Cleats vs Traffic
 

I ride my road bike with Look Keo pedals, cleated. It's a real pain in start-n-stop traffic.

I ride my other bikes with toe clips, which is more functional traffic-wise but my 40+ km each way commute can leave my arches REALLY sore when wearing flexible street shoes!

Are there some stiff-soled bike shoes that are especailly good to use as "flats," preferably with a slender enough toe to make toe clips simple?

Thanks!

(been looking through the archives, not really seeing this topic addressed...)

I use an old pair of cycling shoes for that, but if you are buying a new pair just go for something cheap. Back in the old days we had cleats for the toe clips too, just a straight line notch that mated with the pedal. I don't know if they're available anymore, but probably are.

Agreed, road pedals are a pain in traffic because they really are not designed for frequent stops and starts. If I want to ride my road bike to commute I switch out the pedals to a double sided (mountain bike style) SPD. IMHO standard double sided SPD type pedals are far easier to use than toe clips. With them you have a lot of options for cycling shoes and considering the distance you ride I'm not surprised that your feet are giving you trouble in standard shoes. The thing about a double sided SPD is that the pedals are always right below you, and right side up. you put your foot on it and you are clipped in. Too many people over think this and are scared to be clipped in but it becomes second nature quickly and traffic stops are not a problem.

Switch to SPDs.

Traffic is the last place I want to have my feet slipping off the pedals, or to be wobbling around looking at my feet while I fuss with toe clips, cages, or straps.

I've got about 25,000 miles on SPDs in traffic on my commuters. Liked it so much, I have SPDs on all four of my bikes now. I'm always clipped-in the the first half-rotation of the crank. There's no apparent downside when I'm out on club rides. Better still, I can walk when I stop on the way for errands, and the three flights of stairs to/from my apartment are also trouble-free.

For the record, there are 47 stoplights or stop signs in my 9-mile round-trip commute, roughly five a mile or one every 1,000 feet.

I use the single-sided A-520 road/touring SPD pedal. After the bearings are broken-in (500-700 miles), they always flop to the right position to clip-in without even thinking about it. I seem to get about 10,000 miles on a pair before the spindle bearings get sloppy. They're $35 or so if you shop carefully, so I'm not upset when it comes time to replace them.

+1 on this, if you want to stay connected to the pedals while commuting SPD is the way to go. You can get in and out without even thinking about it.

Another (unpopular?) option to think about is platforms - I switched from SPDs to platforms about a year ago and it's pretty nice. You wear whatever shoes you want, you never worry about getting in/out of the pedals, and (in my case anyway) it doesn't slow you down. There's been threads here in Commuting where others say that they feel more secure with clipless and are afraid their feet will slip off of platforms, especially if there's rain or snow - but it's definitely an option that simplifies things for commuters.

I commute with SPD's and the Tahoe shoes from Specialized. I can easily clip in and out as needed in traffic and then walk into work.

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftr...-fitness-shoes

SPD's will work great in traffic plus you can walk in them too unlike road shoes which you will waddle like a duck and they can be a pain when trying to clip in all the time.

The only downside, at least to mountain SPDs when used on longer rides is that they can create a "hot spot" on the foot after long miles. This happened to me so for longer rides, I use road pedals that offer more surface area for my foot.

I too ride with platforms. I have no issues with slipping since they have studs on them. They stick well. If people have issues with slipping on platform pedals, thy have chosen the wrong pedal/shoe combination. I rode all winter with this setup with no problems in the snow, in traffic.

Your best option is to find what you like, platforms, clipless, etc.

I much prefer flat pedals for urban commuting. I used cleats for a couple of years, and enjoyed them, but the second winter I went to flat pedals, so I could ride in boots, and by spring I realized I didn't miss the cleats. I have no concerns re foot slippage since I'm not racing or riding all out, or on muddy trails etc. You can deal with arch issues by repositioning your foot a little farther forward than toe clips allow. You can stop by a curb on the left or right side of the road and put your foot down without thinking. Since you are stopped anyway, there is no time lost if you need to reposition the crank to start. At moderate commuting speeds there is negligible power or efficiency advantage to cleats or clips compared to flat pedals.

In my clipless days I had mountain bike shoes with a recessed cleat, but even so the rubber around them quickly wore down enough that they clacked on the floor, so I didn't want to wear them beyond my carpeted entryway. So I could only put them on as I left my house and take them off as I entered. At work I wore them to and from my office, clacking as I went, and then changed into other shos for the workday. Now I no longer have to change shoes at the beginning and end of each ride.

The only thing I used to do with cleats, that I can't do so easily now is lift the rear wheel and pedal with the cleated foot to change gears while stopped. However that was only an occasional need in any event.

My commute is only 11 km, but I go on longer rec rides up to 75 in flat pedals.

Big platform pedals, do an effective job of supporting street shoes..
You can buy stiff arch support insoles, to put in shoes to further stiffen them.
but still have the forefoot flexible to not have your heel ride up out of the shoe.

If you are stuck on the clips, make sure to check out the Tahoes linked above. Most cycling shoes have a bit of bulk, especially around the sole area, but at least these are laced, which makes clip entry less annoying.

Maybe try sole inserts like superfeet. I use them and it make my reg sneakers stiff and feel better (i use a530 peddels...half clip half flat).

I just wear sneakers with clips. It's just a commute after all; I'm not racing anyone.

People. The OP is riding a 40+km commute each way, that is a considerable distance. He is a road biker, used to clips, and is having foot issues from soft soled shoes.

I'm sorry, but suggesting platform pedals as the solution to his problem is just plain bad advice.

Learn to trackstand.

I use Shimano (mountain bike type) SPD's on my commute bike (DaHon folder) and I would recommend them for the OP (as have others above) but the other pedal I would recommend is the Crank Bros. Egg-Beater.

I ride Egg-Beaters on my fixed gear bike and find them very easy to get into, esp. because I have to hit a moving target when riding the fixed gear, i.e. 4 positions to click-in as opposed to just 2 with the SPD's.

Rick / OCRR

I also like the front replaceable cleats on the toe of MTN shoes to take some of the wear from stopping at lights. They can be replaced alot easier than the rubber. More expensive Mtn shoes also have stiffer soles that help with hotspots.
Eric

I got some old loose fitting cycling shoes from the nail on cleat era modified
with the help of the shoe repair shop. to recess the slot cleat in the sole.
by building up the sole, but for the cleat gap

OP likes his road clipless pedals except for when he has to start and stop..

might hate the Spud type shoe and pedal.. Oh well .. YMMV..

I tried commuting using Look pedals this summer, and eventually I was okay at getting in pretty efficiently on starts (I have a 20 mile one way commute, involving mostly MUP but the beginning 2-3 miles and ending 3-4 miles are city streets, where I have to start/stop every 500/1000 feet or so).

One other huge advantage to SPDs for commuting is that the steel cleats don't wear out nearly as quickly as Look cleats. Admittedly, I've learned to protect them better over time, but even being pretty careful, I doubt I would ever get much more than 6 months out of a set of Looks in regular commuting duty, where I've been running the same SPD cleats for over 2 years with no issues. I have a pair of MTB shoes that I use most of the time because they look like sneakers and I can walk without clicking too badly. I also have a pair of road shoes that will accept SPD cleats, but I find them all but impossible to walk in off the bike because they have no traction!

I use $35 mountain bike shoes with SPD cleats. They work fine either with SPD or platform pedals. I agree that street shoes get painful when riding.

+1 I went from SPDs to double sided SPD platform, to just platforms. I can't imagine going back.

I ride on platform pedals and steel-toed work shoes. These shoes have a stiff safety shank and give excellent support. Lots of people tell me what I am doing does not work. Works for me or maybe I just don't know any better.

Don in Austin

No, it's just an alternative point of view. Clipless or clipped pedals are not some magical thing, they're just two options among several. What he's doing isn't working, and he might as well hear a variety of suggestions.

. . . in your opinion. 40km is not much of a hassle for me on platforms - maybe he will go the spd route, but using flats is not bad advice, it's just a suggestion. :)

I ride a 25 mile round trip and sometimes switch out to platform pedals even in the summer. With mountain shoes it's just fine. I run platforms all winter.

Honestly with toe clips, platforms to me seem pretty much identical to clipless.

25 miles = 40 km.