Touring SPuD shoes for minimal waddle

[elPedro666]

Hi all, hoping to get an idea of what shoes everyone uses for (very casual, low mileage) touring. I guess what I'm looking for are SPuD shoes with enough tread that the cleat is recessed deep enough not to contact the floor when walking - anyone had success with this?

I realise that I could use walking boots and clips&straps - and have done so relatively successfully in the past - but I've been clipped in since the nineties and am keen to remain so, if I can minimise waddle!

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my wobbly using hovercraft full of eels.

[NUKe]

Shimano MT range are usually good for me

[meic]

The same for me, the SPD cleats only make contact on rough surfaces like gravel, on flat surfaces they dont touch.

I suspect the OP has SPD-R pedals and shoes and I doubt they can ever be made walking friendly.

[elPedro666]

I should have specified, MTB style, sh-m51 cleats is it? Pedals are variously m520, m970, Ritchey V4 Comp, some others...

But I guess the cleats are the relevant factor.

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my wobbly using hovercraft full of eels.

[mattsccm]

I have got/used 3 pairs of Specialized, 1 pair of Giros, Pearl Isumi and Caratti.
None allow the cleat to touch on flat ground.

[Brucey]

there is a fundamental problem with what you desire; the bottom of the cleat is normally flush with the (adjacent part of the) sole, but the sole is curved and the cleat is flat. This usually leads to some contact of the cleat with the ground when you walk (esp once the shoe is worn) rather than none.

I have owned some MTB shoes that had the sole around the cleat protrude beyond the cleat and this made it difficult to release. However I guess it is possible for the sole to protrude further than the cleat provided it is further away form the cleat; this way the protruding sole won't hit the pedal.

I have found that if I walk very much in SPD shoes the soles do wear and I'd thus suppose that a fully recessed cleat might only be a temporary state of affairs at best...

cheers

[meic]

Shimano SD60 and SD66 Sandals.
MT42 and not quite so good MO21s.

My daughter's CT71 and MT33's

All good for walking in, with cleats.

[elPedro666]

Intriguing, I've had a few pairs of MT, couple of North Wave and a load of the old Sidi Dominators (my cobbler friend had binloads of them at the time!), Time 'trainers' and probably others - all have crunched and slipped to some degree. Brucey's experience very much mirrors my own and this: "I guess it is possible for the sole to protrude further than the cleat provided it is further away form the cleat; this way the protruding sole won't hit the pedal", is what I had imagined.

Maybe some of you are a lot lighter than me so not squishing them into the tarmac! [emoji38]

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my wobbly using hovercraft full of eels.

[webber]

you want some sandals mate

[foxyrider]

Specialized work for me pretty well but they're not cheap - the Lidl shoes work pretty well too but you get what you pay for - I seem to snap the soles across the fixing area after using them for a couple of years but at under twenty quid a pop they are fairly disposable.

[Threevok]

I find the Muddy Fox ones from Sports Direct are good.

Look and feel like trainers too

[RickH]

I got a pair of Giro Rumbles last year as a pair of reasonably normal looking shoes. I've found very little "crunch" except on uneven surfaces, such as gravel paths. Although I don't deliberately go walking in them, they perform pretty much like normal shoes when I do wander round in them.