worth it to upgrade bike shoes?

I just upgraded to these and they are sweet......I was wearing 10 year old SIDI shoes before...

Spending more money = much faster bike time (at least that's what I tell my wife!)

Edited by TimmyMay 2006-06-08 5:14 PM






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I use the same shoe as "TimmyMay" and love them.. Very confortable, and easy on and off. Highly Recommend.

Also have the Shimano and the Nike as well (forgot my shoes at a race in another country, oops).

One thing that both will give you is a much quick transition, also make leaving them on the bike that much easier. For relatively (vs most bike spending) that's a handy 30secs or so in transition saved.

As far as upgrading - carbon soles really are nice.  Non-carbon soles tend to soften up and give you hot spots after awhile.  If you are riding with mtb clips that can be even worse as the force is concentrated in a smaller area of your foot.  Road cleats would help spread that out.

any recommendation on good/fairly cheap road pedals?

is the uncleating process the same as for the MTB cleats? (swing heel outwards)

I also have the same shoes as Timmyman and they have served me very well. I got them on a great deal, so just wait around until Nashbar or Performance Bike has a good sale if you want to upgrade and you'll get them like 30-40% off. I definitely recommend them although I have never tried them barefoot so I can't vouch for their performance in that department

I noticed that on those tri carbon Shimano shoes, when you close the strap, it closes to the inside-- isn't that problematic when you are racing and need to close the shoes quickly? Wouldn't it make more sense to have the strap close and open to the outside of the shoe?

Reversing the strap keeps it out of the way of the chain and all while they are open.

The LG shoes do it that way too.  Don't know about the others.

Edited by PGoldberger 2006-06-08 8:44 PM

I have carbon soled Shimano road shoes and LOVE them. My tri shoes are Carnac's, and I am not too pleased with them compared to the Shimano, hard to get into, and flexy, they are not carbon but still paid a pretty penny for them. The strap on the carnac pair open into the chain area, which actually is not a problem, I guess it's 6 one way, half a dozen the other - this way I close them while on the bike and my hand is not in the chain area.

I've been a fan of buying the best quality shoes you can afford, to get the best construction.

I have ridden Diadoras and Carnac Altitude's for a while and they were fine. I just stumbled onto an Ebay auction a few weeks ago for a top of the line superlight carbon Carnac M5 that sells for $330.00 in stores (gasp !). Anyway, I lucked out and got them for $112.00

http://www.coloradocyclist.com/common/products/productdisplay2_v2.c...

These shoes are featherlight, stiff, and have a very comfortable stretch sock liner, similar to some running shoes I've seen. The ratchet adjustment is also nice as it does not stretch and loosen during a ride as velcro can.

I would suggest trying on some shoes and watching Ebay as well. So far I saved $200 on shoes and at least $1000 on a bike from Craigslist.

If you happen to wear a 41, I've got the other Carnac's for sale which are in very good shape with low use.

Edited by Zev 2006-06-09 12:12 AM