Two Feet Ahead...

For my upcoming 200km Brevet attempt I have looked into the potentially evil glass goblet of "Foot Retention".  Did I almost sip from the Sidi, Lake or the basic cleated Kool-Aid tumbler... nope [I can't get with the $$ investment for gluing molded plastic shoes to molded plastic pedals].  But still, what's a fella to do who wants to investigate foot to pedal melding, still look not entirely silly, not spend a boatload of bread, be able to walk like I don't have Popsicle sticks stuffed in my butt, not face-up to the much ballyhooed "You Must Fall Over One Time" cliche, be able to ride my bike without something 'Special' on my feet and give a general nod to classicism while being big-toe-planted in, at least, the past 25 years?

Clips-n-Straps, nope [did those as a kid/early-teen... didn't really like them too much either].

Power Grips, yes.

I turned 'em inside out, attached them to my all-timey favoritey pedals: MKS Touring Pedals [you're welcome, Chris ;-) ]... and started riding.  I like them.  Sort of.  They are oddly good in a weird, I'm-not-so-sure, kinda way.  So...

Perhaps it was my shoes?  I tried all the shoes I normally wear... of course, "Normally" for the last umpteen [bizarre word, 'taint it?] months has been big, honkin' Keen boots.  And even at their largest expanse of extension, the Power Grips didn't even come close to allowing my foot-n-boot in.  So, time for other shoes.  I tried all the things I wore besides my Great Northern Cold/Snot big, honkin' Keens, and actually started to like these Power Grip things.

And my mind got to thinking again: "Who makes a purpose built pedalin' shoe for the non-cleated among us?"  Not many I soon found out.  It's an "All In, or get the hell out" kind of shoe world out there these days for the lowly, non-cleated cycler.  And that's pretty sad, truth be told.

In my hunting and learning process I did, however, find a couple cool, or potentially cool, solutions.

#1.  Five Ten Impact shoes... [reviewed here].  But I was kinda bothered by their appearance [the skaterboy thing to them made me feel like I would end up saying "Dude" and "Sick" and "Rad" too much, and too often].  So I called the company that makes them.  They were nice, talked to me for quite a bit, and never really tried to hard-sell them to me [very cool, sorry... very rad].  In the course of talking to this nice person there, they said, "Do not use these with Power Grips or standard clips-n-straps, you won't be able to remove your foot at all... yes, the soles are that sticky!".  They do sound like great shoes for a specific thing though.  The other thing I was told was, while they're fairly stiff-soled for pedaling, they are nothing along the lines of a dedicated "Cycling Shoe".  Damn, idea quashed... again.

This is the Five Ten Impact [click all the pics for Large]:

[pic from the review site linked to above]

#2.  Called another Internet merchant to ask about another shoe [can't recall the shoe now, or -unfortunately- the place I called] and had an enlightened wonderful chat with a nice fella there.  As it turns out, he's a Brevet-Rider kinda guy.  And he seconded the opinions on the Five Ten as being great for what it is, but not great for long distance riding and/or Power Grip and clip-n-strap usage.  He also lamented with me the utter lack of decent, non-garish choices out there for the Cycler who does not want clipless shoes.  As he was talking to me a co-worker of his must of overheard our conversation because I heard another voice, far off, say "Tell him about those Shimano shoes that have those inserts... they are for flat pedals".  The guy talking to me said, "Ohhh, YEAH!  I forgot about those... ", and then preceded to look up their model number, and we got off the phone.  A few minutes later I found them at JensonUSA and sized them out, and ordered them.

I've been using them, the Shimano MP90, for about 2 weeks now... give or take.  And these shoes are extremely comfortable.  I really like them.  There is lots to like about them too, if you're like me [and you're probably not... so you can start looking at things here or here while I prattle on about these that I like].

First... they don't look overly silly or ridiculous.  Actually they look good, and like a normal kinda shoe [which most shoes, non-cycling too, don't look like these days].  That's good.

2ndly:  They have really nice Vibram soles.  And all of my experiences with Vibram soles have been good experiences [and they are replaceable too].

3rd.  They have a nice grippiness to them, but not a gummy kind of grippiness.  I can feel them grab the teeth on my MKS's, but when I let up and twist my foot to get out of the Power Grips... out they come.

4thly... They have smallish, but thoughtfully considered details that make sense.  High uppers on the insides of your ankles; kind of a tough-slippery nylon/resin material for contact & potential contact points, with crank/chain/chainring, sandwiched around a perforated [breathable] leather; a half wrap-around tongue so there is no slippage while riding; built-in tasteful reflectors in heel area; and an elastic lace band to hold your knot away from your forward transmission [no more tucking laces into shoes for me].  All cool, all well-considered.

5th... And this is a HUGE one for me.  The Vibram logo on the sole, and right & left outside of the heel, is larger than the two [one on the side on a small, tasteful aluminum badge: the other on the lace-grabber, again-equally small] Shimano logos.  Who does that anymore??  For a cycling shoe no less.  I hate super huge company branding, and these abide by my credo: "Thou shall not advertise for Nada".

6thly, and Lastly-
They slide in-n-out of the Power Grips very nicely.  They come with an insert to make the insole firmer.  I haven't tried it yet because, so far, I'm finding the MP90's footbed not only padded and comfortable, but extremely stiff.

Lots of Fotos:

 

[click any of 'em for big]

I think the best part is... if I decide I don't dig the Power Grips in the long run: I've found some great, stiff, non-garish pedalin' shoes.

"Yes... Cycler Shoes do exist for the non-cleated/non-Wear-Our-Advertisements-Loud-N-Proud Cyclerist.  Dreams do come true."

Keep Ridin'... Always

Comments

[BSR]

Those look pretty nice, Scott -- I may try them myself some day. I thought I'd share one other option with you that I found last year.

Bruce Gordon (FBQ #3) makes some very nice titanium strapless clips. They are not cheap ($74) but I've had them on my Atlantis for almost a year (also with MKS touring pedals), and want to order another pair for my other bike.

I had tried the MKS strapless clips and didn't like them at all. They scratched up my shoes, and really weren't large enough (I'm a size 12). I couldn't get my foot far enough forward to pedal effectively.

These are longer. Bruce didn't have the large in stock when I ordered them, but he assured me the mediums were probably big enough. He was right. He widened them up a bit before sending them, and they fit fine. The ball of my foot is now over the axle of the pedal, and pedaling is very comfortable.

The titanium tubing is rounded, so they don't scratch up my shoes all that much. I just wear whatever I'm wearing that day -- from tennis shoes to walking shoes, to sandals in the summer (closed toe sandals -- I wouldn't try with Tevas). I love that I don't have to worry about which shoes I'm wearing -- I can just hop on the bike and go.

Anyhow, I love these clips and highly recommend them to anyone who doesn't mind paying that much, and likes being able to ride in any shoe.

[Sean]

Just in case you missed it, the Speedplay website you linked has an awesome history of pedals section of their website. I highly recommend checking it out.

[Jim]

Those look a bit like duty shoes. Only mention that because my "commute boots" are a pair of SPD-compatible police shoes. Solid black. No visible logos. I bought them specifically to use with toe clips and straps on platform pedals. They have a nice, smooth, smallish toe and front, velcro flaps which cover the laces and coverage up over the ball of the ankle. They are cut low in the back, so no achilles rub occurs. I just left the spd cover in place and it thinks it's real shoe.

[Kelt]

Thank you. I have been looking for a pair of ....something that works. I will be ordering a pair soon and trying them for myself.

[Lazy Bike Commuter]

I used to have a set of Powergrips that worked out well for me...here's a suggestion so you can use them with boots:

I wear a size 13W, so I couldn't fit well in the regular Powergrips even in tennis shoes...I emailed the manufacturer and they let me trade up to the extra-long model by just paying the price difference (which was really neat because I had ordered them from Performance in a package deal).

The extra long ones are indeed quire long....something like 25% longer at least. I never used them with boots, but I had about 3-4" of unused strap, so I have no doubt that I could have with no problems.

[beth h]

I admit I'm intrigued. Report back, please, and let us know if you experience any toe-falling-asleep sensations on longer rides. I have wanted to move towards flat pedal riding on my longer rides and this might be a way to do it. Thanks for the tip.

(Personally, I LIVE in BMX shoes all day at work, and it has yet to pepper my speech with an over-abundance of skater-boy exclamations...)

[Steve]

Will follow with interest. I've been thinking of going totally retro and getting a bootmaker to make me a set of black, perforated lace-ups with a leather block nailed to the sole. Until them I'll stick to the (wide comfy) sidis an speedplays (the only cleat I can't wear out in couple of months).

[Michelle in CA]

I'm a total newb and have been enjoying your posts a lot. I'm using plain 'ol shoes still and will for a while I'm sure. I'm going on my first road ride over 5 miles this weekend. Anyway, just wanted to say 'hi'. Oh, and I hate advertising for folks too, I can't stand huge logos either.

[Ben]

THANK YOU! I too refuse to wear shoes that make me look like a cyborg, and completely inhibit my ability to walk. After hearing a horrid tale with someone about having to walk 3 miles in spd shoes - which ended with them literally walking on the side of a highway in their socks because they couldn't stand the pain anymore - I'll never wear 'em. Plus the whole being physically attached to the bike via a pedal and clip made in China by some dude that hates Americans ANYWAY... not appealing.

Anyway, THANK YOU. I'm going to pick up some of those asap.

[MtMann]

Your dilemma and thought process sound oh so familiar. I have to admit that once I drank the spd Koolaid, I was hooked (so to speak) and it's hard for me to imagine going on a long distance ride clipless. Still, I have recently been investigating the retro-ness of platforms. I will say that I love all things related to MKS pedals - I have a couple sets, one with full Christophe straps and alloy Ale cages (yes, also from Chris) and one with strapless stainless half clips (like the comment above, I don't like 'em either - but if I could justify the outlay I'd be all over those BG titanium rigs. Yummy!) I also went the Grant P route and picked up a big fat used pair of Primo (brand name) BMX pedals (make sure they're 9/16 and not 1/2 thread). Those will, I think, be just the ticket for round town cruising with lots of stop and go and mashing.
However, for the brevet route, I think the solution for me is stay SPD, but get a pedal with a good supported platform to avoid the pressure points smaller mountain pedals can cause. Jan Heine at Bicycle Quarterly recommended the Shimano PD A-520 touring pedal. I was lucky enough to get a pair on Craigslist for 20 bucks and they are, by far, my new favorite pedal for riding comfortably long distances.
I'm also considering - and this is at the top of my birthday wish list - the new Keen sandals with the cleat mounts on the bottom. I love the way Keens fit my feet anyway, so these may take the place of my mtb shoes in most weather. I have a friend who actually races cyclocross (quite competitively) in his Shimano spd sandals and swears by them.
And as a rockclimber, I'm pretty familiar with 5.10 and their approach shoes. Good for that use, but the thing about "sticky" rubber, besides the fact it does exactly what they say it does, (which is useful for the vertical but not so necessary for the horizontal) is the soles wear down FAST. Walk around the block and I swear you could measure the tread loss.

[Jim]

All real cyclists adopt a clipless pedal system. If you don't, how can you hope to be accepted by your group?

[Bone]

I've been wearing lake mx90s. You can leave the cleats off and they are pretty nice to walk in.

As far as I know nobody else makes a size 50 shoe :-)

[MichaleR]

Another option, and we all like options, is the Merrell Fly skate board shoe. Under $60 at Sierra Trading Post. I tried them because of the low profile sole and leather construction. They worked well with wool socks for Portland winter commuting - mid 30s temps and rain. Though I was never out for more than an hour in them.

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/Product.aspx?baseno=96771&cdf=TopSeller

[Ian Hopper]

I'm gonna try these scott... though I wonder how they work in much hotter weather. I've been riding for the last 8 months almost exclusively in my Redback pull on boots but now that it's getting hot around here (it's been in the 90's the past few 4 days) the lack of breathability (is that a word?) is causing issues. As an experiment today I wore my Puma Ligas... supposed to be for indoor soccer. TOO flexy, though I suppose it would help strengthen my feet (unless you walk or ride barefoot, you likely have weak feet!). I like your find.. they seem like a good compromise and the features are nice. Black isn't so good for HOT weather, but they look HIGHLY ventilated...