Shoes for Flat Pedals

fergy1987
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Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby fergy1987 » Wed Aug 24, 2016 2:44 pm

Hi Everyone,
Im currently riding a flat bar road bike with just the standard flat pedals and have been wearing my runners.

I was looking at getting a better shoe that would be suitable for flat pedals as I don't really want to upgrade to clipless on this bike and will probably look at clipless at a future date when I upgrade when this bike is ridden into the ground.

I really just cycle for a bit of fitness etc so nothing hardcore, but don't want to destroy my good runners either.

I had a look online at some MTB/Touring shoes with a recessed cleat as I thought down the track on a new bike (or if I did decide to go clipless) I could use them without it being a full on road shoe.

What I am worried about is that the shoe on a flat pedal wont actually have any grip because they are meant to be clipped in and be worse than a normal shoe.

Can anyone provide any advice on a shoe that would be good for a flat pedal and what I should be looking for.

Thanks!

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CXCommuter
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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby CXCommuter » Wed Aug 24, 2016 3:01 pm

I always used skating shoes or similar (Vans etc) as a starting point with my flat pedals.
Image

westab
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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby westab » Wed Aug 24, 2016 4:36 pm

With my folding bike I the old style Dunlop Volleys - they work well but if you are using them every day they won't last as long as Vans or similar. (I don't ride the folder much)
Not fast, no style, but still get there.

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DrShifty
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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby DrShifty » Wed Aug 24, 2016 4:44 pm

I bought a pair of Fluid Vision mtb shoes a month or so ago. They were marked down from $100 to $40 at the time. The sole is hard rubber but with good grip. If I plant them on the floor tiles in my house they do not allow any slip.

If your current pedals are steel they will have sharpish grips built in along the vertical edges, and if they are rubber they will have an amount of natural grip as well. One of my bikes has steel pedals without clips/cleats and the Anaconda shoes are quite OK.

Mtb shoes have a very inflexible sole to transfer power across as much of your foot as possible. The Anaconda ones I bought are comfortable for walking in although not the sort of thing to wear all day. The cleat is inset but still causes a bit of noise when walking along a footpath and crunches sand under it. If you were to wear them for riding but without the cleat you wouldn't get the sand crunch while walking but the inflexible sole is not as comfortable as daily runners or cross-trainers.

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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby minhyy » Wed Aug 24, 2016 4:52 pm

Vulcanised or cup sole shoes will be hard wearing and stiff enough for flat pedals: Adidas Samba, Vans Era, Converse Chuck Taylor etc. Volleys are a little bit too flexible

Look for herringbone patterned outsoles for more grip also
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fergy1987
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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby fergy1987 » Thu Aug 25, 2016 1:00 pm

thanks for the advice guys - so having done a bit more research - im starting to consider maybe changing the pedals to the Shimano PD M324 pedals - best of both worlds :) flats and clipless.

What would be a decent shoe to suit these pedals. I think I will be looking at a MTB shoe still just so I can use them on the flat side also when in the city or dealing with a bunch of road crossings.

Is it possible to get a shoe that will let you clip in at one point in your ride and if you want to use the flat side you just spin the pedal over to the other side? Does the cleat need to be removed or anything?

Any suggestions? I cant seem to find anything in stores in Brisbane, they seem to sell a lot of road shoes. However online has a bunch but I am worried about sizing and fit.

RobertL
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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby RobertL » Thu Aug 25, 2016 4:09 pm

fergy - I'm surprised that you can't find anything in Brisbane. I bought a pair of Shimano M089 MTB shoes from 99Bikes, and I know that they have other shoes in the Shimano range. I have done a bit of walking in them, and they are OK for that. Because the cleat is almost completely* recessed in the rubber sole, you should be able to use them on flat pedals, but I have never tried. Other MTB shoes should be the same.

* Be careful where you walk. My cleats are almost completely recessed, and I can walk normally. However, they are not complete, totally, fully recessed. A mate of mine discovered this after walking on his timber floors at home and leaving a trail of little semi-circular dents. Ouch!

fergy1987
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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby fergy1987 » Mon Aug 29, 2016 6:21 pm

Well the time for new pedals has come sooner rather than later....just snapped a pedal riding home today.

So the M324 pedals? Worth a shot?

Also do all pedals have the same thread so all pedals will fit on any crank or should I be looking for something in particular?

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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby Mulger bill » Mon Aug 29, 2016 6:52 pm

fergy1987 wrote:Well the time for new pedals has come sooner rather than later....just snapped a pedal riding home today.

So the M324 pedals? Worth a shot?

Also do all pedals have the same thread so all pedals will fit on any crank or should I be looking for something in particular?
If you like the dual single sided option, yep.

Size wise, theres 15mm and 9/16ths options. The great majority run to 15mm, 9/16 is typically the BMX standard
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fergy1987
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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby fergy1987 » Mon Aug 29, 2016 8:10 pm

Mulger bill wrote:
fergy1987 wrote:Well the time for new pedals has come sooner rather than later....just snapped a pedal riding home today.

So the M324 pedals? Worth a shot?

Also do all pedals have the same thread so all pedals will fit on any crank or should I be looking for something in particular?
If you like the dual single sided option, yep.

Size wise, theres 15mm and 9/16ths options. The great majority run to 15mm, 9/16 is typically the BMX standard
So my pedals seem to attach via an allen key which I already have but the M324 attach via a pedal wrench by the looks of it. So is there no issues there? If I just pick up a pedal wrench I'll be good to go to install? Do I need anything fancy like park tool

Seems like an easy job as long as you get the thread direction right.

fergy1987
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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby fergy1987 » Tue Aug 30, 2016 10:53 am

well I have bit the bullet and bought the M324 pedals - I had a look at the A530 pedals in the store and although a nicer looking pedal the platform side didn't seem to be as good.

Now to track down some shoes! and get ready to start falling sideways :)

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Mulger bill
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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby Mulger bill » Tue Aug 30, 2016 6:03 pm

Image search says the 324s are hex suitable...
Don't forget a smear of grease on the threads prior to install so you can hex them off down the line instead of breaking out the big guns. You don't have to go nuts tightening pedals.
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fergy1987
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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby fergy1987 » Tue Aug 30, 2016 8:45 pm

Mulger bill wrote:Image search says the 324s are hex suitable...
Don't forget a smear of grease on the threads prior to install so you can hex them off down the line instead of breaking out the big guns. You don't have to go nuts tightening pedals.
Grease or anti seize? Any recommendations on product? Does it need to be bike specific or something I can pick up at bunnings or super cheap?

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Aushiker
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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby Aushiker » Wed Aug 31, 2016 2:46 pm

Image

MTBr have a review of the Xpedo Zed flat pedals out. Might be of interest.

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Mulger bill
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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby Mulger bill » Wed Aug 31, 2016 6:43 pm

fergy1987 wrote:
Mulger bill wrote:Image search says the 324s are hex suitable...
Don't forget a smear of grease on the threads prior to install so you can hex them off down the line instead of breaking out the big guns. You don't have to go nuts tightening pedals.
Grease or anti seize? Any recommendations on product? Does it need to be bike specific or something I can pick up at bunnings or super cheap?
I've been using Castrol HTB or Marine grease on everything except suspension components for years and don't recall any problems.
...whatever the road rules, self-preservation is the absolute priority for a cyclist when mixing it with motorised traffic.
London Boy 29/12/2011

fergy1987
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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby fergy1987 » Mon Sep 05, 2016 8:52 am

Ended up with a pair of Louis Garneau Nickel shoes for $78 bucks. Pretty happy with them - nice and comfortable. just gotta wait for the pedals to show up to test them out :)

Cheers for all the help everyone!

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Mulger bill
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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby Mulger bill » Mon Sep 05, 2016 8:02 pm

fergy1987 wrote:Ended up with a pair of Louis Garneau Nickel shoes for $78 bucks. Pretty happy with them - nice and comfortable. just gotta wait for the pedals to show up to test them out :)

Cheers for all the help everyone!
Me likey! Where'd you score them please?
...whatever the road rules, self-preservation is the absolute priority for a cyclist when mixing it with motorised traffic.
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fergy1987
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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby fergy1987 » Mon Sep 05, 2016 8:08 pm

Mulger bill wrote:
fergy1987 wrote:Ended up with a pair of Louis Garneau Nickel shoes for $78 bucks. Pretty happy with them - nice and comfortable. just gotta wait for the pedals to show up to test them out :)

Cheers for all the help everyone!
Me likey! Where'd you score them please?
Got them at 99 bikes Everton Park QLD. They had 30% off so were $98 and it was a new store opening and were giving out $20 coupons bringing it down to $78. Bit of a win!

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Mulger bill
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Re: Shoes for Flat Pedals

Postby Mulger bill » Mon Sep 05, 2016 8:13 pm

Lot of a win! Airfare would be a showstopper for me tho...
Thanks for the followup :-D
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