Pedal and shoe preference?

[fudgedit]

Now that I have changed jobs and locations. Commuting to work is going to be a bonus perk. I am curious as to pedal and shoe preferences. I have clipless on my town bike now, but that was more for running errands and such. I think I would prefer this over platform and tennies. What do you folks use?

[dave66]

shimano, ritchey, wellgo, even coda's but all spuds
not necessarily the best, but cheap and ubitquitous
when i need to outfit a new bike, or a pr die, just scour ebay and you can find them cheap
I just picked up a pr of ooold single sided low end spuds [remember the white and purple ones?] for 0.01$
canadian!
any cheaper is stealin'....

[2dumb4gears]

I run egg beaters and candys on every bike--reliable in bad weather, no moving parts to worry about, and relatively cheap.

The one lesson I have learned is to commute in my MTB shoes and not my road shoes--there's nothing more fun than sliding on plastic soles and falling down an entire flight of cement stairs in front of coworkers.

[slide]

I had some Specialized entry level shoes but traded up
to some orthopedic wide shoes I found at a Salvation Army for $2.50

[Johnny]

I use the m424 from Shimano (spd with a big plastic platform,) and my Sidi mt shoes. The pedals aren't light or anything, but they are easy to get around on if I ride over to the gas station for coffee in my sneakers... As for the shoes, they ared super comfortable, and I can't imagine buying another pair for commuting.

[justageek]

I run egg beaters and candys on every bike--reliable in bad weather, no moving parts to worry about, and relatively cheap

If you are commuting and the weather may be bad, you will trash the bearings in a set of candy's in a matter of months, i've seen it happen too many times. You pay for what you get, I've seen SPD pedals work out very well and i've actually ridden time pedals, the same set for about 8 years now, i don't know about the egg beaters though.
-matt

[scorcher]

I use MKS GR-9 pedal with MKS toeclips and some leather straps. The platform is more comfortable than your standard quill, and I don't have to carry extra shoes with me.

[shaggydog]

I use Mallet C on my Mountain bike and Candy on my hybrid bike. I use Sidi Mtn shoes with both. From time to time, I get tired of being clipped in and I change to wellgo platform pedals with which I use FiveTen shoes with Stealth rubber. They are an awesome combo.:)

[davkatreb]

I had about a ten mile commute on nice flat railtrail a few years ago.

Started out with my geared GF hardtail, BMX pedals and whatever shoes. That was okay, but after awhile I rode my fixie, which meant clipless pedals.

As I was riding to my car in the morning, stashing the bike, then driving the rest of the way, it was no problem just keeping work boots in the trunk. But to me, any ride is better with clipless pedals, and I can't imagine a job where you couldn't just keep a pair of work shoes/street shoes/whatever handy for your arrival.

And seriously-It's a commuter bike. If you don't at least have a rack of some sort, you can probably use bungee cords and lash a pair of sneakers to the frame.

Oh yeah-shoes and pedals. Mallets on the fixie, and Pearl Izumi Vagabonds. Never had a single issue with them other than the normal learning curve of going clipless. And I don't understand this talk of Crank Bros pedals not lasting. They have a grease port. Just service them after every wet ride and they should last practically forever.

My $.02. YMMV.

[doubclik]

Time ATACs - damn near bulletproof. Weighty but worth it.

[Nick Verstain]

Amen. Try the one-sided touring/cross version, too. Usually available on eBay.

[A-Town]

If you are commuting and the weather may be bad, you will trash the bearings in a set of candy's in a matter of months, i've seen it happen too many times. You pay for what you get, I've seen SPD pedals work out very well and i've actually ridden time pedals, the same set for about 8 years now, i don't know about the egg beaters though.
-matt

The egg beaters and candys use the same bearings. I just raced an XC race yesterday with egg beaters. It was pouring rain all night the night before the race. the course was trash. I was one of the only people who could actually clip in to my pedals. And today (while I'm attacking the daunting task of clean-up) my pedal bearing are one of the smoothest feeling bearings on my whole bike. My last set of egg beaters I rode for 6 years on 2 sets of bearings riding in all sorts of weather conditions. thats my experience. And I only put the second set of bearings in right before I replaced the pedals all together (to get the ti ones).

[Ripp]

I run Shimano "grocery getters" as I call them (424's maybe?) on my commuter/touring bike. They are SPD on one side, flat on the other, so I can clip in for longer trips or just hop on in whatever shoes I'm wearing for a jaunt to the wherever I'm headed. When I clip in I use Specalized Taho shoes, almost as easy to walk in as a regular shoe.

[hophead]

I run beaters and mtn shoes with all of my bikes all the time--commuter, road, & trail. The one exception is riding around town I usually run flats.

And I don't understand this talk of Crank Bros pedals not lasting. They have a grease port. Just service them after every wet ride and they should last practically forever.
That has always puzzled me too. I have four sets of beaters, including two first generation sets that I bought used. Routine maintainence and some bushings & bearings for the oldies is all that they have required.

[RandomV]

I use Soma toe clips & straps, and I wear a pair of old Vans that I got at an outlet store.

Maybe eventually I'll switch over to clipless, but at least for the commuter rig this seems to work pretty damned well.

[Scott G.]

I saw some prototype Keen cycling "sandals" the other day, so they should be coming out soon. Nice stiff sole, with the recessed SPD clip area as well. It will be left to see whether the upper actually gives support in the upstroke and considering they are most folks wear Keens without socks, we will see how beat up the feet get.;)

[Hand/of/Midas]

There is a lady that comes in and has spd sandals made by shimano,i think, and she loves them,she's a spin instructor.

[FishMan]

Oh yeah-shoes and pedals. Mallets on the fixie, and Pearl Izumi Vagabonds. Never had a single issue with them other than the normal learning curve of going clipless.

Wow, you are a brave man. Big wide pedals like the Mallets on a fixie?!? Have you ever clipped the ground when cornering or anything? I have a pair of mallets that I don't really like (I seem to prefer the Eggbeaters or Quattros for just about any use) and thought about putting them on my fixie but I was too scared of the potential for death.

[FishMan]

My general rule of thumb is standard pedals fitted with PowerGrips and street shoes for less then 4-5 miles one way, casual MTB shoes and clipless for > 5 miles, and road shoes and pedals for >12 miles of commuting.

Both Shimano and Lake offer some SPD sandals, they are pretty much the same shoe. They are the shoe of choice for most tourists. I liked mine but I have a weird foot condition so that they caused me a lot of pain (as do all stock cycling shoes).

[longhaultruker2]

flats (i need a new set of powergrips!),and any one of a dozen pairs of vans:cool:

[davkatreb]

Wow, you are a brave man. Big wide pedals like the Mallets on a fixie?!?
It's really not that big a deal. Mallets are about the same width as your standard touring pedal. (Now watch me ground the phukkin' things on my very next ride.:rolleyes::eek::o)

[martin]

I really appreciate this forum.

If I would have seen this forum first, then I would have definitely gone for those shoes.

However, I just purchased Tennis Shoes ( Nike AIR MAX BREATHE CAGE) (http://www.shoedeals4u.com) from shoedeals4u.com, its really comfortable and the quality is also good.