Re: A good casual road shoe?

[Peter Cole]

"Andrew Lee" <whatsupandrewathotmaildotcom> wrote in message
...

> I have a pair of Dominator 4's, but they aren't what I would call good all
> around shoes. The plastic sole is good in mud, but uselessly slick on
> harder surfaces when hike-a-biking (stinks for walking or climbing over
> rocks) or even walking around in town on certain surfaces like tile.

I have the same shoes, and agree. I think they're not too great for MTB use, I
bought them as an alternative to standard Sidi road shoes for weekly club &
long distance riding. The shoes I like the best for casual riding is a the
Diadora "Cayman", a low, sneaker-ish (like "skateboard" sneaks) shoe. My wife
has a similar shoe in another brand. The soles aren't as stiff, which makes
them better for walking, the soles are grippy, which makes them better for
hike-a-bike, they don't look too much like bike shoes, which makes them better
for errands/utility biking. Not a shoe for a century or beyond, or for really
hard, fast, club rides, but other than that, great.

[Jeff Potter]

Sonoma still looks terrible. Worse than a nurse's shoe. Some kind of modest accenting might help. I wonder what the
sole is like. It should be properly stiff but not overly so. It looks squishy-soft.

As for the Shimano Sandals: yeah, I've heard they're great. I can see how they would be. I bet they really help
avoid hotfoot! I can see how they would rate A++ ...for a sandal. I hear that Sheldon raves they're the best
allround bike shoe. Technically perhaps and I might get some sometime. But they look...as good as a sandal. A
clunky, hightech sandal, at that.

These things are close but not quite there.

For racing, there are probably a DOZEN models in both road and MTB that are totally SPOT ON.

Why does the most popular aspect of cycling (casual riding) only get *close*?

(Cute, too, how they're selling a walkable tread for spinning more than for walking.)

---

Jeff Potter
****
*Out Your Backdoor * http://www.outyourbackdoor.com
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[Fred Roses]

"Andrew Lee" <whatsupandrewathotmaildotcom> wrote in message
...
>
> I have a pair of Dominator 4's, but they aren't what I would call good all
> around shoes.

I use Dominators, and I agree, but the Mega-size Dominators are the
only shoe I've found that doesn't pinch my little hammer toes. So,
just to add to the mix in this thread, can anybody recommend a
lighter, slightly more flexible, but still wider-than-normal shoe? The
Specialized shoes that I mentioned in another post on this thread are
great, but alas too narrow for me! Fred

[Jeff Starr]

Jeff Potter > wrote in message > Sonoma still looks terrible. Worse than a nurse's shoe. Some kind of modest accenting might help. <

I just looked at the Sonoma, it's not a bad looking shoe. What are you
looking for? Maybe a set of Dockers with cleats?
Are you riding a bicycle or making a fashion statement?
Have you considered having a set of shoes made? Maybe find something
that appeals to your "fashion" sensibilities and take it to a cobbler
shop. A good shoemaker, could probably put on a proper sole with the
necessary hardware, to mount your cleats.
Or just go to toe clips and you can wear whatever shoes match your
"outfit".
Well, good luck with your shoe hunt;-)
Jeff




>...
> Sonoma still looks terrible. Worse than a nurse's shoe. Some kind of modest accenting might help. I wonder what the
> sole is like. It should be properly stiff but not overly so. It looks squishy-soft.
>
> As for the Shimano Sandals: yeah, I've heard they're great. I can see how they would be. I bet they really help
> avoid hotfoot! I can see how they would rate A++ ...for a sandal. I hear that Sheldon raves they're the best
> allround bike shoe. Technically perhaps and I might get some sometime. But they look...as good as a sandal. A
> clunky, hightech sandal, at that.
>
> These things are close but not quite there.
>
> For racing, there are probably a DOZEN models in both road and MTB that are totally SPOT ON.
>
> Why does the most popular aspect of cycling (casual riding) only get *close*?
>
> (Cute, too, how they're selling a walkable tread for spinning more than for walking.)
>
> ---
>
> Jeff Potter
> ****
> *Out Your Backdoor * http://www.outyourbackdoor.com
> for modern folkways and culture revival...
> ...offering "small world" views on bikes, bows, books, movies...
> ...new books featuring: XC ski culture, a Gulf Coast thriller
> folding bicycles ... with radical novels coming up!
> ...original downloadable music ... and articles galore!
> plus national "Off the Beaten Path" travel forums! HOLY SMOKES!

[John Retchford]

"Jeff Potter" > wrote in message
om...
>
> As I said before, it only seems like 'moderate' riders would get as
> much shopping choice as racer-types, seeing as how there are 10X as
> many of them even in the enthusiast category. I'm not asking for
> anything special, just for the usual choices that a huge demographic
> gets. It's like how many kinds of race cars can an average person buy?
> How many average sedans? The selection usually goes where the
> population is. That's all.
>
I take your point, but I would argue that the 'moderate' riders you talk
about already have a huge choice - they are called shoes. In countries like
the Netherlands, Germany, India and China, where large numbers of bicycles
are used for basic transport, people just wear the clothes and shoes that
they would normally wear. In countries such as yours and mine (Australia),
where cycling is largely a leisure or sporting activity, still only a
minority of riders use bicycle specific shoes and the matching pedals,
although these people probably account for a disproportionate amount of the
distance ridden. In our countries, the number of people who tour (in the
sense of journeys lasting more than one day) and use bicycle specific shoes
is fairly small. So I think that manufacturers understand the demographics
better than you suppose.

I tour by bicycle and share your frustration with shoe choice, although I
have the luxury of living in a city with an excellent specialist bicycle
touring shop, which stocks a fair range. We dedicated tourers who ride in
clip-in shoes are a pretty exclusive bunch! Unless we can persuade more
people to join us we will have limited choices in shoes although, as others
have pointed out, there are some good choices on the market.

John Retchford