Originally Posted by CastIron
Bob you seem a little whipped up about reviews of various products. Allow me to suggest not to be. Moving on...
There are a ton of various cleat/pedal mechanisms. Most are pretty good. At this point I think it's pretty unlikely you'll notice much difference between them while pedaling down the road. Road shoes/cleats/pedals are all about speed on the bike. This means a larger platform for slightly better power transfer. Mountain systems are built to be walkable, shed mud, and still deliver virtually all of the efficiency of road cleats--call it ~95%. Shimano makes BOTH types. SPD being their version for MTB use (and commonly touring, recreational road, cyclocross).
The different cleat systems are all about preference. Little more. If you like SPD then stick with it, buy another set of cleats for $10 and stick 'em on another pair of shoes you like. It's that simple. Really.
Well, the reviews serve as a starting point. I look for, among other things, consistency in comments as well as consistency in a product company. Seeing a lot of Specilized shoes getting very high ratings across the board reflects well - especially since I can only actually try a limited number of shoes (one of the problems of being on an island).
Based on more research and comments here, I may opt to stick with the SPD for awhile - thus get a mountain shoe since, I think, only the eggbeaters may work with both types of shoes if I don't use a platform style.
I sorta like the platform idea, but I'm not ready to give up on the sandals completely. Maybe I'll find the other shoes, given the higher quality over what I have, to be comfortable and cool enough for normal wear. If so, then next time I may switch to road shoes.
I do walk in my bike sandals - in fact, when my old pair were pretty worn and I replaced them, I still used the old pair for normal walking. But mostly I just walk from my apartment to outside and from where I lock the bike at the beach into a beach restaurant for breakfast, so walking comfort is nice, but not critical.
Bob