Multi-purpose pedals

[Bicycler]

No, no, no.
I'm talking about shoes you can walk in.
Like walking up Cross fell, or Ingleborough, or High Street.
(that's High Street, or the local high street, if you catch my drift)
And that's the point. Special shoes that are efficient on the bike, and don't limit me for walking.
Why put up with second best either on or off the bike?

To hijack the thread a little bit here. Can you really get spd shoes that function well for hill walking? I think I may be being swayed to the dark side...

[Brucey]

I think you're wrong Brucey......

These days, I use clipless Campag - similar/rip-off Look - and together with the large delta and the rubber stoppers on the shoe heels and toes, plus rubber cleat covers if I fit them, I can walk almost normally. In fact I could run if I so desired.

that is what a friend of mine thought too. The end result was a trip to hospital to treat a very nasty compound fracture of the ankle.

I used to use Look pedals and they were totally useless for walking in. Without the cleat condoms, worse than walking in no shoes at all, and only a little better than that with them. If you walk even ten or twenty yards every time you ride your bike without them, your cleats wear out. With them, you have some clarty rubbish to lug about. Hopeless.

I can walk several miles in my SPD shoes quite comfortably and occasionally do so, often whilst carrying my bike up the side of a mountain or something. There is absolutely no comparison with most 'road' type cleat systems.

I've not tried SPD boots but I can see the point in the wintertime, and may yet go in that direction.

cheers

[531colin]

............
Like walking up Cross fell, or Ingleborough, or High Street......

To hijack the thread a little bit here. Can you really get spd shoes that function well for hill walking? I think I may be being swayed to the dark side...

........

I've not tried SPD boots but I can see the point in the wintertime, and may yet go in that direction.

cheers

These......although its a previous incarnation that I have.

not cheap, but very, very good.
probably stiffer than my own walking boots, but the sole is curved so you rock on them like a climbing boot.
My feet have never been cold in them, and only wet when I have been through a ford that was rather deep, or in torrential rain when it runs down your legs.
I don't want to pay good money for overshoes that last a season, and you can't walk in them anyway.

[123malford]

http://www.cloudtrikes.com/product-p/jbi-41946.htm there are these.

[markfh]

It depends what you call serious cycling. Although it seems that you have to use SPD's to be taken seriously to my mind there is a lot to be said for a flat (platform) pedal and traditional toe-clips and straps with the straps loose enough so that you can slip your foot out relatively easily. When I say a flat pedal I mean something like an old SR SP11 or the more modern MKS Urban or if you like paying silly money the White Industries Urban Platform. With this sort of combination you can cycle in virtually any shoe and the width of the platform is such that shoe rigidity (or lack of) is not too much of an issue. Although they may not suit everyone I regularly do rides of 50km or more with such a combination, normally wearing cycle shoes without cleats, and don't have to change anything, other than perhaps loosen the straps depending on the particular shoes, if I want to nip down to the shops.

Although you can do something similar with other traditional pedals, something like the MKS AR-2, they don't offer the same support and the height of the front and rear edges of the pedal mean there is more chance of them getting caught in the tread on the sole of a shoe or even damaging the sole if used regularly.

That having been said, I think that even this combination may be defeated by the "shoes" ? shown by 531colin.

[Bicycler]

Blimey Colin, I never knew something like that existed. Might be ideal. Can you pedal in comfort for a few hours in those? Does the high ankle support of the boot hinder pedalling in any way?

[thirdcrank]

I was a lifelong toeclips-and-straps man until I retired and when I went clipless I started with SPD and stayed with it. I've had one pair of the SPD/standard cage pedals for ages and I've no idea what model they are. They are currently on my winter bike so I can ride in either Sidi MTB boots or any old boots. For that type of riding they are ideal. Another advantage for anybody who likes to be street-legal is that they can be fitted with reflectors easy peasy. Legal reflectors etc are arguably more of an issue in the winter months when the nights are so much longer.

It's hard to imagine a purpose-made cycling shoe which is also suitable for serious walking, but the recessed cleat system of SPD means that there are various styles of shoe which are OK for a limited amount of walking and appear normal. There are SPD trainer styles and even SPD sandals, which a lot of riders seem to swear by. I think it's fair to say that the one bit of the market where SPD made little impact was in racing shoes/pedals. I've a pair of Ultegra SPD road pedals which are now long in the tooth and just after I bought them, they introduced SPD-R (or something similar) in an unsuccessful attempt to compete with Look.

Finally, I think if you want off-the-peg pedals with this different sides function, you are stuck with SPD. Not a hardship, IMO.

[Mick F]

I used to use Look pedals and they were totally useless for walking in. Without the cleat condoms, worse than walking in no shoes at all, and only a little better than that with them. If you walk even ten or twenty yards every time you ride your bike without them, your cleats wear out. With them, you have some clarty rubbish to lug about. Hopeless.

This is me ...... "fell walking" with the the Cycle Seven team up from Crackpot in the Yorkshire Dales exactly two years ago 23rd July 2011. I'm on the far right in Campag cleats.

They were new in Jun 2010 and I replaced them in Oct 2011. 5,000miles.
They lasted until Sep 2013. 5,300miles
TBH, I swap them when they look worn, as I've never replaced them because I had to.
Present ones have done a tad over 4,000miles.

[reohn2]

............my choice is MTB race shoes; stiff as road shoes when you are riding, but you can walk in them, without looking (or feeling) like a duck.

cheers

I've found the same too,not quite as comfy as touring shoes for walking in for any prolonged periods but much better when spending up to 7 hours in the saddle.

[Brucey]

This is me ...... "fell walking" with the the Cycle Seven team up from Crackpot in the Yorkshire Dales exactly two years ago 23rd July 2011.... I'm on the far right in Campag cleats.

-walking on the grass so your cleats don't wear out so fast...?

cheers

[Mick F]

Have you seen those Yorkshire stones?

[531colin]

I know the Crackpot track...must be all of a mile long.
Try High Street in road shoes.....(that's Pooley bridge to Windermere)
or High Cup Nick (Teesdale to Eden valley)

[531colin]

Blimey Colin, I never knew something like that existed. Might be ideal. Can you pedal in comfort for a few hours in those? Does the high ankle support of the boot hinder pedalling in any way?

When I go touring, mixing a few tracks in with roads, I wear the boots, unless its high summer. (there are a few clues in the link in my sig.)
I can ride all day in the boots for a week.
I can't do boots and toeclips, but boots and SPDs are no problem.

[Brucey]

LOOK PS26 here;

http://velobase.com/VeloBase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=2c239fe6-fac3-48e5-98df-fc06ea3a824c

pretty nasty, huh?

cheers

[thirdcrank]

... or High Cup Nick (Teesdale to Eden valley)

That's a coincidence (but nothing to do with SPD pedals.) While I've been clearing my mother's flat, the chap next door to her mentioned that he collected postcards and I've just let him have a B&W one of High Cup Nick I posted home in the early 1960's. I'm rather ashamed to add that I bought it from a shop in Appleby and I hadn't been testing my nailed-on TA shoeplates by mountaineering.