Ken Cox

48X16 wrote:

"No"

In hindsight I agree.
Consider it a silly mood.

I ordered my Shimano Sandals and Wellgo cleats.
I'll report back in a week or so.

dwpbike

tell me about cleat installation. i've got a pair of exus sandals from nashbar. i've done spd for a while, so i'm wondering what happens when i cut the plug out of the sole. sometimes i find what the cleat screws into, sometimes not. in the case of the sandals, the inner sole is glued in, so this could be a problem if nothing is in there.

bkrownd

Sandals + Smartwools = happy feet.

Rincewind8

The exus sandals have the plate (where the cleats screw into) already inside.

Matthew A Brown

I can't agree more. I've put my Lake sandals through all sorts of hell touring and such, and they're still great. I know its a different kind of abuse with the push/pull of a fixie vs the steady pushpushpush of trudging up Mt Pisgah or something, but-- my .02.


Wool socks kill.


I believe the base of the sandal is the same, even on my Lake ones it says Shimano in a couple places. The design of the top half is different. I've not A/B'd them.


Killer tan lines, too. Kinda.

Ken Cox

I got my Shimano sandals and forgot to report back.

I love them.
I have retired my mountain bike shoes for the summer and possibly the winter as well.

First of all, the velcro straps allow for a perfect custom fit, and I feel more connected to my bike then ever.

Secondly, the soles of these sandals give a little more feedback regarding cleat position, and this has enabled me to move my cleats around and find the optimal position.
Finding the right position for my cleats has made me surprisingly more efficient, comfortable and fast.
Something about these sandals made it very easy for me to visualize where I needed to move the cleats.

Third, I forget I have SPD bike sandals on my feet and I wear them all day without any thought.
On a hot, sunny day, nothing (well, almost nothing) compares to the feel of a nice cooling breeze through sandals.

Coolness and comfort aside, I prefer these sandals over shoes for the increased control and efficiency they provide.

max-a-mill

wow and i thought i was gonna get laughed at by everyone i saw for wearing my sandals commuting.

i got the lakes on sale over the winter. they are not as tight on my feet as my three strap shoes but they are tight enough to work well.

they are super nice though because they do keep your feet cool. after a weeks testing i am sure i like them enough that i am using mine for the rest of the summer commute.

jim-bob

I've just gotta say, I am anti-sandal.

That said, Ken has special dispensation to do whatever the hell he wants, with my blessing.

Ken Cox

Jim-bob wrote:

"I've just gotta say, I am anti-sandal."

From experience?

jim-bob

I grew up in the Haight-Ashbury and went to UC Santa Cruz. Early on, I realized that sandals, tie-dye, and slavish devotion to jam bands were all trappings of 'the enemy'.

Old habits die hard. I turned down a nice-paying job just because I couldn't handle hippie music, and I have a feeling that even if someone demonstrated the superiority of the sandal over all other footwear, I wouldn't be able to bring myself to put one on.

noisebeam

Come to AZ, here you will find some of the most hard-core-right-wing types to be happy sandal wearers.

Sandals provide a very distinct advantage of dryer cooler feet in a dry hot climate where is rarely rains. That advantage translates to on bike as well.

Al

mrballistic

i had a few requests for this, so here goes:

i'd say, 'thumbs across'. they're ok, but not very well made. they're pretty much normal teva-styled sandals with place for spd cleats. that means that they flex quite a bit, which isn't what you want in a bike shoe. also, one of the straps pulled free of the sandal on mine in the first 24 hours that i had 'em, but that may be a fluke (it hasn't happened again).

so, i'd say this -- if you're looking for a cheap sandal with a place for your cleats, then this may be great. but, if you're looking for a good sandal for biking more than about 5 miles at a time, spring for the 60-80 dollar variants. you get what you pay for.

best,
t

wasabiboys

sandals and clipless. what the hell? I never ride with sandals always fall off.

Plinkerton

Why am I not surprised that the hippie-hater's name is "Jim-Bob"...

jim-bob

Trust me, I fit your mental image perfectly.

Wheel Doctor

Sandals are great for recreational riding on hot days. I have Exustar ones, cheap and pretty stiff. Work well with my EggBeaters. I don't recommend them for MTBn' or performance road riding. I use em' for my evening rides with the wife, usually a casual 10/12 miles and for my summer commuting on my recumbent. I'm gonna get some for my wife, she says her Specialzed Sport Mountain's are too hot. You do get funny tan lines, though....

Never thought of riding my fixie with em....

honduraz10

thats a sweet idea
we should email em about that. i bet they could find quite a market for those

noisebeam

They are also good for 'performance road riding' aka fast recreational riding in pacelines of 28-30mph They are actuall quite light so that is a benefit, they are not as stiff as a pricy carbon soled race shoe, but that never bothered me.
They work fine for riding on single track in the desert amoung sharp rocks and catus. The sole sticks out quite a bit futher than my big toe and gives penty of bash protection. But if I was to ride a route where I would use body protection (aka shin guards) I'd then switch to full shoes.

Al

sloppy robot

a serious disscussion about spd sandals... i guess you arent my people.. where are my people?

crushkilldstroy

i'm with you.

noisebeam

No one looks at you funny for using sandals in AZ when its 110degs. They look at you with envy.

Al

sloppy robot

id look at you funny

bkrownd

I've been riding the new eggbeaters+sandals up and down the (carpeted!) hallway here at work. The top strap has some sharp/rough edges that really dig in, so I'll have to find a way of padding those more. Clipping in is a bit tricky because the cleat is a quite bit behind where I usually position my foot on a normal pedal axle. I've got narrow feet, so it takes a forceful twist to get my feet out - sometimes two. Unhook before stopping...unhook before stopping...unhook before stopping...

Is there a recommended max torque for the Lake cleat bolts? I found one of my problems was one of the bolts dropped out of my right cleat. I don't want to overtighten and strip the threads, though.