I’ve never been a big fan of riding with SPD pedals in London. Having to clip in and out at all the traffic lights and whenever I have to quickly come to a halt just doesn’t feel that safe. Plus, they are not usually that great for walking around in and they make me look like too much of a cyclist all the time.
Therefore, when Teva got in touch with me about their Links Mountain Biking Shoes and Pinner Biking Shoes I was excited to feature them on the site. What makes the Links shoe special is that they are fitted with technology that repels water. Combine that with their extra tough construction to resist daily wear plus the strong grip design and you’ve got a pretty tempting option for your cycle footwear.
Teva wanted to give away three pairs of shoes to three readers of London Cyclist blog so I thought this would be a great time to find out what footwear everyone uses to cycle in every day. Whether you pedal in flip flops or SPD shoes, leave a comment below and you’ll be entered in to the competition.
Our usual competition rules apply and please note that the smallest size the shoes come in is size 6. Teva also have a wide range of women’s multi sport trainers. To find out more about the Links and Pinner shoes checkout the Teva website.
bright yellow trainers at the moment
It probably excludes me from the competition, but I’m happy to say I already wear Teva shoes when cycling. They’re a pair of ‘digital camouflage’ B-1s that I got a couple of years ago. They’re not cycle specific, but the (vibram?) soles do grip flat pedals very well. Very comfy off the bike, too.
I’m also a longtime fan of Teva sandals, and i’m now on my second set – the first pair lasted nearly ten years (although the soles on my first ones were a bit worrying on wet cobbles, that seems to have been sorted on my second pair – much grippier).
lightweight trainers (adidas taekwondo). they’re light, flat sole and good grip. Have a suede finish though which is a pain to clean.
I cycle in the shoes I happen to be wearing and manage to cover many miles on my midwifery rounds.
Old pair of skate shoes but (with toe cages on pedals), clipless just aren’t that practical in London with the wet (too slippery once off the bike!) and traffic lights.
I usually use a pair of converse boots. The big drawback with these is the length of the laces. As my bike doesn’t have any chain protection the risk of catching a lace in it means I have to tuck them down the side of my boots to make sure they are out of the way. My other shoes are an old battered pair of Nike trainers but my pedals have pretty much ripped the sole off these over time.
Shimano MTB SPDs for the long 30 mile commute.
Normal shoes for 6 mile jaunt to Waterloo.
The SPDs are great for walking in and look like
normal shoes. Getting a bit tatty after 4 years
of use!
My converse skate shoes. Comfortable and fit nicely into my toe clips
A pair of vegan Macbeth shoes, pretty torn up.
I wear spd’s in town. Did try straps but they were deadly so went back to carrying 2 pairs of shoes including my clips
Usually just my old battered Adidas Dragon trainers (which were once upon a time white but are now a dirty-London-rain-water-and-chain-grease-grey).
But I have also been known to be seen cycling around Hackney in a pair of fetching green wellington boots.
Whatever shoes I’m wearing (adidas zx 500 today), toeclips are my choice of fastening, I can’t stand cleats, horrible in an emergency stop!
At the moment I just wear anything as I have toeclips, though I was seriously looking at getting some Chrome Kursks or somthing similar to use with spd pedals, would deffo consider these Teva’s now though, they look great and previouse experience with Teva footwear has always been great!
I wear spd shoes. I must admit though that my left foot spends most of the journey unclipped. When I first got them I did fall over at the traffic lights once and thankfully only hurt my pride.
My advice if you are going to use them is to go somewhere quiet and off the roads to practice clipping and unclipping.
Shimano SPDs that are about 10 years old and need to be replaced. But I cannot find any shoes that are comfortable with my strange foot shape (wide at the toes, narrow at the heels). I have to say that I rarely clip into my pedals when biking downtown – there is too much starting/stopping/jaywalking/etc. So my pedals are combo so I don’t have to worry too much. But as soon as I get off the inner-city streets and into spaces longer than a football field, I clip in!
I just wear my plain old Puma size 10 trainers. Never let me down.
Still have a brand new pair of SPD pedals and cycling shoes that I’ve yet to use since I bought them last year.
Ashamed to say that I still don’t feel comfortable wearing them.
I wear whatever shoes I chose that morning to go with what I’m wearing – anything from heels, wedges or flat shoes for work and at weekends it could be trainers or converse.
spds. great for getting up the hills, and a good excuse for another pair of shoes!
I commute a 40 minute journey in Specialized tahoe shoes with SPDs. Easy to walk in off the bike. I have them set at the loosest so I can easily unclip in traffic. I agree with earlier comment re: only men’s shoes. I also get irritated that bike gear manufacturers neglect women’s market. Gore bike wear are the same.
If I was lucky enough to win the draw, I would want a pair of the Teva’s with the SPDs, not the multi-use sports shoes.
It depends on where I’m going but usually it’d be Merrell approach walking boots (which look like trainers but they are more ‘solid’) or All Star sneakers.
Time atac…spd type things, on the commuter, skate shoes on the tandem- wife and baby too important to not be able to get a foot down instantly!
On my Giant city/commuter bike with plastic pedals, just about anything will do, but usually basic Nike trainers with a flat sole. They don’t offer much support for walking, but are perfect for riding. They also don’t make me look like a hardcore cyclist when I get to my destination.
If it’s raining I have some more rugged walking shoes which are a bit more water resistant.
Walking Boots for my commute on a mountain bike with road slicks, however now I have a second pair of boots to keep at work and dont have to cary extra footwear I’m using trainers. I have spd’s to swap to when my new cross bike arrives (doesn’t come with pedals!) I wasn’t using SPD’s as teaching the kids to ride they sometimes crash into you and SPD’s make for embarassing moments as Dad gets toppled
Which shoes?
Well, when I’m on “a ride”, it’s an ageing pair of Nike Lance All-Roads or a newer pair of Mavic Equipes.
But for everyday use – riding to work, the pub, the shops – it’s quite simply whatever I’m wearing anyway. Converse lo-tops, Salomon off-road trainers or smart shoes for meeting clients.
But never flip-flops. Never.
These shoes aroused my curiosity. I’m wearing so old leather street shoes and thinking that I need to wear something more specialised soon, as they’re definitely not great in the wet!
There’s someone i see most days on my ride to work who cycles in Uggs, I think she should win the shoes as she clearly needs some more sensible cycling footwear.
Dont’ do spds r straps [those things are dangerous!] but have a pair of [and I had to go check] Bontranger something or others – the pedals dish out a lot of punishment to trainers I’ve found [or that might just me my riding] whereas these stand up to it well, and the solid sole helps with power transfer. I’ve a pair of shoes at work so there’s no issue over needing to look good [thankfully]
Iain
An old pair of Adidas Samba! Used them for years and still great, would happily swap for a pair of these though….
I typically use some older street shoes that do not work well, otherwise I tend to use an old pair of new balance shoes for going on a fun ride rather than school/work. I want to try a new set of shoes, and maybe pick up some cross trek style shoes since I mostly ride my cyclocross bike it would be handy to have some sturdier shoes for when picking up and carrying my bike.
I’ve got a pair of old Vans that are really comfortable and keep my feet pretty warm despite the gaping seams, or a pair of long leather Brasher boots that have been warm and dry all winter – dithering over what to buy next. Am scared to even try anything with clips – convinced I’d be falling off all the time, and noticing just how many sets of lights I have to get through each day…
Wellingtons in the rain. There’s no drier shoe. Don’t look too great with my lycra leggings mind.
I currently use a cheap pair of trainers from Shoe Zone to ride in. They are uncomfortable and have a lot of flex so I’m saving for a decent SPD setup.
Wondering why these are labelled as men’s shoes though – I’d more than happily wear those on and off my bike,, and plenty of women are at least a size 6 🙂
I use Mavic Zoya for everyday commuting – not bad and good for walking around in, which was a ciritcal buying point.
I usually wear normal shoes or trainers. Occasionally SPDs for longer journeys.
Currently using regular trainers but about to make the switch to Mountain bike (MTB) SPDs for the road….
I wear Raichle walking shoes that fit snugly into toe clips for my commute, but they’ve become very worn where the straps rub so I’m thinking of upgrading to the whole clipless-pedal-and-matching-shoes thing.
At weekends when I’m just pootling about on the bike I loosen the straps and wear whatever shoes I’m wearing anyhow.
Boring but just a pair of KSwiss trainers. Comfy but not brilliant waterproof in rain. Got used to damp feet!
I used to wear Converse Chuck Taylor’s but just moved on to wearing Five Ten Freerider shoes.
I have SPD pedals on both road bike and mountain bike and have two pairs of Shimano shoes. One pair is a winter style shoe to keep my toes warm and the other for the rest of the year. If I did any serious mountain biking I would definitely change to flat pedals for those emergency situations when feet have to be placed quickly on the ground !!
I swear by my flat soled K-Swiss trainers. Look great and offer good support for cycling.
I don’t like SPDs or clips either. I got fed up of getting wet feet, so have been wearing North Face Goretex Hedgehog approach shoes for about a year, on road and off road (and when i am not riding too!)
i love them
I wear Specialised Tahoe’s – comfy for cycling and walking but not waterproof. Could do with a nice new pair, please 🙂
All sorts. Shimano SPD sandals are great on the touring bike (which does the bulk of the commuting). They are extremely comfy and if it is cold or wet can just pull on some SealSkinz socks, but that is not so great off the bike… Proper Specialized road shoes on the road bike, but then anything on the Brompton as no SPDs (but toe clips, and decent pedals – this makes a huge difference to pedalling on the Brompton).
I wear a pair of Umbro indoor football trainers. They’re light, thin and have a flat and hard sole which helps for pedalling. I slot these into clipless pedals.
I just go for a pair of brown leather docksiders for pretty much everything. They’re fab for when it rains as well.
I wear Shimoano SPD’s heavy duty ‘leisure’ shoes that are very tough and great for London cycling. If it is really hot I wear Shimano SPD sandals.
That’s exactly my solution too. I have never had problems getting my feet out of the spds in time. The shimano shoes look pretty much like regular trainers -so not too nerdy – but these Teva’s look even better. I think Vans do some spd compatible shoes that look good too – here they are http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vans-warner-spd/
SPDs when mountain biking or on cycle touring trips but normal footwear in the city.
North Face Hedgehog walking trainers on my Hybrid. Specialized SPD on my slightly quicker steed.
Flat soled, cheapo, velcro fastening grandad shoes with plenty of layers of waterproofing applied.
Steel toe-capped safety boots from Karrimor, plenty of grip and potentially aggressive dogs seem to stop and think !