Hello,

I am currently using Sidi Dominator MTB shoes with the recessed cleats for all riding. While these are lightweight and stiff for riding they are not ideal for walking around while on a tour. While I am not looking for something that I can hike miles in it would be nice to be able to walk a little bit in town or at a historic / archeological site without slipping on rocks, etc.

Any suggestions for quality shoes that might work. BTW, my feet run wide so the Sidi MEGA fit really good.

I am also wondering if this might be better posted in the cyclocross / gravel forum as they occasionally have to hike-a-bike often in rough terrain.

Thanks,
Steve

For an actual tour I wear the same Sidis and take along a separate, lightweight pair of walking shoes.

Your thread should be fine where it is.

I use New Balance trail runners with Superfeet inserts for a little more stiffness. NB are available in multiple widths and their EE size fits my wide feet. .

Shimano mountain biking shoes with SPD cleats but will change into my Skechers for walking longer distances and after the ride.

Fizik Terra Ergolace X2 for example

Those look nice. Love that they have laces.

I think you want shoes with SPD cleats, but with a sole that makes it a good walking shoe. That includes almost all SPD cleat type shoes. Some have a good pavement tread, some have more of an off road tread. Since the sole is stiff, a mountain bike type tread is not bad on pavement.

Unfortunately Keen no longer makes cycling shoes styled after their sandals. That is what I use. I have also used some Pearl Izumi shoes too. My feet feel best at the end of a long day if I have my cleats as far back on my shoes as practical.

I use pedals with a platform on one side, SPD cleats on the other side. I also bring some non-bike shoes to wear in the campsite later, they are hiking shoes or trail runners. If I want to wear other shoes on the pedals, that type of pedal works great. There have been a few times I wanted to let my bike shoes dry out after they got soaked, so several days I have ridden for a day wearing other footwear. If it is too warm in rain to wear rain pants, I will wear some sandals in the rain and keep my bike shoes packed away where they stay dry. That only works with the type of pedals I cite. I use Shimano M324 pedals and (discontinued) Shimano A530 pedals for touring.

Go to a bike shop with a good selection and look at the shoes that have SPD cleats. Try on a few pairs. Put on a pair that fit well and walk around in the store for 15 minutes and decide if that shoe is a winner or not.

Some on this forum has suggested that you need bike shoes that will dry out quickly so you can wear them in the rain. I have never found such a pair, but some claim that they exist. My Keens and the Pearl Izumis that I use are very slow to dry out. I have seen some open toe bike sandals over the years that would certainly dry out fast but have never tried them. Don't rule them out if you see some.

Photo below, the rain had quit and it had become sunny out, but I was still wearing my sandals that I started that day in. Had not yet gotten around to changing footwear that day. These Teva sandals have an unusually stiff sole, with the A530 pedal I can ride all day with those sandals and not have any foot pain.



If you plan to ride in cold conditions when it may rain, you should also make sure that your shoe covers fit whatever you buy for shoes. Photo below, this was an all day rain day on a gravel road wearing rain pants and shoe covers. The pedal in the photo is an M324 pedal, the platform side is up in the photo.

For wide feet, nothing I’ve tried as been better than Lake. The Sidi Megas I had were a good 1/2” narrower than the Lakes that replaced them. Not cheap but they are durable and fit nicely.

Those Lake MTB shoes at $530 a pair, a little rich for me, but probably quite nice.

There are lots of other selections in the $200 range as well as some sale models as low as $100. In my experience, they are some of the longest lasting shoes I've ever owned.

I have a pair of lightweight sort of sneakers, sort of running shoes. If I have to get off and walk, I'll be pushing the bike so I wanted something comfortable to walk in. the weight weenie in me wants things that can be used for more than one thing, the shoes are fine off the bike. The pedals are old toeclip types, so essentially platforms. By old, I mean, the rivets in the straps rusted out, so I replaced them with bolts.

Assuming you're not planning to push a loaded touring bike up a lot of hills, I'd stick with the Sidis for riding, then take a lightweight pair of sandals (e.g., Tevas) for off-bike hiking and walking.

Ive used similar stiff mountain bike spd shoes for ages, taking some light shoes or sandals with me for getting into post riding and walking around on "regular" bike trips, and that has worked fine for me over decades.

However, bikepacking trips where I have had to do lots of walking, pushing bike up steep stuff, walking over really rough terrain etc, this is where I have considered a more walker friendly spd shoe, because a lot of hard surface hike a bike stuff has really gotten to my old feet wearing my super stiff mtb shoes.

Overall, I really appreciate a stiff riding shoe for all day riding that fits my specific feet shape well, good arch support and a more narrow fit for my specific feet -- so for me its all about how much walking I will actually be doing in a riding day.
If practically none, other than walking around a restaurant or grocery store, thats totally fine and is outweighed in my view of the advantages of spd clipped in and stiff shoes.

I guess you'll have to chime in with your priorities.
Carrying a pair of good waking shoes does take up space and weight, but there certainly are lighter options.
At the end of the riding day, I personally really want to put on other shoes than my riding shoes, to let my feet breathe a bit and the sweaty bike shoes to air out.

That is one of the best ways to help tired/sore feet. Switch to different shoes (different make and model) every few hours. At a previous job, I occasionally had to walk concrete floors for up to 14 hours a day for about 12 days every year. Someone told me to switch shoes out every so often. While it was not perfect, it was a LOT better than using the same shoes the entire time. I personally use the Mega Dominator for riding and then just switch to lightweight shoes for walking. If someone is concerned about the weight, we often carry other stuff we may not use like a spare tube. To me, this shoe set up is just one of those situations where I wish something was better but until then, I am happy with the setup.

Chemin du Parc was a series of 10% gravel hills.

I also use the Sidi Dominator Mega shoe and they are incredibly comfortable. This summer I switched to Keen sandals for touring and really liked them. This coming summer, however I plan on changing things up again by going lighter weight on the touring gear, taking less of it with me and going back to the Sidi Dominators and see what happens. What I really liked about the sandals is that I didn't have a real need to carry platforms for walking. I went barefoot in the sandals, using no socks and was perfectly comfortable. Washed in the river with the sandals on to protect feet from foreign objects. They dried quickly in 90 degree temps.
In conjunction with the Keen sandals I use the MKS Lambda pedals and the Rivendell Monarch pedal extenders for a very wide platform and mid foot pedal placement.

When I toured, the main thing for me was the bike, not so much the exploring on foot. I used Dominators and took very light running shoes for extended walking. Main thing with the walking shoes for me was that they not take up much space. Volume is as big a deal as weight.

Thanks for everyone's input. Yes, what I think that I am looking for are a single pair of SPD compatible shoes that would have a bit better off bike performance. I am not planning on doing enough off bike hiking that a second pair would be worth carrying.

Thanks for the tip on the Lake's for the wide feet. I'll take a look at them. I recently took a look at some of the newer Sidi's and thought that they were quite spendy, I also haven't been overall impressed with the durability my latest pair of Dominator 7s that I bought new in 2022 for my Trans Am tour. The upper between heel cup and sides is coming apart prematurely.

Unfortunately the LBSs in my area don't carry much in the way of shoes, mostly just for road and not touring. REI might be the best bet but still only a few brands like PI, Five Ten, and Shimano. I don't think that any of these come in wide widths.

I have the same model year Dominator 7's and so far so good. I expect 20 years from Sidi shoes and would be extremely disappointed with less than that. Every pair I have had have been outstanding.
Hope you find something suitable for walking and riding.

Lake also makes sandals these days. They're pretty great. LXSDL is the product name.

On top of my SPD shoes I usually carry a pair of minimalist shoes for hiking purposes. They're usually lightweight and can be rolled into a small...well, roll basically.

Then again we walk around a lot on tours these days. We have two small kids for whom running around playgrounds and new towns is much more important than sitting in a trailer or in a bike seat so having comfy walking/running/jumping/climbing trees shoes is a priority.

I read all the time SIDI ;) I used SIDI´s for years. I remember them as STIFF shoes.

Try Quoc Grand Tourer II, very very comfy shoe.

hi steve, there certainly are spd type shoes that are more walking friendly, a bit more bendy, but still a reasonably stiff sole. My wife got a pair like these last summer and is happy with them, although she isn't picky and frankly is more interested in how a shoe looks.

My main suggestion is that one really has to try shoes on, and compare numerous models, to really get a proper idea and feel for what shoe model fits your foot best---and thats the most important thing.
Your feet and mine are pretty much polar opposites, wide vs narrow, but we both will always benefit from a shoe that fits well and gives arch support depending on our arches etc.

I have low arches, so really have figured out that proper arch support makes a big difference for my foot comfort riding all day.

Although you are asking about doing a non camping trip, I still like having a light pair of crocs, or sandals, or whatever (small and light the obvious advantages) to have on after riding.
I figure for a non camping trip, its pretty easy to keep clothes and stuff down to a pretty low minimum, using the same rules of civvie clothes that are light, dry quickly, and perhaps riding type stuff that also look fine in a restaurant etc, so having some sort of sandals or whatever aren't really going to add much weight in the big picture of things - but hey, that's your choice.

re Lake shoes, years ago I found them waaaay too wide for me, so they appear to still have that characteristic in sizing.

Interestingly, Teva brought back an old school model that is lighter than more recent ones. They remind me of ones I had in the 90s. I picked up a pair at REI last summer and bring them on flat trips.



I bring my Xero Sole sandals on hilly trips despite their problems.

Yeah, I got a pair of Tevas maybe 10 years back that weighed about as much as my heavy hiking boots. A couple years back, I was browsing the sale rack and found another pair that was much more like their older sandals.