Shimano SPD sandals are available again

[fiamme red]

https://bike.shimano.com/en-US/infor...pd-sandal.html

Sheldon Brown loved them: ""These are my very favorite footwear. In the summertime I go for weeks on end without ever having anything else on my feet. Far and away the most comfortable cycling footwear ever."

[thirdgenbird]

The Iowa thing is true. I see people with the originals fairly often.

[dancinkozmo]

good news for the recumbent riding neckbearded crowd !

[saab2000]

Highly recommended even if they're only used a few times per year. I have a pair and am really glad I do.

[Veloo]

Had a pair probably about 20 yeas ago now.
Was excited to get them and had high hopes but the size that fit me just didn't give me shoe like support on the upper side.
Too loose on the up stroke to do any pulling and clipping out required a greater angle to release.

I never ended up using them much. Sole was not very grippy and cleat would make contact on floor. The material started deteriorating the last time I pulled them out so I think I gave it away to Value Village Goodwill.

The girl selling to me at the time claimed she did an MTB race with them but I think she was full o....

[peanutgallery]

If you're going to put SPDs on your unicycle and roll around a Phish concert, clipless sandles are for you

There are folks that absolutely love those things...I can't figure out why

[fiamme red]

The late Sheldon Brown posted this on rec.bicycles.tech on 12/31/99:

Second-most important cycling invention of the '90s?

I don't think there can be any question that the L.E.D. tail light was, by far, the most important cycling invention of the last decade, but what's in second place? My nominee is S.P.D. sandals, but I'm open to other opinions.

I've owned a LOT of different types of cycling footwear in my 49 years of cycling, but nothing else has come close to S.P.D. sandals for comfort and practicality. In the past, I've put them away for the winter, but I'd read reports of people using them all year 'round, so I've been giving them a try.

I've been waiting for it to get too cold here in the Boston area to wear them, but it hasn't happened yet! I wear wool-blend socks, and have found my feet quite comfy down a bit below freezing. This surprised me at first, but it seems that without having shoes compressing the toes of the socks, they have more effective "loft" and insulate surprisingly well. Another factor is that my socks stay dry, since perspiration can evaporate more easily than it can in shoes.

Sheldon "It Is The End Of The Decade, If Not The Millennium" Brown
+-----------------------------------+
| Fashion exists for those people |
| who have no style of their own. |
| --John Moore |
+-----------------------------------+

[Mike Bryant]

I like cycling sandals too but prefer the Keen Commuters. The rubber toe bumper sure helps protect those toes when rocks kick up on a gravel ride; and keep the wind chill at bay when paired with some woolen socks. Sandals aren’t too good for fast rides though where the stiffer soles and uppers help much more whilst using good form in pedaling circles.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pdmtong]

Originally Posted by Veloo

Too loose on the up stroke to do any pulling and clipping out required a greater angle to release.

In the spirit of commenting based on direct experience.

I admit it. I had a pair. Two pairs in fact.

I wear a shimano 44.0 shoe. my toes hung slightly over the edge of the 43-44 sandal so I bought a 45-46. bad move. way too much slop to open the cleat easily each time. sold them here on PL. the 43-44 much better but still wider than preferred release angle. that said, figured this is easy way to ride my mtb with my then 3yo on shoreline bike path. no one laughed at me but my internal shame finally won out and I sold the second pair here on PL.

It's years later and I am over it. These things have a place and if they work for you, then you do you.

[cinema]

i love these and would like to have a pair. but i think it's probably just as easy and better to take the 120 seconds to swap to flat pedals and wear my tevas.

[dddd]

Like Veloo, I found that the uppers sort of had pressure points, and which managed to make the considerable weight of the soles more noticeable than it already would have been.

I wore my Nashbar version more often as I recall, slightly better fit, perhaps less weight and with more durable straps as I remember.

Haven't worn either in many years. Size may have been the issue since these were sized a full two sizes apart and my 43/44's didn't conform so well to my wider foot shape.

For those with hot feet these might be the bomb, but not for spirited riding.
The rider's toes become quite vulnerable to impact/abrasion/cuts/puncture and the ingress of gravel bits under foot is much more frequent.

[witcombusa]

When the weather is HOT and Humid, the SPD sandals come into their own.
Compared to the most ventilated road shoes it's not even close.

[saab2000]

As mentioned, they're not really for serious riding or spirited riding. But they work fine if not trying to kill it. I like mine for tooling around town or heading to the tap room, which has a totally casual vibe.

Not sure they're better than quality flat pedals and some casual sandals or shoes but they're cool in my world, literally and figuratively. As mentioned, they don't get used very often, but I'm very happy I have them.

[MaraudingWalrus]

I haven't logged in to check how the folks over at bentrider are handling this news, but I can only assume it's a four alarm fire and orders are popping off for these in the recumbent world. At the previous shop where I worked we did a ton of recumbents and that crowd loved these things. Glad they're back, there's a market for them.

[Veloo]

Yikes! $130.
It's like only 50% of the material a whole shoe would have too.