anyone riding their "good" road bikes with flat pedals?

[kiwisimon]

I have my road bike with Time Xpresso pedals and Sidi shoes. Walking is pretty much not something I do unless it's the 3 meters from the house to my bike and back, or I have to get off mid ride for some reason (dropped something or someone else did).
I usually ride the 25kms (semi rural) to work and change into casual shoes there.
Mondays(and bad weather/road days), I ride the heavier fendered bike( time Atak pedals) with panniers to carry in my change of clothes for the other days, .

Sometimes I have errands about 10kms away and I take the road bike for the 25-30 minute urban ride. I can ride with the current setup but being in Japan removing cycling shoes to go inside a business for a one minute stop is not that convenient. Thinking about using flat pedals.
I haven't ridden with my feet not clipped/strapped in since the early eighties.
Does anyone here ride a road bike at a good pace with flat shoes?
What pedal and shoe combinations work best? FIA..

[weisan]

I have been using a pair of Giro Ventana shoes as my dedicated go-anywhere cycling shoes + shimano spd pedal over the last 3-4 years. It's a bit on the heavy side but it serves my purpose of having a walkable shoe that look like a normal shoe that I can go into a store or anywhere without being noticed. When I travel oversea with my bike, it's especially helpful that I can easily park my bike somewhere, lock it up and do a bit of exploring on the foot.

https://www.backcountry.com/giro-ventana-cycling-shoe

I am a subscriber of a YouTube channel called henrywildeberry. He and his partner Ms Cools highlight their cycling adventure. She's a very good cyclist and I think she rides on normal shoes without cleats.

Check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/@Henrywildeberry

[lorenbike]

Yep I go through periods of clipless vs flats on my road bike. When I used to strava, I never noticed a difference in time. I think most people last rode flats (outside of MTB) on old metal bear trap pedals or cheap plastic take offs.

Modern flats are so good. For me, I’ve found the wide platforms paired with a minimal zero drop, wide toe box shoe has eliminated all hot spots, arch issues, etc. I’d argue my Sense of Motion shoes (RIP) plus flats are actually lighter than my cycling shoes and clipless pedals.

I also would say that mtb branded shoes are overpriced, and the best bag for your buck is spending more on a good set of pedals. Yes the 5.10 soles are really grippy, but I’ve yet to find any sort of bike marketed flat pedal shoe that looks good. The whole point is to be incognito as a cyclist with normal looking shoes so you can go inside a gas station or store, etc.

[Veloo]

No flats on my "good" bike but it does have M8020 MTB pedals. Bit of a larger platform. I've never tried street shoes on them.

My commuter has Saint MX80 pedals. Nice larger platform and the spikes keep me so secure it almost feels like being clipped in.

Perhaps an SPD platform adapter with spikes? Not sure how common they are. May have to look to the Aliexpresses of the online world?

[Alistair]

Not my main road bike, but I do tend to keep flats on at least one bike at a time for just what you mention (errands).

For shoes, just about anything works for shorter distances (sneakers or whatever). For anything more than a few miles/km, you might want a cycling-specific shoe for flats. Specialized has a few nice models, the Giro mentioned above, or FiveTen (Adidas). I have an older pair of whatever the basic FiveTen was that year. I use them for mountain biking through winter and they'd be good for errands too.

For pedals, you'll want something with a bit of grip (screws or very knurled texture) to prevent slipping off. I use Shimano Saint pedals (mountain bike) but that might be overkill if you never venture off pavement - they'll create some shinburger if you aren't careful.

Another option would be adding some PowerGrips (https://www.powergrips.com) - basic toe straps - to keep your foot in place. Not absolutely necessary, but if you find your foot is moving around a bit too much, they're a simple addition to just about any pedal that would take a full toe clip (but won't work on newer off-road pedals). I'm using these on my old Cannondale "restomod".

[Spaghetti Legs]

I have a couple of friends that tour on flat pedals, including gravel and stiff climbing. I use flats on my city bike which is a single speed and used to carry loads up short steep hills. I wouldn’t hesitate to use flats for the commuting and utility purposes you describe.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by Veloo

Perhaps an SPD platform adapter with spikes? Not sure how common they are. May have to look to the Aliexpresses of the online world?

I have a set of these...
https://www.flypedals.com/products/f...nt=18941888645

They work well for this use case. Mine mostly get used at the beach - I'll take my hardtail for quick workouts, but use the platforms for running to the shops/ice-cream/etc in flip-flops.

[AngryScientist]

Just curious, is there something about Japanese culture that necessitates taking off cycling shoes before entering a business?

For what you describe, it sounds like you might be better suited to a set of mtb pedals and shoes. There are many SPD compatible shoes out there that look pretty normal and are perfectly walkable, especially for shorter distance walking (like errands, etc), an still allow you to clip in on the bike.

[duff_duffy]

I use flats on all my bikes.

[CAAD]

Brewery crawls I throw on my speedplay flat pedal adapters.

[litcrazy]

I’ve used flats bikepacking where it’s steady output for long hours. I don’t think I’d find categorical speed loss on flats. But I’d struggle on fit.
One issue I’d have is that my narrow heal, high arch, splayed toe feet love the arch support of road ish cross country shoes. If I have reemerging plantar fasciitis inflammation after too much standing, a long ride in my s works lace ups or giro empires actually improves that inflammation. So in my case, my concern would be finding that fit in non cycling shoes rather than concern about the pedal/shoe interface.
I have running shoes that I love for running, but I lean hoka and other high Cush shoes that are okay for a vacation ride but not ideal. My shimano flat shoes are fine at first but less supportive than my clip in shoes. Flats seem to lean less structured.

[sparky33]

Originally Posted by Alistair

Not my main road bike, but I do tend to keep flats on at least one bike at a time for just what you mention (errands).

MSW Thump composite pedals with composite pins (not replaceable).
...slightly concave platform, and the composite pins don't tear up the soles of regular shoes like metal pins do, but they are still quite grippy.

I have flats on one drop-bar bike always. It's great for spontaneous rides, errands, commuting, and sometimes looking normal.

[Wunder]

Not my main primary road bike but I do keep some bikes with flats for riding around. Pretty happy with these Look Trail Grips for riding with almost any kind of shoe. Grip well but don't tear up or hurt your legs. Downside is that they are pretty heavy.

https://www.lookcycle.com/be-en/prod...uro/trail-grip

[Likes2ridefar]

I have the road version of those look pedals on my commuter bike and really like them.

[Fat Cat]

I tried riding flats after all the recent flap about them. Replaced the spd with pd-a530 spd/flat on the market bike. Was already using Pearl Izumi X-Alp Canyon shoes so it was a no risk pedal swap. Seemed like my feet were always trying to find the right place on the flat. Simple biz to just use the other spd side so I do.
In the 80's I often rode the toe clip strap pedals on the race bike with tennies. If I was going to forgo cleates then I'd probably do that again and be able to use any sort of shoes.
BTW the X-ALP are way comfy but the soles do not seem particularly durable so walking around is OK tho hiking would likely not be.

JMO of course