Shoes??

[Satori78]

I've seen a lot of discussion on the boards about clipless and know that there is a certain type of shoe required for them. What I'm wondering though is given I'm not using clipless pedals (just plain old came with the bike ones) is there a certain type of shoe I should be using? Are cycling shoes just for use with clipless pedals? I'm not sure I'm ready to go to clipless yet, I think I'd like to be more comfortable with the bike, stops and starts. . . and HILLS (can we say slug?) before I give those a try.

Angela

[effulgent]

I'm still very new at this, but this has been my novice experience so far. I've been riding with my husband's Diodoro Chili shoes, which is a mountain bike shoe with a sturdy sole, and platform pedals. His shoes are a half-size big for me (they have a little toe wiggle room, but everything else fits fine), but it's still good for me to ride with sturdy sole bike shoes.

As soon as we can afford it, I'm going to get some shoes of my own as well as clipless pedals, but I'm still going to ride with my platform pedals for a while until I get the hang of my new shoes. Then I'll put the hook thingy onto the shoes and try clipless.

I know that the first few times I rode, I rode with my New Balance cross trainers, but as soon as I rode with the cycling shoes, my upper thighs were KILLING me. I could tell that I was working a whole new set of muscles and my power transfer was getting better. But it's taken some getting used to getting off and on the platform pedals with the sturdier shoes.

I can't wait until I can get my own pair of cycling shoes. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to go with mountainbike shoes that are streamlined, like the Diodoro's I'm using now.

[Jo-n-NY]

It took me quite a while a a lot of convincing for me to convert to cycling shoes and clippless pedals. Upon my husbands recommendation he told me to get a mtn cycling shoe so I went with a Specialized one as they felt most comfortable. The reason for a mtn shoe even if you are road biking is the when you attach the cleat for clippless they are easier to walk in as the cleat is recessed more into the shoe.

After getting use to the shoe I then proceeded to the clippless pedals. We had a pair of barely used spd's in the garage so my husband put those on for me just to see if this something I would be able to adjust to without a problem. I practiced on my trainer and once comfortable I rode outdoors. I did not find them to be a problem. This particular pair was on the heavy side and I did have to pivot my foot rather hard to clip out, but as long as I was thinking about what I needed to do I had no problems.

At this point, I knew I would be ok with clipless so I began research the boards here to see which pedals I would be happiest with. As always I received a great wealth of info from many of these wonderful ladies. I went with Speedplay Frogs as they can be used with mtn shoes (not all can). They were so easy to use I thought something was wrong with them that I called Speedplay. But, this is the way they are. I barely have to think about clipping out because except for pivoting my heal out I release from the pedal with complete ease, no effort. I love them.

Sorry, I didn't mean for this reply to be so long. I hope my info helps you out.

~ JoAnn

[trayc]

I too am just starting out and don't feel like I am ready for clipless. I bought a diadora mtn. shoe and it has helped my feet tremendously. My feet were going numb in tennis shoes so having a sturdier shoe has helped.

[CorsairMac]

Satori: you don't have to put the cleats in the shoes until you're ready. There is a difference even between clipless road shoes and mtn shoes. I have both and use the road shoes the most because they are stiffer. but they are a bear to walk in ! I use the mtn shoes in the winter and when weather conditions might get my road shoes dirty! (yup, that would be the girlie part of me talking there!) Anyway, the cleats come with the pedals so you could find a combo you like and then just buy the shoes first - or buy both but don't put the pedals on yet and don't mount the cleats. I use Shimano SPD pedals and both my shoes are Specialized. Several ladies here use Speedplay and Eggbeaters, my ex-racer friend uses Look. It's a matter of personal choice I think.

[roughingit]

I have the Shimano pedals with a platform on one side and love them! I don't like riding clipped in around town yet because of all the starts and stops and errand running, but they are great on long trips. I second the advice for mountain bike shoes, I'd hate to try sliding around off bike on the road ones.

[DeniseGoldberg]

I only ride on the road, but I switched to mountain bike pedals & shoes many years ago so that I could walk a little more easily. If you're looking for stiff shoes, you don't have to buy road shoes. I wear Sidi Dominator (women's) mountain bike shoes which are extremely stiff. It's my understanding that the stiffness of the shoe (and really the shoe itself, other than the extra "lugs" on the sole) matches the Sidi Genius road shoe. Pedals? I use Speedplay Frogs.

--- Denise

[bikerHen]

I recently went clipless myself. I settled on Shimano Mens Mt bike shoes mostly because they fit better on my very short, very wide feet and they are eaiser to walk in. I started without cleats in the shoes, then to the two-sided pedels so I could eased myself over to the clipped-in side. My new bike has the full clip pedels that I'm still getting the hang of using. I've had two really close calls but have yet to do a full Artie Johnson fall. Overall my feet have been much happier with a sturdier cycling shoe under them. It's about a month now and I find I'm clipped in more than not clipped in. My knees aren't hurting and my butt no longer goes numb after 20 miles so I guess this whole clippless thing is OK! bikerHen

PS Don't really know if clipless solved the numb butt . . . but the first longer ride I was clipped in, that was the only thing changed.

[Satori78]

Thanks to everyone who's replied (I knew it wouldn't take long ). I may have to make a trip to the LBSs this weekend and see what I come up with. Of course the boyfriend (who doesn't use cycling shoes) will just look at my funny and ask where I think I'm going to fit another pair of shoes in our one bedroom apartment. Of course, us women know there is ALWAYS room for more shoes

Thanks again!
Angela