Originally Posted by
DanBell
For me it's not the weight of carrying a second pair of shoes, it's the space they take up. I'm planning a long trip now and have decided to switch to clips and straps instead of clipless pedals, which I've been riding for about six years now. If you only want a spare pair of shoes for walking to the restaurant from your motel, then probably any pair of light, compact camp shoes will work. I plan on doing some hiking and camping on this trip as well as cycling though, so I wanted shoes that could handle that, like some trail runners or light hikers. Once I began considering shoes like that, it didn't make sense to bring them in addition to cycling shoes.
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I see your point, packing my light hiking shoes in the panniers is an inconvenience due to shape, they pack rather poorly.
But, I tour with a friend that on trips where we have had a few consecutive days of rain, he is looking for a drug store to buy stuff for his feet. He always uses one pair of shoes and once they are soaked, he starts having foot problems. One trip we had to sit in a campsite for a day while his feet recovered.
I have used my light hiking/trail running shoes on the first dry day after several wet days to ride all day long without problems. They are Merrill Moab shoes with a goretex liner in them. (I mentioned these shoes in post number 7 above.) Their soles are stiff enough that they work well all day on the bike on platform pedals. That way my bike shoes can be strapped outside my bags and get a chance to dry out after getting soaked. If necessary I will wear flip flops in a wet campsite to make sure that I do not get both pair of shoes soaked.
I use pedals that have SPD cleats on one side, platform on the other, thus I can ride with either pair of shoes.