Road or MTB shoes for PBP

[markldn]

^^^^ this - stiff soles are the key to comfort over long distance. As to the rest, wear whatever worked for you on your qualifiers. No need to change just for PBP.

A few times this has been mentioned. I fully appreciate and practise that as general advice but the point is my current setup most definitely has not worked on my qualifiers and I anticipate myself being in real pain over such a distance of I don’t do something about it. Plenty of rides between then and now to test. RT500s ordered, testing begins Monday.

Cheers all!

[markldn]

Shimano SPD sandals of course !

For me, this works best. With socks when it's dark enough to get away with it

XD

[Phil W]

^^^^ this - stiff soles are the key to comfort over long distance. As to the rest, wear whatever worked for you on your qualifiers. No need to change just for PBP.

A few times this has been mentioned. I fully appreciate and practise that as general advice but the point is my current setup most definitely has not worked on my qualifiers and I anticipate myself being in real pain over such a distance of I don’t do something about it. Plenty of rides between then and now to test. RT500s ordered, testing begins Monday.

Cheers all!

Take your shoes off when stopped for any appreciable time.  This also helps a lot as well as the distances climb.

[Phil W]

P.S. Shouldn't this be in the PBB sub forum?

[Ajax Bay]

P.S. Shouldn't this be in the PBB sub forum?

Think it's a more general issue so best kept on the main board, imo.

[SR Steve]

I’ve been using dhb mtb SPD shoes for all of cycling for the last five years and found them really comfortable. This thread reminded me that I later bought a pair of dhb road shoes and Shimano SPD SL pedals. Yesterday I found them in the loft, fitted the cleats and pedals and went for a test ride. I only did 20km but they felt just as comfortable as the mtb ones. I’m hoping to use them for a DIY 200km this weekend and if that goes well I’ll wear them for the 24 hour TT next weekend. There is a 230g weight saving using the road pedal/shoe combo and I like the idea of the larger contact area given by SPD SL so all being well road shoes are looking likely for PBP. I don’t do much walking on PBP anyway as I tend to bounce most of the controls.

[JohnL]

Do you have to take your shoes off at any of the controls like we had to at LEL?

[wilkyboy]

Do you have to take your shoes off at any of the controls like we had to at LEL?

On PBP — no. 

In schools where they have to prevent damage to the floors, they put down a protective layer, right the way through.  The rest are tiled.

[grams]

I like the idea of the larger contact area given by SPD SL so all being well road shoes are looking likely for PBP.

Consider bringing spare cleats for PBP, or renewing them at the start - SPD SLs have a half-life measured in nano-SPDs.

[robbieonsea]

Im taking some light weight scuba shoes from decathlon. £4

Took me a little while to find them, as they are in the Snorkel Aqua Shoes category:

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/aquashoes-50-dark-grey-id_8330684.html

And actually £5 

Although I'll probably stick to using some 'hotel slippers' that I got free earlier this year, rather than the aqua shoe upgrade.

[GPS]

Do you have to take your shoes off at any of the controls like we had to at LEL?

On PBP — no. 

In schools where they have to prevent damage to the floors, they put down a protective layer, right the way through.  The rest are tiled.

We had to take shoes off at Brest when we went to the lav. I’ve no idea why - unless it was mop up other riders’ urine. It wasn’t a highlight of the event for me !

[Terry2wheelz]

I rode 2013 LEL in Specialized TAHOE MTB shoes - SPD cleats, endured "Hot-foot" symptoms to the point of agony & almost in tears after 600km, but I'd had no bother on previous SR with same set-up ?   really was agony & almost to the point of quitting longer rides over 400km

By 2107 LEL I'd switched (over course of time ) to Specialized SPD Touring shoes, but added specialised green coloured insoles ( with metatarsal buttons ) & I'd moved cleats right to rear of slots in shoes - Result was very minimal Hot-foot
2018 - I rode PAP  1200km "Down Under" but had switched to Specialized "Comp" racing shoes with 3-bolt "Look" type SL cleats -  again slid right to rear of shoes & kept green insoles -  with no hot-foot at all.

For me , my Hot-foot cure is  =  cleats slid right to back of shoes & green coloured Specialized insoles - plus up one shoe size for cycling shoes.
@ controls the shoes come off & I'll walk round in socks whether need to or not.
Hope this helps..
T

[Clemo]

I completed the Inverness 1200 last weekend, I used road shoes with look cleats, I found of the two things that were bothering me at the end was my feet and my hands so my advice would be whatever option you decide to go for make sure you have a good toe box to allow your feet to expand perhaps going up half a size than you would normally need.

Enjoy PBP 

[wilkyboy]

We had to take shoes off at Brest when we went to the lav. I’ve no idea why - unless it was mop up other riders’ urine. It wasn’t a highlight of the event for me !

I don't recall that.  I do recall, though, that the gents' toilets at Brest were memorable for the wrong reasons ... the toilets in the excellent restaurant were much better.

[caplja]

Having same dilema these days since I'm having hot foot and numbness in my current SPD shoes. Decided to find more suitable, wider shoes and stay on SPD since it is much easier to walk. As is seems I will go with Lake MX237-X shoes.

Shimano RT5 was also in consideration but find few reviews that they are not that wide :/

Sent from my TA-1012 using Tapatalk

[markldn]

Meanwhile... at the office.



Funny - the velcro straps are too wide to fit the Wahoo velcro mount!

EDIT: after wearing them both for a couple hours I have reached a determination of which is more comfortable but I am not going to share as shoes truly are not one-size fits all.  Everyone's feet are different but we should probably all agree that there is no other way to test shoes out other than to buy them, sit in them, and expect to return them (without the benefit of actually clipping in).

I would recommend however to order two pairs in different sizes.  You could go extreme and order three.  Just have to swallow the return shipping charges (or not if you live near an ASDA  ).  Then sit in your chair of choice and let your feet acclimatise to them.  Feel for pinch points, discomfort, as I presume those will likely amplify to a degree when in use.  Alternatively I could be wrong and maybe we should expect a degree of "wear-in" to relieve those pinch points.