toe clips and shoes
 

hi,
I like to use toe... clips for my commute... and it looks like I need to get another pair of shoes.

I was wearing a pair of running shoes but I wanted to know what other toe clips users wear.

- are there a particular style and / or brand of shoe that you find to be comfortable
- are they an athletic style of shoe?
- are there any recommendations for a shoe that works for business casual?

I am not interested in clipless shoes / pedals.

thanks!

I wear Keen sandals. Their toebox fit just right inside the toe clip. Very comfortable.

You need a fairly smooth sole that you can pull out quickly. Note that the toe clip (and presumably, strap) will wear a bit on your shoe, so don't use too fancy a shoe. I used to use toe clips with Sperry boat or dock shoes but they would wear out along the stitching from the friction of using toe clips with straps.

Thats the hard part about using toe clips with anything other than running/cross training shoes. Converse/Puma/Adidas shell toes were great for getting in and out of the clips, but the soles were too thin and flexy to make them comfortable for more than a couple miles.

I have used my lace-up Shimano clipless shoes with the little rubber cleat cover/sole piece that they came with (the piece that comes bolted on where the cleat should be) before with toe cages and it worked pretty well. My particular shoes actually kinda look like running/cross training shoes, so they aren't too out of place with casual attire either. The downside is that walking is a bit stiff though, since the sole is so firm, and they certainly aren't appropriate for business attire. Most loafers I tried had too wide of a toe to fit in the cage properly, and most dress shoes have too pointy of a toe to get a good foot placement on the pedals.

Do you have a locker or someplace you can stash shoes at work? That was eventually the best solution for me - wear running shoes on the bike, then change when I got to work.

There is still the old racing option, cycling shoes and slotted cleats; an option over 120 years old and that works as well as any of the new systems when you pull the straps tight as long as 1) you do not need float and 2) you can remember to release your toeclips when you stop.

Now, this system is by no means "walkable" though I have taken a pair of cycling shoes and had a cobbler add rubber around tehhe cleat and put on a heel. Not quite "normal" but very walkable. And those shoes do not damage floors nor do I slip.

I do fully half my riding on those traditional cycling shoes. If you want to go this route, get LOOK compatible (3-bolt pattern) shoes and look for Exustar track cleats. The simple ones, 2 bolt costing ~$20, are the ones you want, not the fancy (and far more expensive) sprinter's cleats that lock into the pedal. That setup is radically better than anything we had back when there were no other options. Easy to set up, easy to adjust and really good, long lasting cleats.

Ben

There are plenty of traditional and more stylish docker's

In years gone by I used to use LL Bean's Ranger Oxfords, a moccasin style lace up upper and smooth thick rubber sole with steel insert. The rubber wore into a cleat style slot and the uppers took well to the straps being pulled tight and me pulling hard (this was all on a fix gear riding commutes with hills, Boston/Brookline's Goddard Ave and Seattle). Plus they were excellent walking shoes. Looked good in a casual setting but were not dress shoes. More recent versions of the Ranger Oxfords have had lugged Vibram soles which do not lend themselves to toe clips and I haven't purchased a pair since the '80s. The shoes were fully re-soleable and I had several pairs that got two new soles.

(If someone sees the flat soled versions, let me know. I'll be there tomorrow! Great, great shoes for riding/walking!)

Ben

A Fairly Smooth Soled Touring Shoe
 

is what I wore as a commuter back in the 1980s with toe clips. You want a firm sole to protect your foot from flexing while you ride. But you want a smooth-ish rubber sole to permit entry/exit from the pedal-clip and to allow you to walk normally. Leave work shoes at work to change.

You don't want flexible running shoes or boat shoes. They'll fatigue your foot. My two cents.

I remember reading one BF poster who buys 2nd hand leather dress shoes at Goodwill or somesuch, and wears them cycling. They're stiff soled, breathable, disposable, and stylish...
This might be the way to go for you?

its possible... I did do that for a bit. I left my work shoes at my desk and used the running shoes for biking..

Bean Oxfords

These look like they might do the trick for you, Ben.

The shoes I own that would be best for clips and straps are also the most expensive. All leather, hard/smooth rubber soles, etc.

I'm tempted to give them a go, but also worried about damaging them in the clips. Though, I also feel silly owning shoes that I seldom wear for fear of marring them. I ought to just go for it and wear them because they are the right shoe for the job and comfortable everywhere else to boot

This may sound like a strange suggestion, but when I was using toe clips and straps, the best shoes I had were clipless shoes without a cleat attached. The advantage is the ridged sole. With less flex in the sole, more energy goes to the pedals.

Without a cleat attached, there's no clicking around the halls.

I know you said you're not interested in clipless pedals but this clipless shoes might work for you (for business casual). I ride on them and wear it at work. As mentioned above, you can use it without the cleats.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=464389

they do look pretty nice... I didn't know that one could use clipless shoes without the cleats...

Not to be a pedant about spelling but to make sure nobody misunderstands, you mean rigid. Ridges are not good :)

Yes, you can. It looks like this: (borrowed pic from internet because I cannot find the exact pic of my shoes with the covers on)
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=464403

If you decide to go clipless later, you just have to remove the cover and install the cleats.

Thank you. Yes, I meant rigid.

I commute with toe clips and had been merely using old walking/running shoes. But they were too flexible. I now just buy cheap skateboad shoes at wallyworld. Flat and firm soles, cheap enough to ruin, and mine are black suede. Haven't ruined or muddied them yet. However, I keep a separate pair of shoes at the office to wear.

To make it more biking friendly, put a stiff arch support insole in your shoes.

do you have a recommendation of a brand / model ?

Its like saddles go try some in person ..

I still have Birkenstock 3/4 insoles they are cork composites no plastic stiffeners , like 'super feet'. or Spenco do.

The US importer of Birks quit bringing the Insoles in, so now you seek a German retailer to ship them

superfeet, spenco , go shopping.. the stiff arch support is the part that helps..

Chrome Industries makes some good sneakers. I like the Forged Rubber series.

I like wearing running shoes but they usually do have those big ridges and bumps on the soles... so I found some flat platform pedals that are easy to get into and don't grab the ridges.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/i...-platform.jpeg

I used to do a lot of road and mountain bike riding in Chuck Taylor Converse high tops and toe clips.

I agree. I have those too. Same pedals, different shoes. Again, you can keep the cover on if you do not want to use clipless pedals/cleats
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=464574

normally, one can't just "try on" insoles, one has to buy them and try them out... you could flex them to see if they have stiffness but the usual ones I find in stores are made to provide cushion and not stiffness...

so assuming that they are special in that way, I wouldn't even have a clue where to find "stiff" insoles... possibly from a pharmacy, certainly not shoe stores, or dept stores like walmart, target and the like...

now, it just so happened that I was discussing this with my friend over lunch and coincidentally, his doctor recommended a set of "powerstep" insoles and that they could be found on amazon...