Walkin' shoes
 

So I'm riding my bike across the country this summer. It's a fully supported tour, so I'm taking my road bike. I've got road shoes and Look pedals, so I'm thinking about carrying an extra pair of shoes in my hydration pack. I've got no desire to walk around in my road shoes.

Any ideas for a pair of shoes that are light, low-top, and easily taken on and off? I'm thinking something similar to a pair of slip-on Vans, but something with a bit more ankle support would be nice as well.

Or should I just bike the bullet and buy new mountain bike shoes with recessed cleats? Really not into this option, but I'm open to it.

I think I would switch pedals for the trip and use some of those casual shoes the mountain bike cats use. Actually I think I'd set a up an entire bike for touring and wear more street worthy clothing since it is a tour, carry a camera and enjoy it.

something like this?

http://www.chromebagsstore.com/shoes.html

Recessed cleats would be preferable to lugging an entire extra pair of shoes in my book. Unless you intend to walk quite a bit. But in that case, I'd be more inclined to bring tevas.

Consider a pair of super thin flip flops in jersey pocket.

I'd go with MTB shoes.

I'd do flip flops, or cleat covers for whatever you have now. I find walking to be pretty comfortable with cleat covers on my road shoes.

Get some good Lake or Chrome commuting shoes. Lake at one point made this awesome set of shoes called the I/O Boa's. Probably the best set of commuting shoes I ever owned. Sadly they are no longer produced.

Now I would say go with a set of Chrome shoes, a little pricey, but well made, comfortable, 2 hole pattern. Match them up with some Time ATAC pedals and your good. (Time ATACs are what all my courier friends used, I took a set of Crank Brothers with me on Tour and while they are nice the cleats wore down and I had a few accidental unclips during my ascent of the Col du Gran Colombier, not fun, my friends who are couriers SWEAR by ATACs and have gone so far as to say that they will not use any clipless system other then that when they ride fixies because it is the only one that they have never had accidentally unclip)

flip-flop, tevas, or any of the myriad "minimal" shoes. Lightweight and comfortable.

Out of curiosity, is this a vacation type tour or more serious 100 mile a day type tour?

This is the exact reason I have MTB pedal on all of my bikes. It's pretty rare that I ride anywhere and don't walk around. I know it's fredly to put Eggbeaters on a full carbon road bike, but then again I don't think my boss would appreciate road shoes on the floor in our new $27 million dollar building. I know the wife would be pissed if I scratched the floors at home clanking around in them too.

Something of a happy medium. It's not a race, but I'm going with a nonprofit that has a pretty strict schedule. In addition to riding, we'll be stopping in towns to talk about our cause. This means that our day's ride (avg. of 80 miles a day) needs to be done on time. This is why I'm leaning toward something a bit more efficient for riding, and carrying something for walking.

I like the idea of flip-flops or a minimalist shoe.

I use mtb SPD pedals and either touring or mtb shoes.

Thanks. Guess I should have just read the sig :)

Sounds like fun and a worthy cause. Enjoy.

As for a minimal shoe, my daughter bought something similar to this (can find the exact one) for cross country and ended up wearing them quite a lot just for daily shoes. These are a bit more. I think she paid $80 after an REI 20% off coupon.

You're wise to go this route. Since you're taking a road bike and have Looks, I would stick with them. I have SPDs and mountain bike shoes as well but wouldn't want to do 80 miles daily across the country on them.

+1 from one fred to another, except I use SPD pedals.

SPD pedals would be the best route to go if you wanted to do a lot of walking during the tour. I can't imagine lugging around anything other than a pair of sandals in a hydration pack, though. If the support van is following you, could you stash a pair of shoes in there and get them when needed?