LEL - of cleats and stiff soles

[yello]

I usually ride in carbon-soles and Look delta cleats.  Methinks this might be a bit of a pain (hopefully only metaphorically) on LEL so  I'm seriously considering switching to SPDs and my trusty touring Shimano SHT-070s.

Has anyone ridden LEL in stiff soles and roadie cleats?

Edit: My plan had been to carry my carpet slippers (for want of a better description!). This is something I do when doing club runs to restaurants etc, and it's quite workable. However, with LEL it becomes an extra item to carry for arguably negligible gain.

[eck]

Has anyone ridden LEL in stiff soles and roadie cleats?

Yes. Me , and lots of others. Not a problem. I just took a pair of very thick "sports socks" to wear instead of shoes at any controls I was at for a while. I didn't have any of those rubber cleat covers, but I use them now on very long audaxes.

Someone I know carried a pair of slipper-y things, that I think scuba divers wear, to use off the bike. They weighed nothing and rolled up very small.

[Noodley]

How about a pair of these?
Vibram Five Fingers: Discover the Barefooting Alternative

very comfy and light.

[border-rider]

There's already several threads on (more or less) this

eg

SPD vs Look & others

Road Versus MTB shoes- does the weight make any difference?

I'm just wondering if the best place for this might be Knowledge...

[border-rider]

My two penn'orth is that it's quite possible to ride LEL with Look pedals, but that for me the advantages of being able to walk in the shoes I have with me make SPDs (or in my case ATACs) a better choice.  I don't think that the performance difference is significant, if it even exists.  But then I usually use sandals
 
The key thing (as you well know) is not to use a different pedal or shoe for LEL than you've been happy riding a 600 with.

[giropaul]

The key thing in my view would be not to do anything that you are not used to. Never change anything just before a big/important ride.

I don't get on with carbon soles - tried them and get pain. I'm fine with the same shoe except with a more forgiving sole. I'm not alone, several well known riders have the same. Ullrich couldn't use carbon soles, and Adrian Timmis can't either I am told.

Find what suits you - then stick with it.

[yello]

I'm just wondering if the best place for this might be Knowledge...

Well it was a question specifically aimed at LELers... that's why I put it there! But whataver, it would have been nice to have let me know you'd moved it. At first I thought it had been deleted!   

I'm comfortable on SPD and Looks. Neither would be a problem for me. It's not so much a question as to the pros and cons of the pedal/cleat type as a question of convenience for LEL.

[Greenbank]

I've always used SPDs (I'm no racer) and I use a carbon soled MTB shoe¹ for Audaxing (so it has plastic moulding on the bottom to allow much easier walking than Looks). I wasn't going to do anything different for LEL.

I probably walked more than 3km on yesterday's ride in them with no problems.

1. Spesh Pro MTB.

[yello]

Thanks Andy, that's the kind of insight I was after.