There are dozens of different styles of road bike these days, aimed at different people with varying transport needs and it sometimes seems each one has its own style of shoe!
Back in the day, the design of the shoe, based on race shoes, had to suit all. And they weren’t necessarily the good old days, bike shoes were all about putting the power into the pedal and almost nothing to do with comfort.
Today, whether it’s road racing, street riding, triathlon, leisure or touring there’s a shoe built for the job to suit both men and women and a lot of them are a joy to wear.
Why clip in?
You can get more performance for your effort because you add power as you pull up on the pedal as well as when you’re mashing down.
A beginner’s guide to clipping in
Clip in shoes fixes you to the bike, which might sound dangerous and scary, but they are simply disengaged by a quick twist of the foot moving the ankle outwards. They do take a little while to get used to but once you have you’ll wonder how you ever rode without them.