Hiya,

I want some walking shoes that will do me for flat pedals, walks in the Surrey Hills with the family and for trudging the bike up the hill when inevitably run out of puff.

I’ve had a look at the various commuter / hike a bike options, most of which have spds [which I doubt I’ll ever use].

What about standard off road trainers / walking shoes? Has anyone got any decent recommendations?

Cheers,

Alex

Most boots, approach shoes and trainers are pretty awful on flat pedals especially when compared with 5 10s.

If I had to recommend an approach shoe though my merrel shoes are 3 or more years old and still going strong though having climbed many a mountain, they’ve been all over the world with me. I’m not sure of the model name but they look like moabs.

My 39.99 HiTecs from Go Outdoors work brilliantly on my flats, and stood me in good stead yesterday when I was out for a three-hour ramble with the family.

I’ve always worn lightweight hiking boots. It’s getter harder to find ones without a waterproof membrane, though. These tend to get a bit sweaty for me.

5:10 camp 4’s

Thanks for all the ideas, appreciate it. Are any of these membrane / gore-texy?

Alex

Dear OP, would you consider boots instead? I use Scarpa Sl M3 boots and they’d do you nicely IMO. Totally comfortable, waterproof, sturdy and grip is ace because they’re Vibram soles. Very warm to boot, pardon the pun!

@jimjam

Currently using Addidas superstars, so can’t be worse than that surely!

Alex

Dear OP, would you consider boots instead? I use Scarpa Sl M3 boots and they’d do you nicely IMO. Totally comfortable, waterproof, sturdy and grip is ace because they’re Vibram soles. Very warm to boot, pardon the pun!

You ride your bike in these?

FFS, buy some cheap skate shoes and buy some cheap hiking shoes. You cant ride a bike properly in walking boots.

Jesus.

Try 5 10 Guide Tennies. Work well with good pedals, good to walk in, light, not too clumpy, not too hot, dry quite quickly, but not waterproof. Soles on mine are lasting quite well. I always use approach shoes summer and winter, have for years as I do everything from solo European tours to solo Scottish epics, summer and winter. Boost warmth and waterproofness using sealskins and/October cheap overshoes.

David

Anyone recommend me good wellies for flats… 😉

@ davidtaylorforth: Who are you to tell ME I can’t ride in them? I CAN and DO, keep your stupid offhand comments to yourself please. I ride in these in winter as they outperform everything else I’ve tried.

I will not buy cheap skater shoes as tried them before and I can feel the pins through the soles. I will not buy cheap walking shoes because they’re not waterproof for long enough.

Maybe inferior products suit your riding style, eh?

Much love, FFS!

Keen targhee 2s mids. A very comfortable boot that walks well and rides well, not waterproof though (whatever the blurb tells you).

The most comfortable lightweight boot I’ve owned, and genuinely good on flat pedals.

@ davidtaylorforth: Who are you to tell ME I can’t ride in them? I CAN and DO, keep your stupid offhand comments to yourself please. I ride in these in winter as they outperform everything else I’ve tried.

I will not buy cheap skater shoes as tried them before and I can feel the pins through the soles. I will not buy cheap walking shoes because they’re not waterproof for long enough.

Maybe inferior products suit your riding style, eh?

Much love, FFS!

Sorry, I was just offering the OP some advice.

But I have never seen anyone else wear big boots for cycling in (apart from the lads in the Hi Viz vests riding Tesco full suspension bikes with flat tyres on the way back from a 12 hour night shift)

Just YTF would you wear scarpas of riding.I do a lot of climbing and walking and have scarpas and zamberlan boots.There way to bulky to be of much use.
Absolutely zero chance of being able to shift you feet around….
Weird…

Something like the Dublin Trekker maybe?

http://www.dublinclothing.co.uk/dublin-trekker-boots.html

Appreciate that they’re technically equestrian boots, but I had a pair of similar but more expensive Ariat Terrains and the sole gripped pretty well on flat pedals on the odd occasion I rode my bike in them, but they were comfortable enough to walk in all day. Not quite as grippy as a full-on hiking boot, but more lightweight, and more than enough for general trail walking.

Gore-Tex North Face Hedgehog trainers work great for me on Superstar Nano pedals.

I want some walking shoes that will do me for flat pedals, walks in the Surrey Hills with the family and for trudging the bike up the hill when inevitably run out of puff.

I think the clues are in the OP.

If both the walking and riding are surrey hills based then I’d presume that the OP doesn’t really need either boots that can climb Everest or win the Rampage.

Just buy some cheep skate shoes if your on a budget, or Vans for £50, or 5.10’s for £60. I’d not try to ride in walking boots, I’ve tried in approach shoes and the grip is crap (pins like a flat sole to dig into, virbam soles dont have that) and the ruibbers far too hard (it’s designed to resist wear, for 100/1000’s of miles, 5.10’s are designed to grip whilst not moving).

Ive got a cheapish pair of Vans for mountain biking but they are seriously crap in the wet as they soak all the water up to the extent you can actually feel the weight of the added water. They are equally crap on walking on anything muddy as they have no grip, it’s like walking on ice. Great grip on the bike when its dry though

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0029LGU0C/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?creative=22110&creativeASIN=B0029LGU0C&linkCode=asn&ref_=asc_df_B0029LGU0C10337549&tag=googlecouk06-21

These. The ‘bumps’ seem to grip flats better than a cut/block sole like on Hedgehogs. After a year the sole around the ball of my foot had worn down to almost flat, making them even better. The grip is still pronounced around the heels, giving plenty of traction for steep, muddy pushes back up.

My 39.99 HiTecs from Go Outdoors work brilliantly on my flats, and stood me in good stead yesterday when I was out for a three-hour ramble with the family.

I have these are they work OK, and are gore-tex, especially now the lugs are worn-down.

I use merrell chameleons – hunt around on ebay – or if you want something lighter and goretexy try inov-8 e.g. these boots got at least one good review in one of the other MTB mags, work great on flats and work great as boots as well. Again, hunt around to find deals.

I used some DMR V12s for a couple of months. They were probably the best pedal I’ve used. BUT they ripped the soles of my £60 fell running shoes to pieces in that time so I gave them up for flats with toe ends.

And I think that is the problem….aggressive flats rip up shoes that have decent walking treads. And flat specific shoes don’t have decent fell walking soles.

For me, the dish in the DMRs put loads of the force in my foot through the outer pins. Always wear through there way before anywhere else.

I use Aldi walking shoes quite satisfactorily but just got a pair of £90 (allegedly) Karrimor walking shoes for £20 in the sale at Go Outdoors and they claim to be waterproof. Make sure to get soles that are thinner than those on trainers.