Hi all! I have owned a Trek Hybrid bike and have been road biking and taking tours with it for quite some time. Purchased an all carbon road bike and I have literally lost sleep and lots of anxiety about the clip pedals and shoes. To me, not worth the stress and anxiety. What I worry about is a deer jumping out, chipmunk, or sudden red light/stop made by a vehicle. I have no problem clipping out of my clips...... What I fear is when I put my foot down on the pavement, because there is no rubber on the shoe for better/firmer grip on the pavement, I fear having to stop. Seriously. I am ready to take the all American bicycle pedals off my Hybrid and put on the road bike so I can go back to relaxing and having fun riding! Is that OK to do, or is it some "OMg, look at what that person has done". Will I honestly lose THAT much power, etc? I have climbed crazy steep hills on my Hybrid and it has never bothered me. Please help! Thank you!
Tennis shoes
- Thread starter Frasier
- Start date
You need to stop worrying and stop fearing ****. You and almost any person alive enough to fog a mirror can easily learn to ride safely in clipless pedals and cycling shoes with cleats. This ain't rocket surgery.
However, if you choose to do so you can put flat pedals on your 'all carbon' road racer and ride in your tennis shoes. You will not lose much power. You will lose some amount of handling control at speed, but great trials riders like Martyn Ashton ride flat pedals on road bikes.
No one will say **** to you.
Honest.
However, if you choose to do so you can put flat pedals on your 'all carbon' road racer and ride in your tennis shoes. You will not lose much power. You will lose some amount of handling control at speed, but great trials riders like Martyn Ashton ride flat pedals on road bikes.
No one will say **** to you.
Honest.
But we will snicker behind your back. 
By the way---you know why you get road rash when you take a spill on blacktop? Because that **** is rough finished. Rough enough to make it hard for your shoe to slip. And here's another little tidbit---mountain bike shoes. Recessed cleat, traction sole. You can walk a long way in them, and keep your clip-in pedals. You might need to swap out the set you have now for ones that accept a MTB style cleat.
By the way---you know why you get road rash when you take a spill on blacktop? Because that **** is rough finished. Rough enough to make it hard for your shoe to slip. And here's another little tidbit---mountain bike shoes. Recessed cleat, traction sole. You can walk a long way in them, and keep your clip-in pedals. You might need to swap out the set you have now for ones that accept a MTB style cleat.
If you use mountain bike clips and shoes you have a treaded shoe that has as good a traction as tennis shoes if not better. I suggest Shimano MTB pedals and one of the lace-up shoes. Just make sure you tuck the right shoe laces under the other laces so that they don't get caught in the chain/sprocket.
You absolutely MUST have clips because you have to "pedal circles" meaning you push and pull with each foot. Otherwise you'll have trouble climbing though I admit I ride with a couple of guys that only push. But then I can ride off from them on climbs. This isn't because I want to but because they will slow suddenly on sharp uphill turns while I'm riding behind them. It's much safer to ride with people that pedal like you do. My wife and I cannot ride a tandem since she's a "spinner" and I'm a "lugger".
You absolutely MUST have clips because you have to "pedal circles" meaning you push and pull with each foot. Otherwise you'll have trouble climbing though I admit I ride with a couple of guys that only push. But then I can ride off from them on climbs. This isn't because I want to but because they will slow suddenly on sharp uphill turns while I'm riding behind them. It's much safer to ride with people that pedal like you do. My wife and I cannot ride a tandem since she's a "spinner" and I'm a "lugger".
I hate the idea of going back to cycling and using laces. I had a horrible experience when I was younger and ate it mean into the bumper of a car, face first because my lace came loose on my right foot...I am one of the most touchy people you will ever see tie a pair of shoes before getting on a bike
And yet they are still the most comfortable means of closing your shoes.
I don't know man, I get flack for it all the time but well-fitting toeshoes with straps on them are still the most comfortable things I wear, just objectively from someone that has access to both easily. I asked for toeshoes 2 christmas's ago and ended up with 5 pairs
/ Had a lot of time to play with em
I don't know man, I get flack for it all the time but well-fitting toeshoes with straps on them are still the most comfortable things I wear, just objectively from someone that has access to both easily. I asked for toeshoes 2 christmas's ago and ended up with 5 pairs
I haven't any idea what "toeshoes" are. I have shoes with laces, showes with straps and locks and shoes with cables. They all fit properly and are comfortable enough but the shoes with laces are by far the most comfortable after several hours of really rough riding. All the other one's spread the forces over fewer connection points and press here and there. For reasonably short rides (40 of fewer miles) or less than 3 hard hours off-road it doesn't make much difference. But on long rides it sure does. But the most comfortable shoes I have are straps and lock Sidi's which were given to me. These are comfortable because the leather is such high quality it totally conforms to your foot perfectly. You don't even notice the closure method. But it isn't like I would spend $400 on a pair of shoes myself.
Being "old school" I still ride with toe clips, and my riding shoes are Puma Speedcats. My bike is a '92 Cannondale so it has the old flat pedals and toe clips. I've thought about switching to clipless, but can't see a good enough reason. I have found that , even in emergencies, I can get off the pedals pretty quick, and the shoes are very comfortable. I tuck the laces in the sides of the shoes, and haven't had a problem catching a lace in the sprocket or chain. So far, so good, anyway.
If you use toe clips in order to ride hard you need cleats and straps. Then that puts you in the position of having to loosen the straps if you're coming to a stop. I remember laying on my side connected to the bike in the pits of a race after the flag when you didn't have enough strength to lean all the way down to loosen the straps.
Modern clipless pedals are all hell and gone better in every possible way.
On clipless pedals you put the foot you want to release in the bottom position and stand and twist on it at the same time. People who do not do that find that they often have too much play in their joints to reliably release. That is what gives clipless pedals a bad name.
My straps are loose enough that I can get my foot out quickly, and I have done hard rides with no problems. Since most of my riding is recreational, and the occasional charity ride, it hasn't been a problem. If I were younger, and inclined to do a lot of hard riding i would probably go with clipless. I did a 400 mile ride last year with a group of college students (they did almost 900, but i had to leave halfway through due to a family emergency) and the toe clips were fine.
If you are doing 400 miles in toe clips and straps, you obviously know what you're doing.
I still use them on the trainer and outdoor Winter rides with my track bike. I use cycling shoes with slotted cleats and cinch the straps down so I can't accidentally pull out though.
The point with tennis shoes the OP is attempting to make appears to be something to do with either braking or stopping without the foot slipping out from under him as he stops.
Perhaps he/she has balance, coordination or equilibrium issues?
I've always used the brakes for slowing and stopping and found most dedicated cycling shoes to have enough surface area of rubber wear/walking pads to provide decent grip on the pavement in the dry. More to the OP's point, cycling shoes are available with rubber soles that are very similar to tennis shoes, walking shoes or running shoes.
IMO the biggest drawback to most street shoes used for cycling is the lack of comfort. Toe boxes do not offer enough protection from the pressure or poorly sized toe clips or incorrectly positioned feet on the pedals (not the OP's issue, I realize) or a sole that is not stiff enough to isolated the foot from the pressure of the pedal plates. Using flat pedals or platform type pedal will help eliminate that last issue.
It may look funny, but when guys are banging out the miles with a smile on their face on a nice bike with clunky pedals...at least they are out there and having fun. I won't laugh at them. Clipless, toe clips, flat pedals; enjoy the ride.
I still use them on the trainer and outdoor Winter rides with my track bike. I use cycling shoes with slotted cleats and cinch the straps down so I can't accidentally pull out though.
The point with tennis shoes the OP is attempting to make appears to be something to do with either braking or stopping without the foot slipping out from under him as he stops.
Perhaps he/she has balance, coordination or equilibrium issues?
I've always used the brakes for slowing and stopping and found most dedicated cycling shoes to have enough surface area of rubber wear/walking pads to provide decent grip on the pavement in the dry. More to the OP's point, cycling shoes are available with rubber soles that are very similar to tennis shoes, walking shoes or running shoes.
IMO the biggest drawback to most street shoes used for cycling is the lack of comfort. Toe boxes do not offer enough protection from the pressure or poorly sized toe clips or incorrectly positioned feet on the pedals (not the OP's issue, I realize) or a sole that is not stiff enough to isolated the foot from the pressure of the pedal plates. Using flat pedals or platform type pedal will help eliminate that last issue.
It may look funny, but when guys are banging out the miles with a smile on their face on a nice bike with clunky pedals...at least they are out there and having fun. I won't laugh at them. Clipless, toe clips, flat pedals; enjoy the ride.
I think that he has three point Look-type pedals. And even I after 40 years of riding will sometimes slip on the cleats on the road surface. That's how you get most of the wear on those kinds of cleats. SpD's usually are sunken in on the offroad shoes so the wear they get is from the clipping in and out.
And another thing - since most three point shoes don't fit all that great the off-road shoes have MUCH stiffer insole and don't bend around your foot and make it hurt after a couple of hours of riding.
And another thing - since most three point shoes don't fit all that great the off-road shoes have MUCH stiffer insole and don't bend around your foot and make it hurt after a couple of hours of riding.
How the hell can you get those to stay on a pedal? And who has feet with the toes so delineated that they can even get their feet into something like that? Or is that just a joke Photoshop?
??? You never heard of Vibram FiveFingers or their clones?
http://us.vibram.com/search?q=fivefingers&submit=
People run/jog in them, surf in them, swim with them, hike in them, etc. They're just a type of 'tennis' shoe and have been around for over a decade. I wouldn't cycle in anything other than cycling shoes, but's that's just me.
http://us.vibram.com/search?q=fivefingers&submit=
People run/jog in them, surf in them, swim with them, hike in them, etc. They're just a type of 'tennis' shoe and have been around for over a decade. I wouldn't cycle in anything other than cycling shoes, but's that's just me.
I'ld want my face blurred too...
I had horrible, painful, shin splints for years when I first started running until I started using Vibrams. I went from only being able to run 3 times a week without putting my legs at risk to 2 times a day if I wanted to. I've been using them for runs for the last 5+ years, they're very durable. The only pair I had to trash was due to the fabric getting ripped in the wash. They've strengthened my legs to the point that I can run fine in regular shoes and they're great for moving around in slippery and icy conditions.Never on a bike though,......