lala

You at least need a stiff sole shoe (no matter what kind) for you are going to put some miles in. It took me 8 months of riding before I went clip-in.

forum*rider

My old tennis shoes and platforms used to give me hot-spots. Hurt like hell after 15miles.

I know that the shoes can cause hot-spots if they aren't the right size/shape for you're feet. Your probably right, I just got lucky

UziBeatle

I have an old six speed bike with platform pedals. I ride for exercise and to lose weight, etc. About 16 to 40 miles a day when I can ride.

Discovered I needed better shoes when reading about solid soled shoes here on forums. Being a cheap bastard by nature I deccided to make my own stiff soled shoes.

Scrounged around in shed and found some 3/16 inch aluminum plate.
Dug up old Dr. Scholls shoe inserts and used those for a template.
Cut out nice stiff shoe inserts with handy dandy sabre saw.
Did some custom hammering to get foot 'arc' just so and some fine tuning with hammer later and now have some spiffy FIRM soled tennis shoes. I tossed a store bought foam pad on top of the inserts for a bit of cushion. WOrkie great.

Added bonus I can remove the inserts if I desire in case I need to flee the scene on foot.

forum*rider

LOL Nice work Uzi.

You should try and make something so you can bolt on cleats. Thats another advantage of the clipless pedals, you can pull up so you get a bit more energy out of every pedal stroke.

Anthony King

Question, what does SPD stand for/mean? Does it mean clipless?

Thanks,
AK

Saudade

SPD = Shimano Pedaling Dynamics. It refers to Shimano's proprietary clipless system but every manufacturer has their own clipless system.

Bike shoes are not necessary but I love mine. I love riding clipless and I also like the stiffness of the sole which is far more comfortable (less foot fatigue). I have a pair of "casual" cummuter bike shoes w/SPD but even on my commute I prefer my MTB shoes which are far stiffer. I haven't purchased roadie shoes though, because they are pretty useless off bike for walking around in. My MTB shoes have the right amount of stiffness and I use them on my road bike as well.

serious

For serious road cycling and XC riding, clipless is the only way to go, in my opinion. Which means you need bike shoes, of course.

I used to ride on platforms for several years and I cannot tell you how many times I got bounced off the pedals in rough, technical climbs, only to bang my shins or calfs. With clipless, I can spin like crazy while bouncing all over rocks and roots.

becnal

What's an example of a clipless system?

ChAnMaN

i currently own a set of shimano frog pedals and a 2003 pair of specialized mountain shoes but because of the amount of commuting i do vs the amount of riding i do i had to take the clipless pedals off and replace them with toestraps so i could ride with normal shoes. when i go on rides i just use the cycling shoes in the toe straps and that seems to work out pretty good.

forum*rider

Usually when people say clipless system they are talking about pedals + shoes + cleats. Atleast I am anyway...

Edit: Chanman, you mean speedplay frogs? Shimano makes SPD's, speedplay makes frogs, zeros, x-2, x-3 etc.

serious

My "clipless" system is: Shimano SPD shoes, Eggbeater Candy SL pedals and cleats. The Candy SL cleats that come with the pedals are SPD compatible, of course.

danch

Shoes for mountain biking or touring often have the cleats recessed within a tread block on the bottom of the shoe. I've got a pair of Nike's and a pair of Specialized like that. They're still funny to walk in because of the stiff sole, but you don't clip-clop quite so much like a horse.

catatonic

my SPDs make a grinding noise on uneven pavement, but oh well. I just try to make sure I dont walk with em on wood floors though, that's just rude.

headcase

Bike shoes will definitely help you to be a much more efficient rider for many reasons, but in the interest of keeping things simple most biking shoes have a much stiffer sole than your tennis shoes do. This makes them transfer energy to your pedals more efficiently, particularly if they are used in conjunction with a clipless pedal. Additionally, I would encourage you to buy your shoes on the small side (not painfully) to reduce the amount of "slop" that you may feel if your shoes are too big.
Mountain bike shoes have the cleat mount recessed so that the cleat does not scrape the ground when you are walking around, so unless you are a high level road biker you may want to consider those as an alternative. There are road cleats from Shimano that have pontoons on them for use on road shoes that will make them a little easier to walk around in.
Hope that helps.

iridebikes

Shimano m020.
https://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Shoes/product_86571.shtml

These are light weight MTB shoes. I have been using a pair for road cycling for 3 years. They are comfortable and have a recesed SPD cleat. I also have road shoes but typically wear these most of the time. Not as asteticly pleasing as high end road shoes and lace up vs straps.

Bontrager

I'm surprised no one has brought up weight issues. Is the clipless system lighter?

Also I thought there were a bunch of bones in your feet - my feet don't flop up when I push down on my pedal!

I'm guessing for recreational type riders clipless (and 95% of the other stuff that's out there) won't make a noticeable difference but for those of you that are good enough to have found the limits of their equipment it probably will.

Schumius

lighter than wearing hiking boots and using plateforms.

it does make a big difference, i´m not a pro nor anywhere close, but i do find it greatly improves my paddling efficiency.

KrisPistofferson

Is paddling really a cycling term that I'm unaware of, or do tons of people on these forums mis-spell "pedaling"? Not bein' a smartass, just wantin' to know.

Schumius

oops, my mistake, sorry.

catatonic

as far as my "system" goes: performance ForteII shoes, SPD single-release cleats, Shimano M-505 pedals. Very low-dollar, yet very effective.

cyclezealot

On my around town bike, I have toe clips...I find those wear out shoes very quickly...Since platform pedals are just for around town, guess w/o clipless-I would not get very far..
Can't imagine getting good traction on a serious climb with just platform pedals... If limited to platform pedals, sure my annual mileage would go from over 6000 miles to under 250 .

catatonic

oddly most of my yearly mileage this year was on platforms with half-clips. But clipless made me capable of doing harder things without as much drama, that's for sure....I wouldnt try to climb anyhting as steep as some of the SJ, cali overpasses without them.

cyclezealot

Living in states' as flat as Florida, I can understand why one would be able to get by w/0 clipless...No challenges unless you are speeding like 20 plus mph...But, then hurricane force gale winds can add a need to speed up the cadence due to resistance.
Now, climb 1200 feet in less than a mile and with platform pedals,the feet would be slipping off the pedals on the uptake.
In my little town , just to do an errand downtown I have to climb couple hundred feet...For my around the town errand bike I have "Powergrip" toe clips to get better traction on the climbs.

catatonic

I used to live in sj cali, I moved here two weeks ago

I know climbs

cyclezealot

Funny, Catonic..I lived in Sarasota, Fla. about 20 years ago...I would not have known climbs.. Hope you have some really , light weight jerseys...Heah, you are near some eally dedicated Bike Forum members...Can give you some direction to local bike culture.... Anxious to get your impresssions about bike paths/facilites for cyclists in California versus Florida.