Can someone post a pic of the profile of their clipless road shoes with cleats? I'm looking at the Sidi Genius 5 with SPD-SL cleats, but just road shoes and cleats would be fine.
Would they be comfortable for walking in or make me look like a freak? I'm dealing with a schoolday of walking in them.
I wanna see what I'm getting myself into...
Thanks

road clipless is terrible off the bike. get mountain shoes and pedals

That's what I thought, too late now

How is it too late? What do you already have?

Did you already get the pedals and cleats? I don't know if SPD-SL has cleat covers, but on LOOK Deltas with covers I can walk ok. That or take some compact shoes like Converse or Vans slip ons.

I can walk just fine in my Shimano shoes with SDPSL cleats, although you don't want to do too much as the rubber contact points don't last that long. Better to have a spare set of shoes at the place you are riding too.

Why not just bring a pair of sneakers in your bag?

walking around school with sidis may be difficult, especially if the floors are mostly tiled, id imagine you would slip/sound like a tap dancer all day.

i second the sneakers idea.

I just started riding clipless and even with MTB shoes (Mavic Razor) I'll bring some sneakers in my bag. But I found that clipless works best for me when I'm actually out pounding miles instead of commuting. If I'm commuting on my bike I'll throw on the clips/straps.

Same here, I don't commute and did not like straps, esp when riding alongside my road bike friends. I spun out of of the straps going downhill once and straightaway got a pair of Keo-compatible pedals (on the cheap, Outland). I use the same shoe for fixed and my geared bike now. Love it.

those are going to be miserable to spend a day walking in, much less every day. they are not made for walking, they will put your ankles at an awkward angle and click every step. walking around all day in them will wear your cleats down exponentially faster than you would otherwise. if you already bought the Sidi's (since you said "too late" 2 minutes after your original post...) then do what others have suggested, you gotta bring a pair of sneakers.

They're fine for walking short distances, but no way in hell would I go about my day in them. It'll wear down your cleats anyway, and you'll look like a moron. Bring a pair of shoes to change into.

+1/+1 People look at you funny if you walk 20 feet with road shoes on. I have Crank Brothers Quattro SL's and a set of Nike shoes to go with them, but if I plan on going anywhere via foot, I either plan on going there barefoot or bring shoes.

Time ATACs + Specialized MTB shoes = I can walk around campus all day and be pretty comfy.

Ask and ye shall receive:

These are mine. The red cleats are zero float.




SidiGenius5-1..jpg
SidiGenius5-2..jpg

Just take an extra pair of shoes. Not a big deal, especially if you already have a backpack/messenger bag all day anyway.

SPD Pedals

+
Specialized BG Taho shoes

= All day comfort

Thanks for the pics. They don't seem too bad, but everyone's b*tching about it not being comfortable, so I'll actually just go ahead and bring a pair of sneakers, which i planned to do anyway.

I mentioned it being too late because I actually bought SPD SL pedals already, and about to buy some road shoes real soon.
My only other option would have been to return my pedals, and get a MTB setup, which Carleton had told me is not as a good setup for road biking because it's not very efficient.
If I'm going clipless, might as well go all the way.

One more thing, does anyone know if there are MTB shoes that fit 3-bolt LOOK/SPD-SL cleats?

no. not that i know of. I can take some pics later of my shoes

but the advantage of road shoes is that you get a big ass cleat. this helps disperse pressure over a larger area and allows for stronger clamping i think. it's a better design for a long distance ride on pavement. it also allows for a lighter shoe

mountain bike shoes have a lot of rubber for traction on dirt and gravel. in turn this makes walking on pavement easier because you're walking on these rubber nubs (not great, it's kind of similar to walking around in soccer shoes with rubber cleats). the shoe is more level (road shoes you're walking mostly on that cleat, so your toes are pointed up and you have to kinda waddle). disadvantage of mtb shoes is that the rubber forces you to use a smaller cleat, which can create hot spots on a long ride. there simply isn't enough space for a look delta cleat with all that rubber around it

edit: here's a pic comparison between road and mountain shoes. look cleats on the road shoes (i think, i picked them up used but i'm waiting on my time cleats) and spd cleats on my mountain shoes. in the side profile you can see you're walking on those rubber tread blocks, which are arced to make the walking motion more fluid. on the road shoes the front of your foot walks on the cleat, and you can see you foot leans inward off the cleat by all the scratches on the inside front

Nope. As far as I know, there is no such animal. For it to be an effective MTB shoe, the sole would have to be HUGE.

Just follow my advice: Get road shoes and carry some slim shoes that will lay flat and take up little space in your bag and you will be fine.

I shall do just that then.
Thank you.

I use the Shimano RT80 touring shoe, and I'm picking up some ATAC's tomorrow. Was previously on egg beaters but they broke.

Thanks for this comparison.
Actually, walking looks pretty grueling on that now.

Ultimately, its best to have multiple pairs of shoes (road and mountain) and different pedals and different bikes to go with those shoes and pedals to fit every occasion.

In the meantime, it is inevitable that you will end up walking on your road shoes at some point, even for a short distance. Buy yourself some cleat covers. They are much cheaper to replace than a pair of cleats.