Originally Posted by
FZ1Tom
I've got a Trek 7200 at the moment with Bontrager toe straps. Really awkward.
Some folks said stay away from clipless, some said stay away from toe straps, some said just use plain old platform, etc.
I'm wondering if there's any one pedal and shoe combo that could be used on the Trek, maybe also a Masi fixed and/or some kind of road bike down the path. I wear a size 10 wide, and money is definitely a big issue.
I would also prefer to be able to walk around in the shoes if necessary, so clopping along in road shoes is out. Something akin to hiking shoes would be nice - I don't need super stiff soles, just something easy to use and affordable
Suggestions, anyone?
Thanks!
Tom
There are three schools of thought here, the first, clipless and only ever clipless, if you do not have clipless pedals then you are not a cyclist. Of course they forget the fact that you need special shoes, that can give you a gait when walking that resembles that of a penguin. Of course there is always the unclip right and fall left problem.
Second school says clipless are for pansies, and that real cyclists use clips and leather straps. They forget that clips and straps can be a pita and that the pedal is always wrong side up, until you reach down and turn it right side up, of course more then one cyclist has crashed while goofing with the pedal.
Third platforms, no special shoes, no goofing with wrong side up pedals, not perfect though, in that you can run into a synchronization error, where the foot and pedal end up in different places, less likely when the pedals have teeth, but when it does happen and the teeth bite into the back of your leg, it's not nice.
One thing to remember MTB pedals will work on road bikes and road pedals will work on mountain bikes. A lot of riders find that using the same clipless pedals on all bikes makes it easier, in that different pedals may work slightly differently and you forget which pedal on which bike works which way. Typically mountain bike shoes have the cleat more or less recessed into the shoe, so walking is easier. Although Shimano now has a walkable road shoe, made in a similar way. By using the same pedal on all bikes then you know the same shoes and cleats can be used with all bikes. There are combination clipless/platform pedals, which are clipless on one side and platform on the other, not sure if once turned one way or the other they generally stay that way or whether they flop over like clip & strap pedals do.
Size 10 shouldn't be a problem, cycling shoes often use European sizes, there are shoe size conversion charts available online like
this one If you find a Shimano shoe doesn't fit right try another brand, there are several brands, some of the athletic shoe companies also have cycling shoe lines.