can I learn to love my road shoes?

[Crankin]

I made the same switch, but I use Speed Plays; I never had any issues. I don't really understand what the issue is. With Speed Plays, you put your foot down and it's in. Once in awhile I miss, but the motion is so natural, my foot just slides in.
I never expected to walk well in road shoes; they are not made for walking. The most I walk around is to sit down and eat my lunch on a ride! If I am doing more of a "tour" type of day, my husband brings his Carradice bag and I stick my very light weight Keen sandals in there to slip on.

[VeloVT]

I have trouble clipping in and then my foot slips off. W/the mtn bike shoe I could just sit on top of the pedals if without clipping in, and my foot would stay put. W/these, I can't do that.

I made the same switch, but I use Speed Plays; I never had any issues. I don't really understand what the issue is. With Speed Plays, you put your foot down and it's in. Once in awhile I miss, but the motion is so natural, my foot just slides in.

Crankin, the motion for clipping in with SPD-SLs/Looks is different -- you can't just step on the pedal. You kind of slide in and down. You have to catch the pedal just right or the cleat will just slide right over the top of the pedal.

That said, it's totally a muscle memory thing. When I first started riding clipless it would take me a long time to clip in, but with repetition it becomes like clipping out -- you don't have to look down, your body knows where the pedal is. Like someone else said, I would say just give it time. I love my road pedals.

If you get nervous at intersections because you are concerned that you might not be able to clip in fast enough, always remember that with clipless pedals, it's quite easy to keep yourself going pedaling with only one leg. Assuming you only clip out one foot at lights, you can get yourself going with the leg that's still clipped in, and take your time to get your other foot in. When I was helping my boyfriend learn to use clipless pedals, and he had anxiety about getting clipped in, I demonstrated that you can actually go pretty fast with only one leg by riding down the bike path in front of him with one leg clipped in and the other lifted out to the side. He thought it was pretty funny -- apparently I looked like a dog at a fire hydrant .

[Aggie_Ama]

I ride Looks and find I often trouble clipping in but I can ride on the pedal for a short time until I can get to a comfortable area to flip them or make sure they are engaged. Not ideal and not fast but I don't race so who cares? I like the way my foot feels once clipped in them so I trade that I am not coordinated and no pedal will be an easy clip for me.

With the amount of foot issues I have had I am not sure I would give up the stiff sole to go to mountain shoes so I deal with the annoyances of road shoes. Also I have very narrow feet and am not keen on replacing my road shoes with some top of the line Sidi mountain shoes which would be the only ones to fit my feet and be relatively stiff soled.

[Triskeliongirl]

Aggie, the sole on the dominator is just as stiff as the sole on the genius, the only difference is the lugs and the types of cleats that can be used.

I use the dominator as a 'road shoe' with speedplay frogs and I love my set up. I like being able to walk in my shoes, and the weight of the lugs is no significant to me.

[Aggie_Ama]

Oh, that is excellent to know Trisk. I can't afford to replace mine at the moment but have really been considering it. It seems to be quite a popular choice on TE but I don't see it much in Austin but who cares?

[Triskeliongirl]

Its is true that on average mountain soles are less stiff than road soles, but the higher end mountain shoes like the dominator are identical. I also have narrow feet so the dominator works well for me. I always pick them up on those end of the year closeout sales, so start watching for your size to go on sale.

[Aggie_Ama]

I was just looking at the pictures and they look the same shoe except the sole.

Back to the original question..... Why did you switch in the first place? As you can see from Trisk and I's discussion I ride Genius and have very narrow feet so I love the fit of Sidi. The Genius fit like a glove but I love the walkability of mountain shoes and have thought of trading. She rides Dominators and says they feel very comparable to the Genius. Do you only hate the clipping in? For me the tough call is I love my pedals- once I am in them and riding.