Wondering what’s working for you? Leaning towards SIDI, it is what I currently wear for road. Its seams a complaint on the SIDI shoes is how slick they are on the bottoms (maybe not the best on wet terrain/rock when walking).
Thanks
- Wear what fits
- Tread and traction are not important for dirt roads
Wondering what’s working for you? Leaning towards SIDI, it is what I currently wear for road. Its seams a complaint on the SIDI shoes is how slick they are on the bottoms (maybe not the best on wet terrain/rock when walking).
Thanks
My MTB shoes…but, my “gravel”-type rides tend to lean closer to MTB riding than road riding (i.e. not unusual to have to push/carry in spots).
My Sidi MTB shoes with eggbeaters.
My first big gravel ride I did with my Speedplay road shoes.
Fine if I didn’t stop… but if you have to walk in dirt or sand, or get them muddy… they don’t work for shit.
If you are just doing small sections of gravel on an otherwise paved ride, then road shoes might be ok.
95% of the time I use my Simmons Racing road shoes. The other 5% of the time is when I know there will be long periods of walking, and then I’ll use something with SPD cleats.
I think I might get a set of these for my 2017 mud races: http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/apparel/cycling-apparel/cycling-shoes/bontrager-specter-road-shoe/p/12542/
The specters should have a little flex, which helps with walking. You can run road or mountain cleats. The bottoms are smooth, so it will be easy to scrape off all the heavy mud on the fly.
The same ones I use for everything else works for me (they just wear out a little faster on gravel).
Sidi road / Speedplay for all road rides.
Everything else (mtb, gravel, trainer, etc) is a mountain bike shoe with SPD pedals.
Giro Codes with XT pedals for both gravel and cross racing.
My Sidi MTB shoes with eggbeaters.
My first big gravel ride I did with my Speedplay road shoes.
Fine if I didn’t stop… but if you have to walk in dirt or sand, or get them muddy… they don’t work for shit.
If you are just doing small sections of gravel on an otherwise paved ride, then road shoes might be ok.
I have learned that lesson as well. I used to move my Speedplays from my road bike to my cross bike for gravel fondos. Then I got gravel in my cleat, and spent a good half hour trying to get the dirt out of my cleat so that I could clip in again. Now it’s SPDs only.
But if I were riding only short pieces of gravel or dirt in the midst of a road ride, I’d go with road pedals (or a road bike). If there’s a lot of gravel/dirt, and any likelihood of walking in the dirt, then its SPDs for me.
I am also running mountain bike shoes and egg beaters. The egg beaters were already on the mountain bike so I just kept the same for gravel. I like being able to walk in my shoes when riding gravel as a large percentage of the gravel riding I do tends to be a bit more social and involves ice cream or coffee stops.
MTB shoes, Deore XT pedals.
Giro Carbide MTB shoes and eggbeaters. Shoes are cheap but durable and I go plenty of places that would warrant hike a bike. I use eggbeaters on my MTB also so I keep everything consistent. Some people like Candy’s better but I’ve had no issues with the eggs. Cheap and reliable.
Thanks for replies!!!
I’ve been wearing the Pearl Izumi ProjectX shoes and love them…great for walking and stiff sole. Just picked up the Specialized Recon Mixed Terrain (lace up) shoes and they are pretty awesome.