Shoes, Clips, Clipless (again, I know, sorry)
 

Ok so I went to clips for the fix because I hate carrying around a second pair of shoes at work or school. Recently though I have found that I almost always use the same pair of normal shoes when I ride, so I was thinking that I might route out a slot for cleats and go to eggbeaters. Additionally, I currently crank down on my straps so hard (to get the feeling that I want) that I cannot pull out. Seriously, I have to slow down to the point where I can flip the buckle on the strap to pull out.

I am worried about two things.
1. I don't use brakes, I don't skid hard either unless I have to but I would really hate to clip out.
2. Do people find that they notice cleats when put on normal shoes or on BMX shoes?
3. I don't want to run the candies, so what do people do when they don't wear their shoes with cleats but still ride their bikes with clipless?

I know that we have covered this topic to death but I had a hard time getting a bead on these issues even going back to the old threads.

Milo

I'm almost in the exact same position. I went clipless about a month ago - I ride my bike to the train everyday, then take the train into school. So, I end up bringing a pair of shoes with me every day, and changing on the train. I just don't want to go back to clips and straps though, I'm really starting to love my eggbeaters. Once I get my winter beater though (3-speed freewheel) I'll be happy to go to flats or clips and straps again for a while.

I got me a sweet pair of SPD compatible shoes though, I'll post a pic later when I'm at home. They look like normal shoes. There are a couple companies that make SPD "skate" shoes.
"routing a slot" for cleats on a normal pair of shoes sounds like a bad idea. The cleat will stick way out, and the sole will flex bigtime.

Im pretty sure I am going to switch to clipless myself. I realized that I mostly ride between my classes at school, I really don't do much walking at all. There are some really nice mountain biking shoes, there is a Cannondale model like, that have a recessed cleat. That way, when you do have to walk, you don't do the ski boot hobble *click* *clunk* *click* *clunk*. The times when I would want a second set of shoes, like at the gym, or soccer, I don't bike in those shoes anyways, so it won't change much of anything. And I'll have the clipless pedals on my bikes for when I want to do something more serious, and all I will need is road shoes.

grab a pair of sixsixones 'launch' shoe.
they feel exactly like a pair of van's half-cabs.. only stiffer... and look jus tlike some pair of hip skate shoe. spd compat. etc etc.

sixsixone.com, i'm pretty sure.

I have the sixsixone Tiburon's. They're really comfortable on & off the bike. Since most of the classrooms at school and the office the I work in are carpeted, I don't have to worry about wearing down the cleats if I wear them off the bike.

I've got a pair or AXO Blackball mountain bike shoes that I got on a closeout deal for $30. They've got a recessed cleat so walking with them is not a problem. They're nice and black and go with everything I wear! Hahaha! I tried to go with clips and straps but like you, had to cinch down so hard it was difficult getting out.

seriously, look at some more clipless shoe options. i have some diadora gekos that i walk around on all the time. i've even ridden to clubs and parties and gone dancing in them many times! i know another person with diadora's and he wears them everywhere as well. everyone has made some great suggestions. i've heard the 661's are awesome as well. nice and stiff for riding, but not unreasonable for walking, like sidi's or carnacs or other highend shoes.

sometimes i'll ride to the store (which is a block away) with regular shoes on my eggbeatered brakeless fixies, but i usually will even throw my shoes on for that. it can be a bit unnerving without. candies are probably going to be my next pedal. they give you a much better contact patch, not as good as the mallets of course, and make your pedalling seem more responsive. crank bros. have a new 'look' looking pedal still with the eggbeater interface that looks nice. say it. you say it. outloud. say it with me: look look look look look look look look look look look look look look

Ditto on the Gekos - I wear these shoes more than any other. It's odd how comfortable they really are (and how much I've used them for everything this last year), and because they're black, they go with pretty much everything and they look uber styley.

These match my bike.

I'm wearing those shoes right now as I browse the net in my English class. I'm a hard worker.

I wear my gekos around, but sometimes I wish I had a rubber sole and a tad wider tread (the lugs are set towards the inside, so the contact area is much narrower than a running shoe- my usual wear).

When I don't want to wear my Gekos, I often just ride the eggbeaters carefully in my running shoes. However, I would not do this without a brake - even short distances are unnerving without retention. Most often, I just switch out my pedals. This is not usually too difficult, as many times I have the eggbeaters on my Bridgestone 450 and my fixed ride is pedal-less. I recently picked up a pair of MKS GR-9 platforms, and as soon as I have clips I plan to use them as my alternate pedal set.

You may want to see if you have any luck with platform pedals - since it may be easier to get out with similar strap tension.

I still recommend eggbeaters, but find a pair of shoes you like.

Weird question - but could someone with a pair of those 661's post a pic with the cleat in them? I'm admittedly not the expert on cycling shoes, but how do the cleats go on these?

http://www.vsportgroup.com/gear/shoe_launch.html

A piece of the sole comes out. They have the whole sole so you can use them without cleats if you wanted...

Sweet - but the when you install a cleat it's totally recessed? No click-clacking when you walk?

I ride with shimano SPDSLs and Look pedals -- the cleat sticks way the hell out and you can't really walk on them, but the shoes have a very stiff carbon sole, really firm and well thought out straps and a great feel. Not cheap at all, though. I would like to have shoes that I could walk in, but I really like the way the look cleats and pedals work a lot more than eggbeaters. The shoes are really light, too. I leave a pair of work shoes at work and when I ride anywhere else I either pack my birks or my running shoes (also light) in my bag. It can be a bit of a pain at times, but in my mind it is worth it after having a few wipe outs due to my eggbeater system detatching itself from my foot at a bad time.

Mine stick out just a hair, but I use 2 spacers to stick them out further. Otherwise I can't clip into my mallets. There's not much clicking.

I haven't been using them in awhile - went back to a cheap pair of shimano MTB shoes when I messed up my toe a few months ago and never put the cleats back in. I'll be going back to steel-toes and BMX platforms for winter, so it's not worth using them again until spring. I can fit thicker socks in the Shimanos, too...

If you just run eggbeaters (not mallets), you can probably run the cleats without the shims (like NT).

On a side note my gekos clack, but it is the two screws up front (for spikes or something? maybe someone else can help me out here, to enlighten me to the purpose of this hardware).

yeah those are for metal spikes, kind of like on a track (running) shoe.

I've been known to use those as a car refurbishing device.

I have heard a lot recently about the difficulty of using eggbeaters. Specifically in the ability to clip out. Sounds like there is also a difficulty staying clipped in. There are a bunch of people who run them so what is the deal? Are the people I know who tried them and gave up just a bunch of momos or is there a valid concern regarding those pedals? I cant afford to shell out 80 on peddles that I'll have to change again, although I guess they couldn't be harder to get out of then my current system, but then again, It is impossible for me to accidently clip out of my pedals.

Milo

No complaints with the eggbeaters here.

I've been running the entry-level "chrome" eggbeaters with casual, skate-style MTB shoes for several months now and haven't had any problems clipping out, nor have I had issues with clipping out accidentally. I did have to trim the sole a little bit around the cleat to make clipping out a little smoother.

-Trevor

since the eggbeaters don't have adjustable spring tension, i have found them easier to clip out from then a pedal that has adjustable tension (on which you can just crank up the tension, which makes it very difficult to clip out). i have a tendency to twist my left foot when i skid, and when i was using eggbeaters that foot sometimes twisted so much that the cleat popped out.

if you know your feet don't twist that much, i say go for 'em. oh yeah, and the cleats wear down pretty quickly if they hit the pavement a lot, so be wary.

Clipless, I prefer SPD's (520's don't cost a ton) to eggbeaters. I'v found out that eggbeater cleat wears out too quickly, at least in messer use to be reliable.