Hi everybody. Back into biking after 20 years away; was a hardcore biker till my mid 30s.

I've got a great new bike with a pedal system I consider unusable. So I'm going back to what works: MKS pedals, clips, and straps. (Please don't witness for Jesus on me. I'm done with that racing crap.)

Sole problem (no pun intended): I can't find shoes. After a few hours on the Net, I found a few possibilities that turned out to be out of production when I looked for a sales outlet.

Basically, I want what we wore before we all decided we were racers:

1. stiff sole to prevent wasted energy bending the foot instead of driving the pedal
2. solid toe that will stand up to clip pressure, but narrow enough to fit into the clip.
3. unaggressive tread that won't hang up on the pedal
4. shoes you can walk in. (I mean miles, not 10 feet. Non-negotiable.)

I used to have a great pair of Nike touring shoes I bought in 1982 that did all of this handily. Sadly, I gave them away when I sold my old TdF. Really wishing I hadn't done that.

Despite your unwarranted attitude towards people who use clipless pedals, I will recommend these:

https://www.rei.com/product/892627/p...ike-shoes-mens

You might look at the Rivendell site. I think he is a proponent of flat pedals, w/o clips though. That said, equipment evolves. Though you may be initially frightened by clipless pedals, the learning process is quick.

I had a pair of Bata Bikers back in the '70s/'80s.



When those fell apart, I got a pair of Specialized touring shoes.



There are lots of vintage cycling shoes on eBay... Or some places like REI have them.

Attitude toward people? I didn't see that in the OP. It sounded like a straight forward question, with a humorous plea to keep it that way.

On topic, I found a solution with Superfeet inserts in any walking shoes--just enough stiffener to help, and I can walk those miles, on rocks even, without metal cleats.

Welcome to the forum!

I love my Five Ten FreeRider shoes. They are solid, look good, and super comfortable.

Five Ten | Freerider Mountain Bike Shoe | Black

I love them so much I actually have two pairs. One for touring that get/got really beat up. And one for my city riding and living.

Will Sell... a pair of Carnac Carlit shoes size 45 .. NOS ..

A classic of the type you asked about .. I hoarded them, and they have gone out of production since then

I wear Vasque trail runner hiking shoes. I have no problem with the tread preventing rapid removal from the pedal/toe clip strap, and the sole is stiff. For me they are ideal. I bought them at REI.

When I do not use SPD type shoes, I wear Merrill Moab waterproof hiking shoes. Sole does not hang up on sliding into or out of the toe clips on the pedals, and is stiff enough for me to wear on a platform type pedal all day long.

My selection of these shoes is because I primarily bought them for travel and camping, not biking. I carry them on bike trips because at the end of the day when I get to the campsite, I switch to these shoes. But they work ok for biking too, there have been a few days when I wore these shoes all day on a bike instead of the SPD shoes.
https://www.rei.com/product/836529/m...ing-shoes-mens

Thanks for the offer! Unfortunately I'm size 42.

Thanks, everybody! Those grey Specialized shoes are exactly like the Nikes I used to have. Haven't found many on the used market yet, but would love to have them back. They were awesome. Thanks for the tip that Specialized also made them.

I've made notes of all your suggestions; big help.

Thanks also to the person who pointed out that I have nothing against people who use cleats. (Although I don't understand them.) It's the cleats I object to; others can ride the way they want.

Looking forward to being able to ride my new bike!

R.E.W. Reynolds shoes Products | REW Reynolds, Cycling Shoes, Leather Cycling Shoes, Lace Up Cycli.

I ride with clips and straps, too.

For multi-day tours where I'll be off the bike a good bit and only want to bring one set of shoes, I wear North Face Hedgehog Gore-tex shoes. Sole is stiff enough that I have no problems even with 60+ mile days (occasionally :-); sole is good for hiking, but not so aggressive that it hangs up on the pedal cages; Gore-tex keeps me dry; and they don't look dorky.

For day rides, I have a pair of Shimano SPD mountain bike shoes that I use. Just don't mount the cleats to the sole. Pretty good for average walking around, too.

I regularly ride a bike with toe clips and straps. The shoes I wear are stiff MTB shoes which I have not removed the cleat cover on the sole of the shoe. They work perfectly.

When I was riding in the 70's the cycling shoes had cleats nailed to the leather soles and I would never want to walk miles in those shoes.

But they did have a stiff sole, fit into the clips and my campy pedals didn't catch on the soles of the shoes.

I may have exaggerated when I said "miles". I was reacting to the assurances of salespeople who said, "Hell yes you can walk in them!", but when I actually wore the shoes in question I found they were good for about the distance from your kitchen to the garage. What I'm looking for is walking-around-the-park shoes.

Thanks again for the great advice. I've since seen some cleat-mountable shoes that look like they might work (Pearl Izumi Blackshadow, Giro Rumble VR), though I haven't tried any on yet to verify that they really walk like normal shoes (i.e., no penguin-feet). But the silhouette is right and they're board-stiff. They don't seem to have excessive tread, either. If anybody has experience with these shoes, I'd be grateful for your impressions.

Also saw those Shimano shoes; wasn't sure they walked well. So thanks for that too!

Nice to know I'm not the only toe-clipper left. I'm predicting a comeback.

Your foot bends? mine doesn't

Yeah it does. You just haven't noticed. The foot flexes when you push it against the pedal. If you ride with a good stiff sole, you'll notice the difference immediately. After that, when you ride in street shoes, your power transfer feels "mushy".

But wait: this goes for pedaling on the ball of the foot, like in toe clips. If you ride unsecured, with the pedal in the arch of your foot, there's probably less flex; fewer joints in the line. Don't know how much a stiff shoe improves power transfer in that case.

yes, technically you CAN walk in hard plastic road cycling shoes.
you dinna ask, they dinna mention the need for orthopedic surgery
if you walk in them more than 10 meters.

i'm still using clips and straps. started out with avocet and cannondale
shoes, steel plate in the sole, ribbed (not lugged) bottoms. sadly
cannot find them any longer. marketed specifically as "touring shoes"

for last decade have been using mtb shoes with recessed spd cleats.
either don't remove the cover, or just let the cleats fall off somewhere
along the way....

stiff sole, lugged for traction, flexy upwards for walking. have comfortably
pushed a bike up long 18% grades, and spent many hours hiking around
the temples at angkor wat and bagan.

"

Now, shoes.
Racing shoes are rigid, slippery plastic. Riders shopping for them pick them up and test their stiffness (as though it matters) by trying to bend them with their hands. If the shoe is rigid and unyielding, they heave out an "ahhh..." and consider it worthy.
It's a bunch of hooey, though. Your foot doesn't bend when you pedal a bike. It tenses and pretty much stays straight, just as it does when you walk up stairs. "
https://www.rivbike.com/kb_results.asp?ID=45

Bata Bikers ruled back in the day but they sucked for walking. These days I'm liking the Shimano CT40's I bought a pair last year and they work very well with toe clips. And you can walk around in them. Nashbar has them on sale for $40.

All I can answer to this is that it contradicts my objective experience, having biked in running shoes for two years before I bought my stiff old Nikes, and immediately benefitted from the difference. It also contradicts anatomy. Your foot is designed to give when it meets resistance, and it does. I don't remember how many bones a human foot has, but it's more than one.

People can still pedal perfectly well in street shoes, of course, and if the greater effort and lost range are no matter, there's no reason for them not to. But I find that the difference between clips and soft shoes and clips and stiff ones is greater than the difference between clips and cleats, especially at distance.

There are some other points in the article that indicate a black-and-white attitude unsupported by multicoloured fact, such as the writer's insistence that nobody pedals on the up-stroke. He's right that the incidence of up-stroke pedaling is grossly exaggerated by the racer-wannabe crowd; recreational riders do very little full-cycle pedaling. Among other things, it requires physical conditioning you don't have unless you're Laurent Fignon.

However, clipped riders do actively return (lift) the unloaded crank with the inactive foot. It's especially obvious those times when you coast for a bit, and then prepare to pedal again; it's the lower foot that lifts the pedal to begin. It does the same thing in active pedaling, though it's less obvious then. You don't feel it much while it's happening, but over hundreds of revolutions, there's a clear economy of effort. I've been riding flat these last few weeks, and the difference is stark and annoying. I'm always wanting to _lift_ a pedal, and I can't.

And then there's that moment when the cement truck is bearing down on you and you actually do that Lance Armstrong full-cycle schtick to get the hell out of the way.

My point is, the writer is correct that recreational riders shouldn't ape racers, because we don't have the same needs or abilities. (Or desires, for that matter.) And in practical terms, every rider has to decide what he or she needs most and compromise accordingly. (Says the cleat-hating retro-grouch.) But the suggestion that "everything is crap" isn't supported by experience.

A stiff sole , such as the Carnac , Or my SiDi touring shoes , wont flex much when you walk

The heel of your feet will come out of the shoe, like a Loose fitting penny Loafer .

But you can walk in them..





./.

Consider the source of the above-quoted material. While I generally respect Grant Peterson's point of view, sometimes he misses the boat. Shoe stiffness makes a difference.

When I biked across Kansas this summer with clips & straps I wore a pair of Keen hiking shoes. If you're after maximal efficiency, I'm sure a lighter, smaller shoe would be preferable. However, they worked wonderfully for me. The soles are quite stiff, and my model had mesh in the uppers, which helped with air circulation. Off the bike, I can't ask for a more comfortable shoe than a pair of Keens. Be sure to check your clip dimensions because some Keen shoes are quite bulky at the toe.