| Gone are the days where you would tuck your jeans | | | | tend to have treads (where a road racing shoe does |
| in your socks and ride your bike in any old footwear | | | | not) and the cleat for attachment to the pedal is |
| that you felt comfortable in. Today you would be | | | | recessed making them much easier to walk in. |
| laughed at and while for the guy who rides his bike | | | | Mountain bike shoes also have a recessed cleat to |
| to and from work the above may be acceptable, in | | | | enable walking and they also tend to have studs in |
| the modern World you need modern footwear and | | | | the sole to aid the rider when they have to dismount |
| that means specialist cycling shoes of one form or | | | | and negotiate obstacles. |
| another. | | | | Of course if you still want to wear your normal |
| It depends what sort of cycling you do as to what | | | | shoes you can still get the traditional toe clip and |
| type of cycling shoe you will choose as there are | | | | strap setup which attaches to the pedal so that you |
| one or two different styles and types to compare. | | | | can slip you shoe in and out of the clips quite easily. |
| There are a few key features depending on how | | | | If you are a more serious rider though you will want |
| seriously you take your cycling. You may want to | | | | to make sure that your foot can't slip out of the |
| choose a more rigid cycling shoe if you want to get | | | | clips. This means that you will have to bend down |
| power to the pedals and therefore the wheels as | | | | and manually adjust the straps to get your foot in |
| efficiently as possible. However, you probably have | | | | and out. For the serious rider this is a major |
| to compromise in the area of off-cycle flexibility if | | | | inconvenience and is the main reason why these |
| you go for a really rigid shoe. Modern cycling shoes | | | | systems have been replaced by clipless pedals. |
| also enable rigid attachment to the pedals meaning | | | | Finally you may find that overshoes are a really useful |
| that they have various cleats etc on the bottom of | | | | piece of kit to have available. These are simply shoe |
| the shoe. | | | | coverings that are for use in wet weather as they |
| If you are into road racing then you will find that | | | | are waterproof. They tend to have a hole in the |
| they tend to be quite rigid and are not really suitable | | | | bottom to allow your cleats to protrude so you can |
| for walking in as the cleats protrude from the the | | | | still attach to the pedals. They also tend to be made |
| shoe to allow secure attachment to the pedal. | | | | of fairly lightweight fabric so they're not really |
| If you are looking for something a little more practical | | | | designed for walking on as they would wear out |
| then maybe a touring shoe would work as these | | | | fairly quickly. |