Author Topic: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?  (Read 45087 times)

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Offline Ty0604

Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?
« Reply #15 on: October 14, 2015, 04:06:52 pm »
Good for you. Good luck on your ride. Let us know how it turns out.

Thanks, will do! I leave in mid April. Spent a few days roughly planning on my route. I decided against using any of the route maps on here and wanted the adventure of planning my own route based on a few books I've read. I say "roughly" because I've pinpointed cities along the way in terms of being 60-100 miles apart where I can stop if I'm tired or keep riding to the next city if I'm feeling fine. The route covers 4,249.9 miles and travels through at least 22 states. Not all of which I have to pass through but am taking some detours along the way. i.e. I'll be within a 100 miles of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons so heading south to Wyoming there and also have friends in several "out of the way" places that I've purposely routed my trip through to stay with them.

I'll have a blog for my ride and when it's set up I'll post the link on here so any of you who'd like can follow me along the ride. I'll be updating it as service allows me to do so!
Instagram: tyjames0604

WI—>WA—>CO—>TN

Offline Old Guy New Hobby

Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?
« Reply #16 on: October 15, 2015, 04:11:32 pm »
Look at CrazyGuyOnABike.com. He did most of the work for you.

Offline staehpj1

Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?
« Reply #17 on: October 15, 2015, 04:20:38 pm »
Look at CrazyGuyOnABike.com. He did most of the work for you.

If you want other bike tourists to see your journal that is a good place to post it.

Offline Ty0604

Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?
« Reply #18 on: October 15, 2015, 11:17:05 pm »
Thanks for the link but the organization I'm doing my ride for (StandUp2Cancer) has a blog directly on the page where people will be going to make their donations. I might, however, use the above link and do two of them. Easy enough to copy and paste! Or at least post the link to my blog on the above website.

Much appreciated :)
Instagram: tyjames0604

WI—>WA—>CO—>TN

Offline staehpj1

Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?
« Reply #19 on: October 16, 2015, 07:33:32 am »
Or at least post the link to my blog on the above website.

Be careful how you do that.  Creating an essentially empty journal that is just a link to one elsewhere is against their rules and definitely frowned on.  Posting about your trip on their forum and including a link is probably fine.

Offline Ty0604

Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?
« Reply #20 on: October 16, 2015, 03:35:29 pm »
Or at least post the link to my blog on the above website.

Be careful how you do that.  Creating an essentially empty journal that is just a link to one elsewhere is against their rules and definitely frowned on.  Posting about your trip on their forum and including a link is probably fine.

Thanks for the information. I'll just copy and paste what I post on my main blog to the above blog as to not break any of their rules.
Instagram: tyjames0604

WI—>WA—>CO—>TN

Offline gpshay

Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?
« Reply #21 on: October 23, 2015, 04:42:15 pm »
I just finished a ride from San Diego to Phx Az. I used clipless shimano touring shoes with a walkable rubber sole .. There were some spots that I had to push my bIke up hills .. Even though the shoe cleats are recessed in the sole they still came in contact with the roadway and you could hear and feel the grinding of the small pebbles against the metal cleats .. Hearing and feeling that gave cause to the thought ..was I damaging the cleat and thus creating a potential problem .. The other "Con" I found was while in granny gear stopped on a busy road with heavy traffic (semi's included) companied with a significant grade and narrow shoulder "Clicking" back into the pedal was precarious and down right dangerous at times .. I have since re evaluated my pedal choice and have switched over to Blackspire flat pedals which I think will  alleviate those issues .. I should mention that I have always cycled with clip or clipless pedals ..but for touring I think I,m making a change ..Glenn




Offline Ty0604

Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?
« Reply #22 on: November 01, 2015, 09:03:03 pm »
I just finished a ride from San Diego to Phx Az. I used clipless shimano touring shoes with a walkable rubber sole .. There were some spots that I had to push my bIke up hills .. Even though the shoe cleats are recessed in the sole they still came in contact with the roadway and you could hear and feel the grinding of the small pebbles against the metal cleats .. Hearing and feeling that gave cause to the thought ..was I damaging the cleat and thus creating a potential problem .. The other "Con" I found was while in granny gear stopped on a busy road with heavy traffic (semi's included) companied with a significant grade and narrow shoulder "Clicking" back into the pedal was precarious and down right dangerous at times .. I have since re evaluated my pedal choice and have switched over to Blackspire flat pedals which I think will  alleviate those issues .. I should mention that I have always cycled with clip or clipless pedals ..but for touring I think I,m making a change ..Glenn

Thanks for the information. I'm going to try them and worst case scenario is I'll ditch them along the way and switch.
Instagram: tyjames0604

WI—>WA—>CO—>TN

Offline Pat Lamb

Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?
« Reply #23 on: November 02, 2015, 08:24:53 am »
The other "Con" I found was while in granny gear stopped on a busy road with heavy traffic (semi's included) companied with a significant grade and narrow shoulder "Clicking" back into the pedal was precarious and down right dangerous at times .. I have since re evaluated my pedal choice and have switched over to Blackspire flat pedals which I think will  alleviate those issues.

Getting re-started with a load in granny gear is a challenge.  It's hard to get and keep enough momentum to ride a straight line, because you lose momentum quickly when there's a lull in your pedal stroke (as there is near the bottom of every stroke), and because you're geared down so far one kick doesn't get you much speed.

On the really steep stuff (>10-15%) it's usually easier for me to walk the bike until the grade eases.  On back roads it's sometimes possible to wait for a gap in traffic (OK, on back roads there's usually not much traffic!) and "tack" up the hill.  Other than that, my best efforts involve clicking one pedal in, push/pedal to kick off, and then forget about clicking the other pedal in.  Just put your foot on that other pedal and pedal normally until you get some speed, or a break in the grade, where you can click the last foot in.  Often it'll click in after a few strokes without your conscious intent!  Once you become proficient with this technique, the only benefit to a platform pedal is getting off the pedal with less drama -- but if you've got spikes keeping your foot on the pedal, all bets are off there.

Glenn, I wish you luck with your spiked platform pedals.  I'm afraid you're going to need it!

Offline DaveB

Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?
« Reply #24 on: November 02, 2015, 10:16:17 am »
Glenn, I wish you luck with your spiked platform pedals.  I'm afraid you're going to need it!
I agree.  I further suggest you ride a fair amount with these new pedals before committing to use them on a tour.  I expect they will not be the as wonderful as you think.

Offline staehpj1

Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?
« Reply #25 on: November 02, 2015, 10:55:15 am »
Not trying to talk you out of switching if you want to, but...

Even though the shoe cleats are recessed in the sole they still came in contact with the roadway and you could hear and feel the grinding of the small pebbles against the metal cleats .. Hearing and feeling that gave cause to the thought ..was I damaging the cleat and thus creating a potential problem ..
FWIW, I have listened to and felt that grinding too, but the cleats still last a very long time, maybe as long as the shoes do depending on how much you walk and on what kind of surfaces.  Even when my knee was acting up and I was walking a lot they still held up pretty well.  So for me at least it is more of a theoretical problem than an actual one.

The other "Con" I found was while in granny gear stopped on a busy road with heavy traffic (semi's included) companied with a significant grade and narrow shoulder "Clicking" back into the pedal was precarious and down right dangerous at times .. I have since re evaluated my pedal choice and have switched over to Blackspire flat pedals which I think will  alleviate those issues .. I should mention that I have always cycled with clip or clipless pedals ..but for touring I think I,m making a change ..
It isn't that hard to pedal long enough to get going without bothering to clip in and then clip in at your leisure.  So again for me at least more of a theoretical problem than an actual one.

You may not, but I'd definitely miss being clipped in, probably even more so on tour where I will usually be riding every day for weeks or months.

Offline walks.in2.trees

Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?
« Reply #26 on: November 03, 2015, 12:31:59 pm »
I also like SPD cleats. There are plenty of SPD shoes that recess the cleats so you can walk in them. I look for shoes with very stiff soles. The stiff soles spread the force from the pedals across a large area of your foot to prevent "hot spots". The shoes get the clips recessed by placing a border of rubber (or similar) around the edge of the sole. I look for shoes where the rubber is soft and grippy, so the shoes won't be slick if I walk into a store. There are plenty of SPD pedals and shoes, because they are frequently used by mountain bikers. You should be able to get decent pedals and shoes for less than $200.

Make sure you ride in these a good amount before starting your tour. You want your feet to acclimate to the shoes gradually.

When learning to learn how to ride with clipless shoes, there are two kinds of people -- those who have fallen over, and liars. ;) The problem is, you have to remember to clip out before stopping. Most people do OK when they first start. After a while, they think they've got it. Then they lose their focus, forget to clip out, and fall over as they stop. My fall happened next to a car of attractive young women. It hurt my pride. This is just another reason to ride your new shoes a good amount before starting your tour.
Ha-ha I did pretty much the same thing. When trying it out the first time, I was warned, so I practiced a bit clipping in and out. But its different when you actually ride, so I still fell over :D

I always take one foot out, sometimes both well before I have to stop. It'll be the emergency stops that get me I think. My shoes are good for walking a little, but I can't wear them to work, I have to bring shoes for being on my feet all day.

Tip: get pedals that are SPD on one side and normal on the other, I got them on a whim, but if you're riding through a city, stoplight to stoplight, clipping in is impractical and probably dangerous. I flip my right pedal over so I can't clip in by accident. Also always use the same foot to stop with, or you'll confuse yourself and fall over

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Offline walks.in2.trees

Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?
« Reply #27 on: November 03, 2015, 12:41:53 pm »
I just finished a ride from San Diego to Phx Az. I used clipless shimano touring shoes with a walkable rubber sole .. There were some spots that I had to push my bIke up hills .. Even though the shoe cleats are recessed in the sole they still came in contact with the roadway and you could hear and feel the grinding of the small pebbles against the metal cleats .. Hearing and feeling that gave cause to the thought ..was I damaging the cleat and thus creating a potential problem .. The other "Con" I found was while in granny gear stopped on a busy road with heavy traffic (semi's included) companied with a significant grade and narrow shoulder "Clicking" back into the pedal was precarious and down right dangerous at times .. I have since re evaluated my pedal choice and have switched over to Blackspire flat pedals which I think will  alleviate those issues .. I should mention that I have always cycled with clip or clipless pedals ..but for touring I think I,m making a change ..Glenn
I use SPD "City" pedals which are not two sided. Flip it over so you don't clip in by accident for situations like this

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Offline heflinkw

Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?
« Reply #28 on: November 03, 2015, 04:31:56 pm »
I love SPD for off road. I haven't done a long tour yet, but my touring/commuting bike is set up with MKS Lambda pedals and I wear any shoes I want from Chacos to hiking boots. When I do go touring I plan to take the Chacos and some type of light weight hiker or trail runner. IMHO clips or SPD are unnecessary for on road touring.


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Offline DaveB

Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?
« Reply #29 on: November 03, 2015, 04:39:40 pm »
IMHO clips or SPD are unnecessary for on road touring.
Perhaps they are unnecessary for you.  Many of us disagree

Quote
My shoes are good for walking a little, but I can't wear them to work, I have to bring shoes for being on my feet all day.
Why not just leave a pair of suitable shoes at work.  That way you don't have to carry them back and forth each day.