We both use mountain style shoes on our tandem. My shoes are very old and I'm looking at the Shimano RT 82's. My wife (stoker) is using the Pearl Izumi running shoes currently after having some toe numbness with the more traditional style shoe, she thinks she is needing a larger toe box which I'm looking into now. For pedals I use PD A530 in front which gives me the option to clip in or not. The stoker started with the A530's but is now using Speedplay Frogs pedals as she likes the zero tension after knee surgery last year.