To be honest, having owned both the “disco slippers” style are generally better at everything apart from walking as they’re just built to be stiff, and don’t have much tread. The upside is they’re very comfy on the bike, the stiff sole stops the ball of your foot going numb from the pressure of pedaling through it by spreading the load over the whole foot, and the uppers are well vented to let the heat out.
So that’s where I’d draw the line, not so much on looks, if you plan to push up hills get the ‘trainer’ style shoes with slightly flexible rubber soles. If you want to ride all day, get XC shoes.
I’ve got the old MP66’s which are the ancestor of those AM5’s, and to be honest they’re just hot and heavy in comparison.
What does work reasonably well are the touring shoes (Shimano MT series). Enough give in the soles for pushing / carrying up hill, enough rubber on the soles for grip, discreet uppers, not too hot. Or the cheaper end of the XC shoes tend not to be so stiff and come in more subdued colors (like the ones Ton posted).
