FullGas

an amusing anecdote, but not really a compelling reason to avoid their use...

bulldog1935

and also why Ignore List works - any of my motivations are beyond your mental grasp
especially when you quote me out of context

SquidPuppet

The best tennis shoes I've ever owned were the generic "Court Classic" from Costco. Superior leather, superior design, superior lace eyelet reinforcement, and superior gluing and stitching to all the super expensive Nikes/Adidas/Pumas etc. All the name brand sneakers last me about a year and then they start falling apart at the seams, literally. Stitching pulls through the cheap leather, or glue joint separate. Crappy shoes at any price IMO. The Costco shoes last years. Literally until the sole wears through. $18.95. There is no NBA player being paid tens of millions of dollars to put his name on them, so they cost me $100.00 less then the "Good" shoes. I refuse to overpay for an inferior product based on image hype.

MRT2

Interesting. When I lift weights I wear a cross trainer, a tennis shoe, or a running shoe. Honestly it doesn't make that much of a difference. When I ride I much prefer a cycling shoe to a cross trainer or running shoe. I would never run wearing a tennis shoe to run, and I would never play tennis using a running shoe.

bulldog1935

my poor daughter showed up in her alt wrestling shoes one day to ride (she likes toe clips, too), and her feet hurt for it
Solved for her birthday.

halfway through the HS season she is undefeated, and will be nationally ranked in Team USA freestyle this spring

y'all see why Ignore works? Also why points made end up proving themselves.

You meet others on bikes just like you meet others at the river. Some see your gear as snobbery. Others can't see past the snob appeal of their own gear.
The trick is for people to see each other.
I've also fished and pedaled through 40 years of both bicycle industry and fly fishing industry marketing. Snob appeal is a selling tool to neophytes, just as Snow job is a selling tool to N+1.

Scarbo

Well, I've never fallen over using clipless pedals; but I do have a question for you (and I don't mean to waylay the thread!). On my Raleigh restoration I decided to install Sabot-style flat pedals. On really steep climbs (over 13% or so) I am feeling almost insecure because I'm so used to pulling up with my trailing leg! Don't you think that with clipless you are able to engage more of your muscles? But, I do appreciate being able to ride using any old shoe now (at least on that old bike!).

bulldog1935

I think we're always good.
Somewhere there was actually a study that may have proved you wrong, that upstroke pull doesn't really gain anything - this topic comes up all the time on google groups - maybe I can search it out - weathered in today.

Platforms are certainly a tradeoff - you can find a point in too fast spin where they just don't stick. I still like my toe clips and touring shoes and feel more confident in them riding aggressively than charging on the platforms.
But I have stood on my platforms on some aggressive leaning climbs with my feet almost vertical, and they stick amazingly.
There are many reasons why modern thin platform pedals are better than any offerings in the past.
The people who pick them to race are racing downhill.

este

Effect of Pedaling Technique on Mechanical Effectiveness and Efficiency in Cyclists, Korf et al. DOI: 10.1249/mss.0b013e318043a235

Effects of Pedal Type and Pull-Up Action during Cycling, Mornieux et al. DOI 10.1055/s-2008-1038374
https://www.radlabor.de/fileadmin/PDF...aefte_2008.pdf

Scarbo

What I'm finding is that I feel the burn all in the quads whereas I am used to feeling the stress more evenly distributed. But, I guess I used to ride without clips once upon a time; so maybe I just have to get used to it again!

bulldog1935

I ride 3 bikes with 3 different riding positions - try to spend time on each one every week. The 3 positions work different combinations of the quads and core muscles.

capnjonny 

Maybe I am just passed it but I remember a time when people didn't think they needed a different shoe for every discrete activity they did. Today you are told by the marketeers that you need one shoe for standing still , another for walking, another for running , and another for just showing off. back when I was a kid ( before Electric lighting) we made do with maybe 3 pairs of shoes:
Wing tips or other shiny shoes for church ( only because our parents made us wear them)
Hiking boots (if you were a boy scout and went on camping trips)
Keds for everything else.

I NEVER felt deprived and grew up to be a fairly high functioning adult.

I would, however, like a comfortable pair of cycling shoes that work well with toe clips and are still comfortable for walking.

So if anyone has a recommendation I need :

size 13-14 wide or extra wide
stiff sole
Narrow heal
leather uppers with laces
no rubber banding at the toe

Max spend $75.

Lets see what you can come up with.

bulldog1935

How about $100?
Arturo Cycle Shoe | Rufflander Safety Boots from William Lennon & Co Ltd
your UK size is 12

fietsbob

so, Do You ride your bike to the Public Court, to play Basketball There?

Maxacceleration

Oh its an easy wind up with you guys.
I know many of you put in a lot of time pedaling in whatever type of shoes. All good.
I do like bicycles also. I like good gear also (in more than just cycling). The casualness in which you ride is fine. I do like that on certain levels also (riding near the beach & such), but I don't do much of that boardwalk stuff.
Efficiency, I do like that. In whatever sport or outdoor activity I do. I don't do it for the look, or get caught up in marketing hype. I am anti marketing hype. Being in my 50's, I have come to afford nicer gear. I am riding in beatnik wool these days for the fun of it.

I have not picked on anyone in particular, only with the OP and his/her walmart bassetball shoe pedaling nature.
I just went after the generalization of that casual (low end) style.
Yet I get the personal attacks. I dont water down my opinion, and its generally not pc.

I try to do everything semi well, and that includes riding a bike.
Now let me go shoot some buckets with my kid in my Sidi cycling shoes. I'm sure I have a good casual game.


And I will not be into your culture.

I do choose my friends! And my friends sprint for city limits signs, go for broke on the hills (I'm usually the oldest and come in last lol), carry a rain shell and use CO2 canisters (shame).

Been riding clipless since about 1990.

I do like bikes, so have fun with what you got! Now let me get back to restoring my QE II.

Cyclist0084

bikecrate

I tried clipless pedals/shoes for a number of years. Due to back and leg issues I found them too uncomfortable. I ride with platforms and NB training style shoe. I like them because they breathe well and the soles aren't as big as a full running shoe.

LouB 

Birkenstock cloth/leather mid boot. The footbed is semi-stiff and holds my heel in place. Light weight. Love em.

canklecat

Five Ten has some good blowout sales on discontinued models, non-clip-in shoes for mountain biking or casual riding with fairly stiff soles that are suitable for walking. I see some as little as $30, and others half the price of REI and other online retailers, or a third off the usual prices, from $40-$65.

bulldog1935

this is a good point - platform pedals give you the ability to move your foot around on the pedal and find a new comfort spot. e.g., you can move your foot back on the pedal to avoid kicking the front tire on switchbacks.

joejack951

Toe overlap is very geometry and tire size dependent (other factors being shoe size, foot placement, and crank length), and has little to nothing to do with being on the proper size frame. Smaller tires, such as 26" MTB tires, make for lots of toe clearance. Larger tires on a small frame (like a small road bike with 700c wheels) make for lots of toe overlap. Head angle clearly plays a big part, too, with MTBs again having an advantage. I get toe overlap on some of my road bikes, especially the one with fenders, and I'm of average size (5'8"). I imagine smaller cyclists have it pretty bad.

69chevy

That's a lot of superior marks over "all the Nike/Adidas/Puma".


I'm having a hard time believing you literally tested all of the more expensive shoes and are just justifying being cheap.


I wore these shoes past a homeless man once, and he stopped me and gave me a dollar.

SquidPuppet

I really liked Nike shoes in the early 70s. The quality was there and they were priced fairly. They were my favorite brand. Over the decades their quality as actual footware has gone downhill while their prices have ventured into silly territory. They've become jewelry associated with celebrity. Overpriced low quality jewelry.

With regard to "testing", one doesn't need to ride a Huffy in order to examine the quality of materials and workmanship. Same with shoes. That said, what actually prompted me to try the Costco shoes wasn't the price, it was that fact that all the name brand shoes were falling apart under low mileage and low stress conditions. That and the Costco shoe was available in an understated all white version as you've pictured.

As far as being "cheap", you are free to call me what you want to. I wont buy paper thin jeans with holes in the knees for $300.00 just because they have a designer label on the pocket. If that makes me cheap, I'm fine with that.

longbeachgary

Here's what I don't get - I don't go on to the Rolex enthusiast's website and tell everyone how much smarter I am than they are because my Timex keeps time as well as the Rolex does. I don't go on to the Corvette forums and tell them how much better my Corolla's gas mileage is than the best, most expensive Corvette.

If you're not a true bicycle enthusiast what are you doing here?

thisisbenji

I think you messed that up, driving a Corvette is basically wearing Shaqs on a Walmart bicycle compared to driving a 911.

bulldog1935

maybe he's a stealth bicycle enthusiast and doesn't need to look like someone else's definition (or clone)

it was kind of a testy OP, but the discussion in the thread has generally gone fairly straight, except for the posts not actually contributing to the discussion.

bulldog1935

adding an editorial analogy here,
people who drive sporty cars don't have welded-shut doors, birdcage frames, just a driver's seat with 6-point restraint, and do have all the safety and traffic communication add-ons required by law.

In cycling, a marketing machine has managed to convince a large number of people that you must be equipped and outfitted like TdF in order to be an enthusiastic cyclist.