Originally Posted by
mm718
Wear shoes that are comfortable for you. I wear flexible skate shoes and notice no loss in efficiency. As long as the pedal is big enough you'll have adequate support.
With a big flat pedal, you don't need an overly stiff shoe. I like the Columbia Supervent shoes. You can wear them without socks, thin or thick socks or even waterproof socks.
Agreed. Use larger platform pedals and you don't need to worry about shoe stiffness. I like the MKS Lambdas because they're fairly long, so they support most of my foot. There's also a large selection of downhill mountain bike pedals that will work well if you feel you need the added grip of metal pins. I actually prefer the pinless Lambdas.