Shoes with cleats that you can walk in

[Cycle2Kenya]

We are heading off on a pretty long cycle tour from the UK to Kenya and we only want to take one pair of shoes with us.
We are therefore looking for some shoes with cleats that will be comfortable for walking in.
We are anticipating quite a lot of walking in some parts of Africa where the road quality gets a bit rough and particularly in Ethiopia where there are lots of pretty large mountains?!?

I recently bought a pair of Bontrager Street Shoes but they don't look like they will be up to the challenge and I will be returning them soon.

Some other potential options are the Northwave City Cruiser, the Pearl Izumi X-road, the Shimano MT33 SPD leisure shoe, the Shimano MT42 SPD Multi-purpose shoe, the Lake MX102 tour and trail .

It would be great to get some advice from people who have used any of these shoes or if you have got/used others that would do the job on our trip.

Thanks in advance.

Tim and Mat

cycle2kenya@gmail.com
cycle2kenya.wordpress.com
justgiving.com/cycle2kenya

 

[frank9755]

We are heading off on a pretty long cycle tour from the UK to Kenya and we only want to take one pair of shoes with us.
We are therefore looking for some shoes with cleats that will be comfortable for walking in.
We are anticipating quite a lot of walking in some parts of Africa where the road quality gets a bit rough and particularly in Ethiopia where there are lots of pretty large mountains?!?

I recently bought a pair of Bontrager Street Shoes but they don't look like they will be up to the challenge and I will be returning them soon.

Some other potential options are the Northwave City Cruiser, the Pearl Izumi X-road, the Shimano MT33 SPD leisure shoe, the Shimano MT42 SPD Multi-purpose shoe, the Lake MX102 tour and trail .

It would be great to get some advice from people who have used any of these shoes or if you have got/used others that would do the job on our trip.

Thanks in advance.

Tim and Mat

cycle2kenya@gmail.com
cycle2kenya.wordpress.com
justgiving.com/cycle2kenya

If you want to do a lot of walking then no cleated cycling shoes will be that great. Toeclips and straps with good walking shoes would be a better option.

 

[funnymummy]

I've just bought a pair of Keen sandals, I bought the 'commuter' the cleats are well recessed & i've been able to walk a round the supermarket without doing the Bambi on ice impression I usualy do in my road shoes, they do several styles so there may be one to suit your needs

 

[Cycle2Kenya]

Funnymummy - Thanks, the springwater shoes from Keen look like another potential option. Anyone used them before?

frank9755 - worth considering, but we are pretty keen to use cleats for the added power we can get in the upstroke. Given the distance we will be cycling that could make a pretty big difference so we are prepared to sacrifice a bit of comfort in the walking department in order to have a slighty easier time on the bike.

 

[Piemaster]

I've got recessed cleat shoes (shimano MT something) and while there fine for walking around the shops I wouldn't want tto do more then a couple of miles in them, the soles are far too stiff and I'm pretty sure I would blister with any decent walking distance. Cycling shoes - good for cycling in, poor for walking in. Think I'd actually prefer to go barefoot than any distance in them. Frank9755 suggestion of toeclips sounds a better option.

 

[Globalti]

I disagree. I've walked up mountains in standard Shimano SPD shoes and found them comfortable and rugged; the extra thickness of rubber needed to create the recess for the cleat makes them solid and heavy. The only time you notice the cleat is when you step on a rock and they grind under foot.

Those Shimano MT42s look just the ticket to me.

PS: One thought occurs to me though; I have had a couple of pairs of Shimano mountain biking SPDs that have suffered separation of the rubber sole from the stiff plastic footbed, into which the cleat is bolted. The problem is that to convert them to SPD you have to tear out a thin section of the sole, which reduces the sole's attachment to the the footbed because it leaves only the section of sole around the recess attached. If you then step on, say, a sharp rock and rotate the foot you can force the sole away from the cleat, which eventually causes it to separate. I guess all SPD type mountain bike shoes will suffer this weakness; the thicker and stronger the sole the less likely it is to occur and in the end it doesn't do any harm - towards the end of the life of the shoe you can get the odd surprise if the sole snaps away under sideways pressure. Despite this I would still go with SPDs over straps because of the superior comfort and control they give you over the bike, especially on rocky downhill rides.