Cycling Shoes And Clipless Shoes Guide

Cycling Weekly

Buying cycling specific shoes can represent the first step of commitment to taking cycling seriously, however it's important that you know the differences between them and then knowing what type of cycling shoe is going to be best for you and your riding.  Riding clipless pedals will make you 30% more efficient with your power so its absolutely a worthwhile change to make. Of the main pedal brands, you have Shimano, Look and Speedplay. Each of these brands has their own shape of cleat and you'll need to ensure the pedals use the same system. Often if you're buying pedals at the same time as buying shoes, the pedals will come with the correct cleats.

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00:00Road cycling shoes come in all different shapes and sizes but nearly all of them will allow you

00:08to clip into a pedal. Now this is done using a cleat which attaches to the bottom of the shoe.

00:14Clipped in shoes which confusingly are also referred to as clipless shoes make you engage

00:19more of your muscles throughout the pedal stroke meaning you're a lot more efficient with your

00:23power. While riding with clips in shoes may seem a little daunting at first after your first couple

00:28of rides it's fair to say you're going to feel very comfortable with them and people rarely ever go

00:32back to riding flats. Now you know a little bit more about road cycling shoes I'm going to talk

00:37you through the different types that are out there. Road shoes are for those who want to ride as fast as

00:46possible and also be as efficient as possible. You can pay anywhere from £50 all the way up to £300

00:52plus for a pair of shoes but there are some key differences between them. Top spec shoes will be

00:57incredibly lightweight and will utilise materials such as carbon fibre so they can have a really

01:03stiff sole. They'll also have built-in ventilation to help keep your feet as cold as possible. While

01:09the upper will be pliable it's still going to have very little give and that is so all of your effort

01:13goes into turning those pedals. In terms of how they're secured wired dials have become really

01:18popular in recent years. Now you may have seen these called Boa dials however many brands have their own

01:23similar systems which might be called something different. Boa dials are quick, convenient and you

01:28can rarely go wrong with this type of retention system. You'll also find shoes with laces which

01:33despite their old school appearance do still do a really good job at holding your foot in place.

01:38Laces might take a little bit longer to put on than Boas however they are really reliable and

01:43often lighter. Finally straps and velcro have been making a comeback in recent years with

01:49physique releasing a range of models at various budgets. When it comes to budget or mid-range shoes

01:54they'll often come with either nylon or composite soles. Now that does mean they sacrifice a little

02:00bit on weight and also stiffness. They may also just be a little bit bulkier and not as sleek than their

02:06top-end counterparts. However the real world differences between mid-range and top-end shoes

02:11are marginal at best and only performance-minded cyclists are going to be able to notice the difference.

02:16Finally it's worth mentioning that road shoes only tend to have a tiny amount of tread on the soles

02:21and that usually boils down to a couple of bits of rubber underneath the heel. As you'd expect this

02:26does make them tricky to walk in so if you're planning on commuting or cycle touring then the next

02:30category might be best suited for you. Commuter and touring shoes share many of the same characteristics

02:40as road shoes but with a few key differences which I think are worth mentioning. First up is a different

02:46style of cleats meaning they're normally not compatible with either road shoes or pedals.

02:50They do however use the same two bulk system that you'll find on many mountain bike shoes.

02:54The advantage to this is that the cleat can be recessed into the tread of the shoe meaning it's a lot

02:59easier to walk in which then also means you're not going to damage the cleat. Commuter and touring

03:03shoes tend to have a more subdued look meaning that they blend in with your normal clothes however

03:07there are exceptions to this should you want something a bit more exotic.

03:17The first thing to look out for is to make sure that the bolt pattern on the bottom of your shoes

03:21matches that of your cleats and pedals. Now often you'll find a three-bolt setup which is common to

03:27find for Shimano, Look and Time. However if you use Speedplay pedals you might want to look for shoes

03:32with a four-bolt system however they are very rare and this is why Speedplay include an adapter plate

03:38in with the pedals if you want to use their system. As I've already mentioned commuter and cycle touring

03:43shoes will usually use a two-bolt setup so make sure that your pedals are compatible. It's also worth

03:48bearing in mind that shoes rarely come with cleats so do make sure you buy some however if you are buying

03:53pedals then most of the time if not all of the time you're always going to get cleats in with those

03:58pedals. When it comes to sizing it's worth knowing that a size 10 from one brand will rarely be exactly

04:09the same as a size 10 from another brand so my best recommendation here is to just try them on before

04:14you commit to buying them. Finally if you have particularly wide feet there are brands out there

04:19that offer wide fit options such as Shimano, Lake and Sidi. So hopefully you're now a little bit more

04:26clued up to the whole world of road cycling shoes. If you do have any questions drop them below,

04:30if you enjoyed the video drop it a like, subscribe to the channel for more content and I'll see you

04:34again very soon.

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