Yeah, there are lots of things that aren't necessary "unless you're racing" but that doesn't mean they don't have advantages outside of racing. Whether one finds those advantages worth the cost, hassle, or whatever is up to them.

I love riding clipless.

However, I hate having special shoes. I like riding to work, to the store etc in any old shoes, sportshoes, or winter boots I like. Platforms with studs are my choice. Clipless feel nicer when riding, but platforms give me more freedom.

I have always used MTB shoes or street shoes with cleats: Kursk Pro Bike Sneakers Black | Bike Sneaker SPD | Chrome Industries or Shimano M088 Mountain Bike Shoes - Men's - Free Shipping at REI.com and I have an older pair of Shimano MTB shoes with laces. All are good for walking. I wore the Chrome all day in the office for a year or two. I've never had a pair of road shoes, since nearly every ride I go on includes my office, a store, a coffee shop, a bar, .... I only want bike shoes that allow me to walk comfortably.

Agree. I've tried some walkable, MTB shoes only - knew right away that regular road bike shoes are not for me. Still, prefer just plain clothes shoes. I commute for around 30 minutes, then spend at least 8 hours at work. And changing shoes is a hassle for me - prefer to just not worry about it. Simpler.

For recreational rides, I LOVE SPD clipless shoes and pedals. But for commuting, platforms with studs are more than good enough.

I've used 'walkable' MTB shoes. The stiff soles were uncomfortable, and then when walking outside to lunch or something, the slightest hint of gravel would make them crunch as I walked. I much prefer platforms for commuting.

combo platform/SPD pedals for me! i have them on all of my bikes. i very much prefer to ride clipless, but i also really like the flexibility of being to ride with regular shoes if i just want to hop on a bike to run a quick errand. win-win!

for commuting, i ride with MTB shoes with a recessed SPD cleat. i've been using the same shoes for 7 years now! again, i love the flexibility, i like being clipped in when i'm riding, but then i can still walk around like a normal person when i'm off the bike. win-win!

I strongly prefer riding clipless. My "walkable" shoes make an irritating crunching sound on concrete. I can live with that. Last time I fell over for not de-clipping was about 1996 I think.

platforms as I get used to my transition from a heavy, clunky Breezer Villager to a sleek-ass Cannondale CAAD 10.

Once I get fully used to the C'dale, I may be going clipless.

Platforms with powergrip straps

well seeing i have a question in this area.i am looking for a decent set of platform pedals.people running platforms what type of pedals are you running..looking for some thing with decent grip.never had clip in pedals and at this point not really interested in trying.i will be am running a dura ace 53/39 175 mm crank.

I ride platforms now, but used SPDs for over a decade before I went to platforms. In that entire time I never fell over, and never knew anyone who did. But people always told me I would lol! Like the scene from American Flyers (the movie). But I never even got close.

Yes.

I use clipless most of the time, though when I go out for lunch I push on the clipless pedals with sneakers or dress shoes which is less than ideal. In the winter when it gets really snowy I switch to platforms for two reasons - sometimes when slogging uphill on a very crowned road and heavy snow cover, when I push the pedal sometimes my rear tire will slide a foot sideways without warning, and also I can get a tire caught in an icy rut and get thrown sideways with no warning. In those situations, I need to be able to put a foot down INSTANTLY. The other reason is that when it's VERY cold (about -10F/-20C or below), I wear big high top hunting boots.

Honestly, I used to run toe clips, and for me they're not significantly different than clipless. I ran clipless first because everyone said they were so much better than toe clips. They really aren't, for me. I had resolved to just toss them once either the cleats or the pedals wore out, but my new road bike came with a new pair of pedals and cleats, so I'll probably keep using them for a few more years.

SPD on my "real" commuter (fenders, rack, dynamo) and flats on my single speed minimal commuter

Toe Clips for me, too.

Someone should mention -- so I will -- that the vast majority of people who ride bikes use plain old pedals with no foot retention, and it's fine for them. The high fraction of us who use cleats or toe clips reflects the fact that this is a bike forum, full of people who are all about bikes and getting the most out of them.

My main summer and winter commuters both run platforms. My "fun" commuter has platforms with MKS mini clips.

I have three bikes I regularly commute on. One has platforms, one has SPD mountain bike clipless pedals, and one has dual purpose - SPD on one side and platform (quill type) on the other side. I have no preference on commutes up to 10 miles. The longer my commute, the more I lean to clipless. Mostly it depends on what shoes I need to be wearing when I get where I am going OR what bike is the easiest to grab when in a rush.

Chocolate or Vanilla ice cream. Sign me up for either! Ride what makes you feel the most comfortable. If money is an issue, stick with platforms and use almost any shoes you currently own.

I ride clipless only, all the time. SPD/mtn. My wife has clipless only on her road bike, and dual-sided on her mtb. I tried her pedals out, and was constantly frustrated getting the pedals flipped over to the correct side.

For me, if I ride platforms, I'm forever shifting my feet around trying to figure out what's the "right" place to put them. Like the old man with the long beard, when somebody asked him whether he slept with his beard under or over his blanket and he never got a good night's sleep again trying to figure out which way felt "right"!

My spd shoes are traily/hikey enough looking/feeling that I don't mind wearing them around. They are perfectly fine inside stores on carpet or linoleum, our outside on dirt or grass. The only annoyance is outside, the cleat scraping on asphalt. Once in a great while, I'll ride a short distance on the spd pedals in just tennis shoes. If I really need different shoes at my destination, I can throw them in my bucket and ride clipped in.

platform pedals make my feet hurt so for me clipless is a necessity. after trying multiple mechanisms i decided i love spuds. i even got rid of the spd-ls on my road bikes and replaced them with 280 g A600 road bike spds:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=409447
i love the fact that i now have the same clipless mech on my 37 lb shopping bike and my 17 lb race bike.

i often wear half plate spd shoes when i need to walk around and don't want to carry extra shoes. for me the lack of a full plate make them just as comfortable as normal shoes. i particularly like the ct-80s:


http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=409446

for commuting and sport i prefer giro carbide (or m077s). i tend to buy multiple pairs since i almost always crack the plate after ~2 years of use. (i hate ratchet shoes because i always break the clasp.)

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=409453

spare_wheel, that ct40 is a pretty nice looking shoe, and it looks pretty comfy as well. That is now the top contender for when I need to replace my current shoes.

But googling, I for the first time heard of "SHIMANO CLICK'R". I can't tell what that is exactly, how is it different from regular SPD?

the click'r is a platform/spd combo designed for new users but the ct-80s and the ct-40s work fine with normal spds. everyone is different but i can walk comfortable for many miles in those shoes.

I have some older Wellgo platforms that came on a bike I got off craigslist, and they are quite light and made for cages, so I use those with cages/straps. I ride in my sneakers - specifically aasics onitsuka tigers.

That makes sense. I was starting to feel like the odd person out because I have clips on my "play" bike, and plain pedals on my "working" bikes.

That's the way I do it, I have platforms on my commuter, and everything else has clipless.

I ride on platforms also, but I use New Balance shoes so I'm cooler than you nyah nyah nyah -- jk! I actually use a pair of Asics and a pair of NB. I wear them because I like to walk aerobically in addition to cycling - so I put on the NBs, ride my bike a few miles to where I want to walk (usually a park), lock the bike and do 30 to 45 minutes of powerwalking - then ride home. Magically, there are no shoe changes necessary! :)