Bike Shoes

Welcome fellow inhabitant of the Old Dominion. Yup, gotta get used to it. The general rule of thumb for feet is to have the pedal axle directly underneath the foot where the side has a slight bump. Might have to tweak it some to get it just right. That's one benefit of cycling specific shoes is you can better adjust foot position since it is locked in. The other thing to be aware of is you might be a toe peddler, that is always keeps your toes pointed down instead of on a more level plane.

Will switching to a clip on pedal and clip on shoes be better to able all the force into the stroke and not fatigue the toes on my feet?
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[font='Times New Roman'][font=Comic Sans MS]It will give you more power on pedal stroke and i noticed a lot less fatigue on my feet by wearing clip less pedals and shoes. I started in sneakers and had pains in the ball of my foot and cramps, that was all alleviated with the switch.[/font][/font]

I use strapless Zefal toe clips with my runners on the bike. 🙂

do you have a web site to see some of these shooes?

Chris Cannon said:

do you have a web site to see some of these shooes?

Go to any good local bike shop or take a look at the websites of the major online retailers: Nashbar has a big shoe/pedal sale going on right now.

http://www.nashbar.com/index.cfm

Also take a look at:

http://www.speedgoat.com/
http://www.coloradocyclist.com/
http://www.performancebike.com/
http://www.excelsports.com/new.asp?page=1

You could also look at the manufacturers websites.
Some common brands of shoes include: Shimano, Specialized, Northwave, Sidi, Diadora, Vittoria, Pearl Izumi, Nike, Adidas, Answer, Time, Lake and there are several others

Don't be put off initially by the extreme prices for some of these shoe models. You can get a very good shoe for $70-120 that will work fine.

For commuting, one of the mountain bike type shoes may be better because they are much easier to walk in and light weight is less of an issue. Search this forum for several recent threads discussing shoe/pedal choice.

When I was introduced to cycling, I rode for thousands of Kilometres with sneaker and toe straps...my regular riding mate tried to make me spend $$$ on shoe/pedal combo, but I laughed at him trying to walk on the buggers and said "Yeah, right...not in this lifetime"
But I suffered a lot of knee pain (kept me awake at night...)which I just assumed was normal.
Then spotted some discounted shoes, bought them and matching pedals, just to see what all the fuss was about...what a revelation.😎 😄

Knee pain ? what knee pain ??? and the feel...and the pedalling efficiency...absolutely ooorsome.
The shoes/pedal combo is probably the single most important innovation since Hephaestus brought fire to the Ancient Greeks from Mount Olympus.🙂

Aussie Steve said:

When I was introduced to cycling, I rode for thousands of Kilometres with sneaker and toe straps...my regular riding mate tried to make me spend $$$ on shoe/pedal combo, but I laughed at him trying to walk on the buggers and said "Yeah, right...not in this lifetime"
But I suffered a lot of knee pain (kept me awake at night...)which I just assumed was normal.
Then spotted some discounted shoes, bought them and matching pedals, just to see what all the fuss was about...what a revelation.😎 😄

Knee pain ? what knee pain ??? and the feel...and the pedalling efficiency...absolutely ooorsome.
The shoes/pedal combo is probably the single most important innovation since Hephaestus brought fire to the Ancient Greeks from Mount Olympus.🙂

Once you have used cleated bike shoes you will never go back to any other method.

I usually keep the pedal axel somewhat behind the ball of my foot, near the front of the arch of my foot. Is that a ok Posistion?

I'm also getting some new pedals for my bike, they are Crank brother Mallet C's that I got on a really good deal off Pricepoint.com. I haven't decided on a shoe yet for them though. I have alot of trouble with athlete's feet, and would like to stick to sandals if I could. If not possible, what would you recommend as being a -very- well ventilated shoe? They have to be walkable, My favortie riding is long distance, then hop off and enjoy where I went too for awhile.

The Mallets ride fine with regular shoes, as I've already tested them on a buddys bike. I'm in no hurry to choose a shoe.