Re: biking or running shoes for biking - Triathlon Week

08-23-2004, 06:39 PM

I was actually wondering the same thing myself. What about wearing running
shoes but having the straps on the pedals? Is there any difference between
that and cycling shoes?

08-23-2004, 06:39 PM

On 5/10/04 9:06 PM, in article c7p8tn$58g$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ], "Nicole"
wrote:

> I was actually wondering the same thing myself. What about wearing running
> shoes but having the straps on the pedals? Is there any difference between
> that and cycling shoes?

Wearing running shoes on regular pedals or wearing running shoes with straps
on your pedals are perfectly fine strategies if you are just getting started
and want to try the sport before dropping a bunch of money on cycling shoes.
Don¹t let the gang here convince you you have to drop $150 on shoes before
your first (or second or third) event.

OTOH, once you're hooked and dying to go absolutely as fast as you can,
there is little dispute that cycling shoes clipped solidly to your pedals
will make you faster - plenty faster to make up the 20 seconds it takes to
slip on a shoe with velcro laces.

Your mileage may vary, but not many people's does.

John

08-23-2004, 06:39 PM

"Nicole" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:c7p8tn$58g$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> I was actually wondering the same thing myself. What about wearing running
> shoes but having the straps on the pedals? Is there any difference between
> that and cycling shoes?
>
>

The difference is huge. Racing aside cycling shoes will allow you to go
farther, faster, in more comfort. If you never go more than 12mph - or have no
desire to bike more than 18 miles then maybe toeclips are the way to go.

But if you cycle more than 22 miles per ride and ride 16mph and faster, get
cycling shoes - especially if you bike on hills.

Your running shoes just aren't stiff enough - it's easy to see - just watch your
foot as you stomp on a hill. The shoe will totally deform and your heal will end
up lower than your toes. This is all wasted energy.

You don't need to plop down a boat load of doe - you can get shoes from
Performance and Nashbar for less than $50. Low end Pedals will cost you in the
$30 range.

-CF

08-23-2004, 06:39 PM

"ChronoFish" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in news:SNvoc.22907$%o1.4715
@lakeread03:

> You don't need to plop down a boat load of doe

But you can get more doe on the boat than bucks because the antlers take up
so much room!

08-23-2004, 06:39 PM

"Tom Henderson" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:Xns94EAD72542CC9TomH4thBellSouthnet@216.77.18 8.18...
> "ChronoFish" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in news:SNvoc.22907$%o1.4715
> @lakeread03:
>
> > You don't need to plop down a boat load of doe
>
> But you can get more doe on the boat than bucks because the antlers take
up
> so much room!

Oh deer - a bad joke - buck your ideas up :o)

08-23-2004, 06:39 PM

"ChronoFish" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message news:<SNvoc.22907$%o1.4715@lakeread03>...
> "Nicole" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
> news:c7p8tn$58g$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> > I was actually wondering the same thing myself. What about wearing running
> > shoes but having the straps on the pedals? Is there any difference between
> > that and cycling shoes?
> >
> >
>
> The difference is huge. Racing aside cycling shoes will allow you to go
> farther, faster, in more comfort. If you never go more than 12mph - or have no
> desire to bike more than 18 miles then maybe toeclips are the way to go.
>
> But if you cycle more than 22 miles per ride and ride 16mph and faster, get
> cycling shoes - especially if you bike on hills.
>
> Your running shoes just aren't stiff enough - it's easy to see - just watch your
> foot as you stomp on a hill. The shoe will totally deform and your heal will end
> up lower than your toes. This is all wasted energy.
>
> You don't need to plop down a boat load of doe - you can get shoes from
> Performance and Nashbar for less than $50. Low end Pedals will cost you in the
> $30 range.
>
> -CF

Obviously I agree that clipless pedals are going to perform better
than toeclips, however I don't think the difference is as extreme as
you are making out. I rode a bike with toeclips for 3 or 4 years when
my main sport was rowing - I was using the bike for coaching,
commuting and as a training tool not for racing so they seemed more
convenient. I used to do some fairly big training rides with toeclips
and never had any problems - did 60+ mile rides at 20+mph (on my own,
not in a group) - not saying that is particularly fast, just that you
can do reasonably long, quick rides on toeclips.

I switched to clipless a few years ago when I quit rowing and started
getting more into cycling/triathlon. I do prefer them and I am
quicker now but suspect most of that is down to spending more training
time on a bike not the shoes. I can see your point about the shoes
deforming on the hills when you are laying down a lot of force at
quite low cadence, but I don't think you would be wasting that much
energy on the flat if you are spinning along at 90+ rpm. If you've
got clipless pedals then the speed difference almost certainly does
more than compensate for the extra transition time, but if you don't
have them then you're not going to be at a huge disadvantage and I
would save your money until you decide whether you like the sport.

08-23-2004, 06:39 PM

"rookie" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:eff2adfa.0405240505.4ef170bc@posting.google.c om...
> "ChronoFish" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message news:<SNvoc.22907$%
....
> > The difference is huge. Racing aside cycling shoes will allow you to go
> > farther, faster, in more comfort. If you never go more than 12mph - or have
no
> > desire to bike more than 18 miles then maybe toeclips are the way to go.

> Obviously I agree that clipless pedals are going to perform better
> than toeclips, however I don't think the difference is as extreme as
> you are making out. I rode a bike with toeclips for 3 or 4 years when

I suppose I should have been more precise with my words. Obviosly cyclist have
been going long and hard for years before the introduction of clipless pedals.

Cycling shoes vs running shoes is really what I was after. You can certainly
crank down a pair of toe clips on a cleated shoe and get very similar
performance.

> convenient. I used to do some fairly big training rides with toeclips
> and never had any problems - did 60+ mile rides at 20+mph (on my own,
> not in a group) - not saying that is particularly fast, just that you
> can do reasonably long, quick rides on toeclips.

Again the binding system is not nearly as important as the shoe itself. I did
Independence Pass in Colorado many years ago (high school - about 15 years ago)
with tennis shoes. Sure I "did it" but it wasn't exactly pleasent on the
arches.

- CF