I’m going on a touring holiday next month for a fortnight, cycling the euro velo 6 accross France.

Normally I tide in spd’s with a soft sole, (last pair discontinued dhb ones) so I can walk easily off the bike. My last pair of shoes have died.

Options seem to be either thesethese

Or going over to flats and using a pair of trainers / approach shoes.

Looking to be doing up to a max of 80km a day, easy riding with plenty of mooching about / visiting vin yards & markets / off the bike stuff.

Whilst the route is flat, we are camping it up so carring a fair weight, of which I will be hauling the majority of it

been using 5-10 flats for the last 5 or so years, but for some reason my feet started to feel like they were rolling off the pedals.
so I bought some wide shimano spd shoes, just done 3k miles on them as of today. they feel pretty good. ok for walking, even in slippy French toilets last month whilst touring in Brittany.

I use SPD touring shoes (some Shimano model) and take a set of sandals or Crocs strapped to the outside of a bag for mooching about. If your riding shoes get wet then walking around in them at night isn’t pleasant, not a huge weight penalty.

I use the XT trekking pedals with some mtb “trainer” shoes.

light, dual sided and work in all situations.

Same as above xt touring pedals and spd touring shoes (old fashioned leather types for up a company up north) and have a pair of slip on vans plimsolls for walking round in

I’ve used the older version of those shoes for a while.

99% fine, the odd comedy slip on tiled floors but mostly OK.
Get worse as the sole wears down.

Fine for walking, even the odd scramble if you take the cleat off.
🙂

Comfy for me up to about 60 miles, then the soles of my feet start to get a bit of a hotspot.
Use M520 pedals, which have no supportive cage or platform.

Much prefer flats tbh, comfier and more convenient.
I seem to be slower though and run out of energy quicker, so stick to SPD’s if I’m not just pottering locally.

Going to try those double sided Shimano Touring pedals at some point, but not sure I still have the patience to flip pedals the right way up everytime I go for a ride.

Whilst not in the same vein of touring as you (a lot of my stuff is off-road) I use my SWorks CX racing shoes and take a pair of Birkenstocks with me.
I like the feel of the “pull” clipped in see.

Sounds like a great ride, if poss post pics.

I find CB Candys excellent for touring as the wee bit of platform lets you away with a less stiff sole. Double-sided too. I used Shimano A520s for a while and they’re fine if not repeatedly having to clip in (e.g. in traffic)

Going to try those double sided Shimano Touring pedals at some point, but not sure I still have the patience to flip pedals the right way up everytime I go for a ride.

I don’t even notice, they are set to naturally rotate to 45 degrees on the axis and for flats you put your feet straight on top of the pedals and for the cleat you move the shoe in from behind and they roll over and clip straight in.

Flats with approach shoes here (stiffer soled ones). Resolved with 5-10 rubber as required by Cheshire Shoe Repairs. Flip flops for showers. Why carry other spares you don’t need especially when they add at least a pound in weight and take up space too.

re-soled, damned auto correct

Just got back from my 3rd tour, used trainer style Shimano mtb shoes I bought in 2003 and Shimano A600 pedals, work well for me.

I use a pair of these slighty orthopaedic looking Btwin trainer type SPD shoes for general MTBing…

They’re quite good for the price and easier to walk in than most of my other cycling shoes…

Thanks for the tips boys & girls. Will get myself some new SPD shoes- good tip on the decathlon. I was planning on heading there for some bits and bobs and they sell both the shimano offerings and their own version for a back to back test.

I never tour clipped in.
Why? Well, I might be in the monority here, but it’s not a race. So I don’t need the extra tiny bit of efficiency. Also, it’s another pair of shoes to carry, and even a hybrid clip/flat pedal isn’t very good with normal shoes, so every time you get on the bike you’ve got to put cycling shoes on, which I don’t nhave cessation want to do.
And when I get off the bike, which is often, I don’t look like a cyclist.
Mostly these days I ride in sandals of some sort too. Much nicer.
I’m using Saint pedals. I wanted a nice reliable flat pedal and Saints are repairable and adjustable, and not too much grip from huge pins. Don’t need masses of grip bumbling around and huge pins ruin your shoes.
I’ve now done 2 tours where I haven’t even taken a helmet and on the last one, I only wore cycling shorts for 40 out of 200 miles (one day out of 9) and I took my flat pedal shoes and never even put them on once…..