A ridiculous cycling shoe question (that I shall ask regardless)...

[a4racer]

Looking at a new pair of road shoes. For the most part, they all have delightfully stiff, but dangerously smooth carbon soles. Is there a shoe or line of shoes that has at least a minimal tread on them so that I can, for instance, walk up stairs without looking like Bambi on ice? I'm looking at, in particular, the S-Works BG shoes, the Giro Empire line, or the Bontrager XXX line. Yes, I get it, those are all true racing shoes, wherein the rider has a support vehicle pull up to them when they need to put a foot down (hahaha), but short of going to a mountain bike shoe and carving off treads (hahaha, kind of), does anyone else here encounter this frustration (and hopefully, as a result thereof, have some sort of solution)?

Thanks!

[jdp211]

A high end three bolt road shoe is going to be pretty difficult to find with any sort of tread. Your best bet might be to find a cleat cover compatible with your given cleat choice. Kind of a pain to have to carry another thing around with you, but most of them do a decent job of gripping. I believe speedplay has a variety available that stays on the cleat all the time.

[a4racer]

A high end three bolt road shoe is going to be pretty difficult to find with any sort of tread. Your best bet might be to find a cleat cover compatible with your given cleat choice. Kind of a pain to have to carry another thing around with you, but most of them do a decent job of gripping. I believe speedplay has a variety available that stays on the cleat all the time.

I had seen the Speedplay cleat cover that lives on the cleat permanently--that may be the push to get me to try Speedplays! Heard those are great pedals as well!

[DRZRM]

Tread is not really going to help much, because unless you go to a two hole MTB shoe and pedal, the cleat is almost always one of the low points. Thus you are generally standing on two points, cleat and heel, or cleat and toe, right?

http://www.velocurean.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/S-Works-Sole.jpg

The new Speedplay Zero cleat is available with a walkable texture on it, but you have to like or be using Speedplay Zeros already.

http://www.speedplay.com/pika/images/zero_walk_yellow.jpg

http://www.speedplay.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.zerowalkablecleat

Not too much more to add to make cleats safer on steps, except maybe cleat covers.

Edit: I see someone beat me to the Speedplay discussion. They are great cleats, I've used Speedplay X-2s for years, though sadly they are not available yet with walkable cleats. Try them with a Speedplay specific 4-holed shoe (Sidi and Lake make them, among others). They work very well.

[djg21]

http://www.speedplay.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.zerowalkablecleat

These just became available, so there isn't much user experience with them.

[bkw]

Thanks for the link to the new Zero walkable aero covers! Another purchase this forum is "making" me spend my money on!

[zap]

Sidi (or any shoe with a rubber heel pad) and Shimano SPD-Sl cleats work well for short walks.

[EDS]

Looking at a new pair of road shoes. For the most part, they all have delightfully stiff, but dangerously smooth carbon soles. Is there a shoe or line of shoes that has at least a minimal tread on them so that I can, for instance, walk up stairs without looking like Bambi on ice? I'm looking at, in particular, the S-Works BG shoes, the Giro Empire line, or the Bontrager XXX line. Yes, I get it, those are all true racing shoes, wherein the rider has a support vehicle pull up to them when they need to put a foot down (hahaha), but short of going to a mountain bike shoe and carving off treads (hahaha, kind of), does anyone else here encounter this frustration (and hopefully, as a result thereof, have some sort of solution)?

Thanks!

For what it is worth, the shimano spd-sl cleats are fairly easy to walk in - the rubber on the bottom of the cleat coupled with a heal pad is usually all you need.

[sandyrs]

For what it is worth, the shimano spd-sl cleats are fairly easy to walk in - the rubber on the bottom of the cleat coupled with a heal pad is usually all you need.

This. I wouldn't dance on linoleum with SPD-SLs, but I've never found them hard to walk in, at least not to the point of having to waddle around like a duck (which I know some cleats do require because they're more slippery).

[vqdriver]

for walkability i'd look at a mtb system. xc oriented shoes are incredibly stiff and light and have the benefit of a functional tread. i put my spds on my road bike when doing organized centuries and such cuz i hate clacking around at the rest stops.

[rnhood]

This. I wouldn't dance on linoleum with SPD-SLs, but I've never found them hard to walk in, at least not to the point of having to waddle around like a duck (which I know some cleats do require because they're more slippery).

Same here. Never a problem and cleat protector is not needed. If I was going to spend a lot of time walking around, I would get the mtb version and the SPD cleat. But for going into grocery stores, restaurants, etc., the SPD-SL road shoe is no problem.

[staggerwing]

IMO, a totally legit question.

I've taken the somewhat "Fredly" approach, and just use SPD's for everything. I have dual-sided (SPD and flat) pedals on my commuter rigs, and some old school, single-sided SPD pedals on my racier rigs. Don't think Shimano still makes a single-sided, road SPD (not SPD-SL) pedal other than touring variants.

I combo those with Sidi Dominator MTB shoes, which don't look a whole lot different than than their 3-bolt road shoes, and have the advantage of being walkable without extra cleat covers.

For certain, I'm doing it all wrong, but I won't that get in the way. :p

[benb]

I'll pile on in saying SPD-SL are pretty much fine to walk in.

That said I have had several pairs of XC MTB shoes that were fine until you were pushing big watts. (Like I'm guessing over 400w before they start to flex enough to hurt your feet.) And I know they make fancier MTB shoes than what I've had, as I've never had a pair with a carbon sole, whereas I've been on Carbon soles for road shoes for at least 5 years.

I haven't worn a road shoe at all this year.. last weekend was the first time I put the hammer down hard enough to wonder if I should start using my road shoes. But the road shoes are a real compromise on a "go anywhere" bike.

[4Rings6Stars]

I'll add on to the mtb suggestion...

Sidi Dragon mtb shoes have super stiff carbon soles and are very walkable. But then you need to use mtb pedals...and then soon you will start wearing golf shorts and your roadie friends will stop inviting you places.

[R3awak3n]

1 of the main reason why I chose to go from speedplay to spd sl, cleats are much more walkable, I hated the speedplay cleats, everyone knew you were coming and got tired of waiting for the new ones (amongst other things). With a good sole rubber and the SPD SL walking is manageable, its not like you are going to be walking a lot.

I do have SPD on a couple of bikes, best for commute since I stop at lights a fair amount and sometimes stop for coffee or other duties. Nothing wrong going with a nice mountain shoe, sidi and giro make great shoes, they are a bit heavier than the road one but as stiff probably

[brando]

I'll add on to the mtb suggestion...

Sidi Dragon mtb shoes have super stiff carbon soles and are very walkable. But then you need to use mtb pedals...and then soon you will start wearing golf shorts and your roadie friends will stop inviting you places.

In my experience the Dragon carbon sole doesn't hold up and the stiffness is completely lost. I've switched to Giro Privateer and they've held up to lots of abuse. Good pedaling stiffness albeit not the lightest things.

[Bradford]

I'll jump into the mountain bike shoe and pedal camp. Look at Sidis or Specialized side by side, there isn't much difference between the road and mountain shoes other than the tread.

I went all Frog's a few years ago and it is one of the best decisions I have made. The weight isn't enough to worry about and the convenience of being able to walk is fantastic. In addition, all my bikes have the same shoes and pedals so whether I'm out for a ride that begins or ends in my garage or commuting to work, I just grab some shoes and I'm off.

Unless you are racing, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to have road shoes. You really have to be counting grams for this the extra tread to make a difference.

[uber]

Giro Empire with Keo cleats (that have rubber inserts) are not too bad to walk around in.

[giverdada]

mind the specialized heel treads - i've seen people slide down hills on them because they were walking on plastic rather than rubber. best pad i think is the sidi. i'm currently on bonts and speedplay coffee covers which definitely do the trick, but i can't much go anywhere without the coffee covers on so it is limiting. getting out of the beer store expeditiously is particularly challenging...

[blasdelf]

If you want real rubber under you, you're not going to get that with 3-bolt cleats

That doesn't mean you have to switch to MTB shoes, Shimano makes 2-bolt road shoes like the RT82:

http://image.rakuten.co.jp/bebike/cabinet/shimano4/sh-rt82-4.jpg

[a4racer]

I used to ride with crank bros. egg beaters on all my bikes, and men bike shoes for road riding! Given the similarities between many manufacturer's road and mountain lines, I may be able to find something that works...or, I'll go Speedplay!!!

:banana:

[flydhest]

For commuting and then walking from the garage to the office, I never had any problems with Specialized shoes and SPD-SLs. The walk included stairs and hallways. Modern government industrial flooring--so about as bad as you will find.

[tumbler]

+1 to all the MTB suggestions. If you like float, or at least aren't opposed to it, check out Bebop pedals. They are dual sided, easy to walk in, and bomb proof. I have been using them for many years with thousands of miles and they are pretty awesome. Combine those with some Sidi's and you're good to go.