One of the issues is sole stiffness. There’s a misconception (lie) that cycling shoes need to have super stiff soles. They do if the pedals are tiny, like some clipless pedals, because the pedaling force is so concentrated. But if you use a wider pedal, it’s not that important that your shoe be super stiff. Actually, I (Grant) much prefer a sole that lets me feel the pedal, not painfully, but enough to know where it is under my foot. That’s an important thing to know when you’re not connected to the pedal.


The shoes I prefer for cycling are a pair of Hush Puppies. I think they're possibly aerobic shoes. Nice soft leather on the upper and they have a rubber sole which doesn't slip off the pedals and seem to grip the pedals quite nicely.

At the moment my favourite cycling gear is just my cotton T-shirts with a fleece over the top if it's cool. I wear narrow legged tracksuit bottoms (don't know what you call them in the USA - tights maybe?) which are comfortable and don't snag the crank case. If I jump on the bike wearing jeans I've got a wonderful pair of reflective cycle clips to stop the jeans bottoms flapping about.

I do have a pair of shorts but am not overly keen on them.

Mind you, when bikes ruled the road, people didn't have "cycling clothes" and just wore normal clothes.

Like most people I prefer to wear what I'm comfy in