Recommended Shoe?

[Melody]

So not to hijack the other thread, I'm starting this one.

I want to get a mtn bike style shoe (worn w/ my road bike). The pedals that came with my bike are SPD compatible and my requirement is that I must be able to walk in the shoe since I have many many stops during my commute.

The other issue I have is that I have big feet. I wear a 10.5-11 womens, wide if I wear a 10.5, sometimes wide if I wear an 11 (depending on the cut of the shoe).

What I would also like to do is not spend a million dollars. Any recommendations?

Mel who hates being a big person (*sigh*)

[SadieKate]

Mel, can you give us a bit more info?

Are you going to use these shoes on your road bike and, if so, are you doing a lot of long miles or are you just commuting on it? If you are doing a lot of serious road miles you'll want a stiff sole. If you're doing more stopping and walking than long rides, a more comfortable "hybrid" shoe may be right. Tell us more about your riding style and we can come up with better recommendations. This is definitely an opinionated group!

Editing to clarify that you can walk in any mountain bike shoe but some are more "walkable" than others. The more they are like a hiking shoe the softer the sole and you may have problems if you ride long road rides because of the lack of stiffness in the sole. So, you have to find the right compromise.

[Melody]

Mel, can you give us a bit more info?

Are you going to use these shoes on your road bike and, if so, are you doing a lot of long miles or are you just commuting on it? If you are doing a lot of serious road miles you'll want a stiff sole. If you're doing more stopping and walking than long rides, a more comfortable "hybrid" shoe may be right. Tell us more about your riding style and we can come up with better recommendations. This is definitely an opinionated group!

Yes, these are going to be used on the road bike (and eventually the mtn too probably). Also, I'm looking at doing both long miles (well, long for me )and commuting. I commute during the week. Right now I'm only doing about 6 miles a day to the shuttle station and back home, but eventually (i.e. in the next couple of weeks) is to ride all the way to work, which will turn out to be between 18 and 20 miles daily roundtrip.

On the weekends, we do some long rides and some short. Keep in mind that the 26 miles I rode last Sunday is the farthest I've ridden in a day ever. I'm slowly getting into shape though!

Editing to clarify that you can walk in any mountain bike shoe but some are more "walkable" than others. The more they are like a hiking shoe the softer the sole and you may have problems if you ride long road rides because of the lack of stiffness in the sole. So, you have to find the right compromise.

Well, I'm not planning on wearing the shoes the whole time. The walkability is so that we can ride, get lunch, ride some more, etc. without me tripping over myself. I have bad walking balance issues (due to the stroke) when I'm tired and have been known to trip over absolutely nothing. I've also got screwed up ankles from past breakage. My feet don't come down flat, so anything that makes it worse is not good. I need a good stable base in my shoe. Oh yeah, last thing, I'm also diabetic, so that may be a factor (not sure).

Mel

[SadieKate]

Geez, you go girl! You're an inspiration.

Talk to your LBS about Lemond Wedges (shims). You may need these with your pedals. Anyone out there used them?

[Melody]

Geez, you go girl! You're an inspiration.

Talk to your LBS about Lemond Wedges (shims). You may need these with your pedals. Anyone out there used them?

Sadie, THANK YOU! When I see the LBS I'll have to ask about them. I can't tell you the number of times I've nearly broken my ankles because of how steep my step is sometimes. :/

Mel

[nuthatch]

I don't use the wedges but I've got women's Cannondale mountain shoes which were not expensive and plenty wide for my size 10+ very wide feet. They don't have a super rigid sole and are as easy as a hiking shoe to walk in. If these hadn't worked out, I was ready to try a men's shoe!

As far as clipless issues, I've been using those mini toe clips for commuting because they are so easy to slip in and out of as I stop and start when I commute to work but still give me some "pull" power on the upstroke. I tried some SPD style pedals that were platform on one side and clipless on the other but I think my softer sole made my feet hurt a bit in them - it may also have been just a "getting used to" the feel of the smaller pressure point of the cleat/pedal. I'm switching over to Candy C clipless pedals when I start commuting again in the spring - Shimano shoes were recommended to me as a stiffer soled mountain shoe and were also plenty wide when I tried a pair on (MO38s). I've got balance issues also, so I'm trying to be brave!

Mel, it sounds like you've set some great goals for yourself! Be careful and enjoy the ride!

[Melody]

Yup. I bought my first pair of clipless shoes. They're Shimano size 43 and they fit great. I spent an hour or so clipping, unclipping, adjusting, [repeat] :P Now I'm waiting to go outside later, find a quiet spot and fall a few times

Mel

[pedalfaster]

Melody,

Congrats!!!!

And remember, we have all fallen over, still clipped-in. It's kind of a cyclists' rite-of-passage.

Have fun!

[CorsairMac]

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=1827

Congrats Melody - wow, new shoes, new journal, you go girl! I'm in the jersey buying stage right now - trying to get S/S jerseys Before the weather gets warm! *shakes head* and here I thought riding a bike would be simple! Anyway, the thread above is My first experience with clipless and all the wonderful support I got during my "break-in" period! Hope it helps!

[DirtDiva]

Nice linkage CM.

I went for a ride this afternoon after work and saw not one, but two people fall because they only got one pedal/got the wrong pedal unclipped. The first one looked ouchy - she fell on the pavement in the carpark. The second one fell into a bush - I'd have laughed if he'd been one of my friends, but it's a tad mean to laugh at strangers so I bit my tongue. Ah, that'll be me one day...

[CorsairMac]

Learned how to link from the best! With my eternal Gratitude!

[Melody]

Corsair, nice link

So yesterday was my frist day of using the clipless peddles. I went to a local school where I could practice clipping and unclipping while still pedalling to make sure I wouldn't unclip in the middle of a stroke while stand (can we say ouch?)

So, it looks like I got the tension settings just about right. I put some more oil on the pedals last night as part of my weekly maintenance on the bike thing so we'll see how things are today. I did a little over 11 miles yesterday and today we should do about the same.

What I can say is ow, I feel sore. Using the shoes/pedals/cleats are making me use muscles I didn't know existed.

Oh yeah, I didn't fall yesterday at all, but did have one scare. I was riding up an incline on a path that had a pole right in the middle of it. Near the top, I attempted unsuccessfully to unclip. Luckily I was going slow enough that I could grab the rail to my right to steady myself.

Mel the slow-slow-slow-poke-who-dislikes-inclines

[photosRphun]

lol, mel but i will have some stories of my own to tell here shortly. i'm sitting on my couch staring at my bike now. i am waiting on the doc's aprroval for me to take my bike for its second spin and then i'm loading it on the back of the car to take to the LBS for clipless pedals. WOW! so stay tuned, i'm sure i will be right there with you saying ouchie about the muscles and whoa, that was a close one! :-)

[Melody]

heh. Well, it was definately a trial by fire yesterday. Just don't do the path we did. :P

We have a friend, John, who came by yesterday to make sure he knew how to get to the new house we moved into a few months back. We were about to go on a short cruise, so he joined us.

He mentioned a paved trail that we'd probably like and we said "sure, let's go." Well, the trail was *great* (can't remember the name at the moment) however, getting there was adventurous.

John has a tendency to run stop signs. He _does_ slow down and will stop if he sees a car, but generally he goes through it. Plus, we had to cross a street. Instead of crossing at a light (at a busy intersection) he slowed down, waited for a break, and went through.

Now, I'm new at the clipless thing. I said "no way" and got off the bike and went over to the crosswalk and walked it across. Sad part is, this guy in a car nearly hit me anyway.

Eventually, we get to safe ground, but there was alot of clip in, ride, clip out, clip in, ride, clip out.

Clipless shoe trial-by-fire-or-car.

Mel

[Bike Goddess]

H Mel- You are an absolute inspiration to me! I'm so impressed by your commitment! You go girl!

Clipless will make a difference in your ability to climb. I would also recommend that if you don't have granny gears on your bike that you get them! I ride with a MTB set up- Shimano XT derailleur (11/34 geariing)and it has made hills much less formidable even when I am tired! Biking should be fun even if its challenging!

I look forward to hearing about your adventures down south (I live in Benicia- near Vallejo).

Nancy