, plus a lot of around town walking. I would not want to subject good cycling shoes to that abuse; nor would I want to subject my feet to a stiff soled cycling shoe. I'm not sure you can have a shoe stiff enough to be a good cycling shoe,and still be flexible enough to be a good walking shoe; you end up with a shoe not good for either activity.
