She’ll be riding flats cos I figure a fall while stuck to the pedals will knock her fledgling confidence.

FiveTen’s are the obvious choice but is there anything that doesn’t look gopping but isn’t quite so expensive?

Does she already own some walking shoes? Merrell, that sort of thing? If so, use those.

Don’t go silly on spending money on stuff yet. With beginners, getting them to enjoy it is more important than making them look good. She won’t feel much, or any, of the benefits of a “proper” flat pedal shoe.

She doesn’t even have a pair of trainers!

See if you can find a pair of the cheap canvass 5:10’s. Look slightly less ott than most of the 5:10 line. Pick my lady a pair for about £25.

Ah…! I see!

Well, in that case, to your nearest outdoor shop for a pair of approach/walking shoes. She’ll get more use out of them than just on the bike, and they’re a less “look at me! I’m a cyclist!” option.

I just think that getting her enjoying it is more important than kitting her out. Of course, she’ll need a full carbon 650b bouncy bike with remote dropper, Di2, tubeless and so on, but shoes….

🙂

Vans? You can normally get a pair for £25-30 in the sales.

Vans or dc skate shoes should be fine.
Next level up is the specialized 2fo.
The bike companies really should think about women’s gear more though. There wasn’t a lot of choice when my wife was looking for shoes

Yep as above, take a look in your local TK Maxx for a cheap pair of skate shoes. I wear Converse all the time, only reverting to ‘proper’ flat pedal shoes when the going gets super muddy or I know there’ll be a lot of pushing involved 😳 . With summer stocks coming in there’ll be plenty of Converse-a-likes available which should be plenty grippy enough for dry rides . . . remember them? 😆

Thanks, I’ll drag her to TK Maxx on the weekend.

I’d look for some of the 5.10 approach shoes. Still with stealth rubber soles but useable for a lot more activities. I really like my Guide Tennies – there are often last years versions available at discount.