"As for the shoes, not being able to walk in them is a sacrifice most roadies are willing to take, especially those who own Trek Madones. Road shoes are not only much lighter, but they allow you to use larger road specific cleats."
Not a sacrifice I'm taking. Most guys at my LBS use MTB Shoes, even one who rides a track bike.
"You'll get plenty of great advice here. Unfortunately, you'll also have to skate around immature postings from a few bad apples like 'Zumba', who tend to waste space and other people's time. Best thing to do with such trolls is to ignore them and don't respond to them. Looks like you're pretty savvy to this anyway- obviously you're immensely more mature than this guy 'Zumba'."
Advice taken.