I agree. It's tough to rock the hiking shoe look.

I have these with about a zillion miles on them. Shimano MT30

http://www.bicyclesmelbourne.com.au/...shoes/MT30.jpg

They're still comfortable and haven't fallen apart yet. All I've done is put better insoles in them so my feet don't end up killing me by the end of a work day. These walk like normal shoes, whereas a lot of mountain shoes walk like soccer cleats.

The shoes that have been most promising, albeit very expensive, were those Nike SPDs...except for the colors, I guess.

All of the other shoes that are meant to look normal aren't very aesthetically pleasing. I have a pair of Sidi Bullet and they're real comfortable over all, but I've switched back to clips/straps because I don't like click clacking to class around campus. I'm only about a mile away from classes, ride a lot during the day, but it's rather annoying overall...

Yup! I have a set of Nike Kato IIIs that I love. Too bad Nike got out of the cycling biz.

They look less glossy in person. I would ride into work and wear them all day in an office and no one noticed. No click clack because of the carpet. I even wore them to a bike shop and one of the employees heard me clip in and was like, "Wow. I didn't even notice those were cycling shoes."
http://lakelandtrek.com/images/libra...90570_05_m.jpg

spd 4 lyfe

Any of you dudes use road pedals?

Atacs and doms for the win. I tried them out for a week, and then put my clips/straps back on to see if I could notice any difference. After 2 blocks my feet hurt. I can't believe I thought I had stiff soles before going clipless. It's horrible riding on track pedals without slotted cleats (which I couldn't find anyway). I've got a pair of custom nuevos with double toshis just rotting away, but I can't bear to part with them. One thing about a good clip/strap system, they look better than just about anything.

Just on my geared road bike. The rest of the fleet use the same mountain pedals. I'll eventually switch the road bike too. One pedal/shoe combo for all bikes.
Walkability is important to me as time off the bike is as important as time on the bike.

i have double staps that i have to wiggle my way out of (i really tighten them down). This allows me to pull back without coming out and apply power over the entire stroke. I cannot make the claim that my street shoes are as stiff as cycling shoes or as efficient, but i don't like the idea of having a stiff heel of a cycling shoe since i'm going to be skidding and applying pressure to one area (only on the pedal itself).

Applying pressure to one area... with your whole foot. Watch somebody in street shoes trackstanding some time and see how their foot bends around the pedal. Now look at somebody in bike shoes... The thing that nobody told you is that back when racers and pros used clips and straps they still used stiff-soled bike shoes, just without cleats.

Actually they did have cleats.

Old school shoes with cleats for toe clips

I had a pair of these back in the '80s:

http://www.yellowjersey.org/tocleat2.JPG

I have the Shimano SH-MT41G shoes, which are very similar to these shoes in question, with SPD cleats. To answer the question, on a completely flat surface I hear nothing. They walk like regular shoes and are quite like a normal pair of sneakers. The cleat is recessed enough to accomplish this on my shoe, so I would expect the same to be true on the SH-MT32L.

The only time I actually hear the metal contacting something is generally created by debris, rocks or something on the pavement, but again that is pretty rare.

Love the shoes, off and on the bikes.

I thought I was applying power to the whole pedal stroke too with my doubles. That was my argument against going clipless. I was wrong.

I just bought some Sidi Genius 5s and some Ultegra SPD-SL pedals. They feel as good as that sounds :love:

(I'm not a rich dude. Just got more $ in my pocket since I stopped drinking.)

No I have Specialized Sonomas where the cleats are recessed, but the problem is that even with recessed cleats they still make some noise on surfaces such as sidewalks. They also happen to be much less comfortable than chucks, and I like my feet to be comfortable. However, I often wear my bike shoes at school all day.
PS: those Shimano shoes are dorky.

Sidi Genius 5
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3465/...c30e452854.jpg
Made from the skin of Italian babies that were raised in the Alps by wolves.

+1

I am close to pulling the trigger on sidi bullet 2's + atac aliums.

Thought I remembered seeing people interested in the leather lace up Adidas that seem to be in scarce supply sooooo
http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...ch_results.cfm

just ordered some, hopefully they fit as well as the Adidas soccer cleats that I used to buy.

I broke down and sprang for the shimano spds and a sweet pair of adidas from craigs list. I was rocking MKS sylvans with single leather straps, and can't express how disappointed I was with them. I was tightening them almost daily and constantly facing myself with the question; wtf? :(

My first impression of the spds is WOW. As predicted, I'm getting way more power our of my strokes, accelerating and stopping faster, and generally feeling much more in control of my bike. They need a little adjusting because it seems like snapping out is perhaps a little too easy (I had one foot pop out on accident while whip-skidding around the neighborhood-- something I don't do much anymore but wanted to try out for fun with the new pedals), but other than that I couldn't be happier.

Going to keep the old pedals for the sake of weekend versatility, however the daily grind is spds all day, every day.

Ive only been running road pedals (shimano spds) for like 2 weeks, but the difference is so unbelievable. I can't see myself putting clips/straps back on anytime soon, (until the next alleycat or something), because they are so much more comforrtable and efficient.

Speedplay Zero Track editions here.

Can you all explain egg beater type pedals. Also, does anyone know of any shoes that come in a sporty lace up that doesn't cost 400 bukcs. I'f I'm going to wear clip ins, then I better look like I'm racing?

i was riding dominators with some wtb mountain pedals on my track bike for a while and as nice as it is riding clipless i eventually went back to some track pedals with doubles just for piece of mind. i had one unfortunate incident while coming unclipped and busting my ass pretty good. i do miss the advantages of clipless though. it makes it that much better to get on my road bike.