Socks/Pedals - need wisdom/opinions!

[Cari]

I'm thinking about switching over to Looks but............I have to walk my bike into the office or the store etc etc and wasn't sure if the Look cleats are walkable?......would love to hear your opinion

also, I got a great deal on the Look pedals and cleats but they are the red cleats which I understand have more float........something I Don't want. Which cleats do you use?

Look cleats on road shoes are not recessed (like SPD cleats are on MTB shoes) so it's a bit harder to walk in them. You can, however, get rubber cleat covers which will keep you from slipping around.

Which Look pedals did you get a deal on? Look cleats aren't that expensive -- around $20, I think. If they're regular Look pedals, you can buy the black delta cleats, which have zero degrees float. If they're Look KeO pedals you have three choices. They usually come with a gray cleat which has 4.5 degrees float, and you can also buy the black (0 degress) or red (9 degrees) KeO cleats.

~Cari, who's been doing her homework

[Kimmyt]

Corsair, I have the red cleats, the ones with the most float. I got these because 1) they were the cheapest and 2) they offered the most float which at the time I understood as being most amenable to a newer rider's knees.

Walking in Looks is.... interesting. They can be quite slippy, as Cari said. I have seen the ads for the cleat covers, but I don't know if they would help with the ease of walking. It might help with the slip factor (let me warn you about the TREACHEROUSNESS of using a port-a-potty during a ride while wearing these shoes...heh). Looks have some degree of thickness which causes you, when walking, to tend to walk back on your heels (your toes, for example, are up higher off the ground than your heels). This makes it difficult to walk, especially if walking up a hill.

I don't personally mind walking shorter distances (into buildings, across roads, etc.) in my shoes, but if you are used to a MTB style shoe it may be annoying for you.

However, don't get me wrong, I am a new road biker, and I have found these cleat/pedal systems to be extremely easy to use and my learning curve has been very sharp with them!

K.