+1 Keen sandals for touring and commuting... And just kicking around the office like I am right now

It's clear that I shouldn't read before eating. :thumb:

that is what I got from the post as well... it reminds me of an article I read a while back, some guy doing one of the major Ironman tri's, he'd done a ton of them over the years and for some reason he decided to do one more casually... to the point of riding the bike portion (112 miles) on an old rusty beach cruiser (that he spent some time cleaning up and getting working well mechanically) in cut off jean shorts and either flops or barefoot (been a little while seine I read it)... his point being that it doesn't require all the fancy gadgets and stuff to be able to do even a big ride like that.

with that being said... I've been riding clipless since the mid/late 90's... if i'm doing more than putzing around the neighborhood I prefer them, when I got back into riding a few years back my bike came with some nice large flats (bmx style) that I rode on untill I picked up some new SPD pedals... I found that on longer rides my knees would bother me as my feet where more "locked" into a direction and that my knee had to work around that... I'm sure it was partly my own technique but the little bit of slippery float/twisting of my SPD's have kept that from being an issue.

No problem, I should eat before writing most of the time as well:p

I just believe that people should do whatever they personally feel most comfortable with. Myself, I ride with almost every combination of shoe and pedal style, my tastes change, as do my physical desires and goals. Thank goodness we have all the options of clips, half clips, clipless, power straps, multiple brands and styles of shoe and pedals!

Right now I am going mostly spd sandals, with clipless on almost all my bikes.

re riding with regular shoes that can "flex" downwards, for me personally having a nice stiff biking shoe just means that my feet are not sore at the end of a long day, nor after day after day. A stiff shoe is going to be more efficient for transferring your power to pedal vs a regular running shoe. There is a real physical reason why biking shoes have always been stiffer than regular shoes, sure you can ride in anything, but I figure its a "been there done that" sort of thing that once you have a pair of shoes that fit your feet very well and have a nice stiff sole, you will see the difference in foot comfort--especially for someone riding everyday for 2 months.

I too am in the crowd of taking a light comfortable shoe to put on at the end of the day, and to walk in for non biking stuff. Completely worth the weight and space to have them imo.

Thank you everyone for all the helpful information! I think I'm going to choose a mtb shoe that is fairly stiff and something I can use to walk around town. I'm pairing this with either tennis shoes, chacos sandals, or some sort of flip flops. I like all of the suggestions. Has anyone tried or know anything about Mavic Alpine Mountain Bike shoes? Seems like a decent option for touring, but I want to make sure it doesn't have too much flex or will leave my feet sore at the end of the day.

Since you're planning to take two pairs of shoes anyway, take whatever shoes are the most comfortable for you to ride in, and use the chacos for hiking/around town/everything else!
I hike in my chacos all the time, they're great for it. I also ride in them with toe cages, so y'know :)

This for me makes most sense, getting out of bikes shoes as soon as possible and letting them air out is essential for my feet, plus the bike shoes don't stink as much.
As for which ones, I went with SPD mtn bike shoes, but would suggest trying many shoes on to fiind which ones fit best, everyone's feet are different.

Keen cycling sandals. Cycling, hiking, walking, and lounging. For me, it's why carry two pairs of shoes when one will do?

I've taken more often than not a pair either of croc knockoffs, or a pair of flip flops for use in showers and on beaches and so on. Bike sandals just don't seem suitable enough for showering, schlepping back to the tent, then setting off on the bike in near-to-freezing temps while they are still damp to wet.

I've kind of given up on the idea of a great "all in one" shoe for cycling and walking.

I've tried several pair of shimano touring and mtb shoes as multi-purpose shoes and they just didn't work out.

I found them to be quite heavy, and I didn't feel like I gained much of an efficiency advantage over street shoes even though the sole was apparently quite stiff.

As walking shoes, the weight and stiffness were definitely disadvantages--they weren't very comfortable in that regard.

I used sidi's as road shoes, and it was incredibly how lightweight, stiff and breathable the shoes were. Unfortunately, they were way too narrow for my feet, and I couldn't bear to use them after about a year or so. The power transfer via clipless pedals was also amazing.

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I do think cycling specific shoes and a very light shoe or sandal for walking is the best solution.

I use large platforms and some decent low top hikers. Find some with a stiff sole. My feet are very sensitive to flexing and i found that Merrells are stiff enough. I have ridden clipless for years, but I tend to get off the bike and hike around streams and rocks a lot. I slipped one to many times when that metal clip hit a rock just right.

I say if you want to ride and hike in the same shoes, get some MTB shoes by a company like Tiva and ride platforms. That's what I do when I plan on hiking(unless I just take my Vibrams for the hiking). They're great for biking and hiking. They have a stiffer sole, which is more due to the MTB aspect(supports your feet on rugged, bouncy terrain and landing jumps), but are good for biking in general and still comfy enough to hike in. If you're stuck on being clipped in, I'd say go with the sandals for ultimate comfort. Personally I don't see the point of being clipped in if you're not racing, but obviously many prefer being clipped in all the time. To each his own.
Extremely poor advice. :P I ride in flip-flops and platform MTB pedals Most of the time if the weather is decent. Also, modern shoes are actually part of the reason a lot of people have the foot problems and lack of foot muscle to help support their feet naturally that you would have if not wearing shoes all day, every day of your life. This is no secret in the medical field. Flexing of your feet is great. Building foot muscle is great. Being cramped up in a shoe all day, every day is what's bad for them, and your spine, etc, etc.

I love my Keen bike sandals for touring. They use MTB style cleats... I stopped using my Sidi shoes entirely now.

Personally, though never toured, just long daily rides. I like my large platforms, and wear skate shoes.

The Shimano sandals are the most awesome piece of footwear I have ever had, and still have!

I've biked around 5000km in them without any problem, they hardly look worn now!
I've also hiked in them, real hiking! I had them with me in Armenia, georgia and Iran, for, among other things, a 2 week hike in the canyons and mountains, also without any problems at all.

I basicly was wearing nothing but these sandals everyday for 6month:-)

There are, I should add, made for a slim foot. I have rather long skinny/thin feet, so for me they are perfect. I often have problems with shoes being to spacious...

I like the Scott MTB Team BOA shoes. I think BOA is probably the best system to keep the shoes properly tightened without anything that gets loose and floppy. If the stainless steel laces are loose they aren't loose enough to really get caught anywhere and are quite lightweight. Plus the shoes are quite comfortable with a nice stiff sole and low weight.

I wanted to go with the Keen Commuter IIs but they just don't fit me well and didn't feel quite so comfortable.