Cycling Shoes

Choosing the Right Cycling Shoes

Specially designed cycling shoes are a relatively new phenomenon brought about by the ever increasing popularity of cycling around the world. It was not too many years ago that the average shoe store carried maybe half a dozen athletic shoes, now there are whole stores dedicated to nothing but dozens of athletic shoes for a plethora of manufacturers. The same is beginning to happen in the world of cycling as manufacturers all compete to the one who provides the shoes to the world's top racing cyclists.

Once a manufacturer succeeds in being the supplier to the superstar riders it does not take long before the rest of the riding world picks up on this and starts to buy them. Not only is this good for the company, but for those who are buying them. Manufacturers take years to research and craft these custom cycling shoes, with this in mind a good pair of cycling shoes can only help you to ride better and for longer periods of time without sore feet.

Shoes that are made specifically for road racing like Adidas cycling shoes have a very rigid sole that is very smooth and usually has a plate that can be adjusted to sit where your foot rides on the pedal. The sole is generally bent at the ball of the foot; this is to allow for far better power transfer to the pedals. Most road racing shoes have a smooth heelless sole that feature a cleat that attaches the shoes to a clipless pedal, these shoes are not made to walk which may be why you see professional racer taking them off to walk or leaving them attached to their bikes.

If you are looking for cycling shoes for mountain biking, there are specialized shoes for this sport as well. You might look at Shimano shoes; a good mountain biking shoe has a good tread to help you when you have to negotiate trails off your bike. They also feature recessed cleats and studs which are somewhat smaller than road cleats to make it easier to dismount in a hurry and ensure that you do not stay attached to your bike when you need to bail off in a hurry.

Tour cycling requires a shoe that is far more comfortable and multipurpose as the rider will be both riding and walking during the course of his journey. Diadora cycling shoes are designed perfectly for any kind of touring, they feature recessed cleats that are covered by a removable plate and have good rubber sole that has plenty of inner padding for those times when you have to walk your bike or want to hike to see the view.

For those that partake in the relatively new sport/exercise of spinning you need a cross breed type of shoes that is a combination road racing/ touring like those from Lake Cycling Shoes. These shoes are much lighter weight and feature mesh uppers and open heels provide with the support you need while keeping your feet as cool as possible while you are pedaling.

When you are looking at cycling shoes there is more to look at than just what type of riding you plan on doing. If you are buying the cleated type of shoes you need to be aware of the term "Float", this term concerns how much the cleat can move when it is attached to the pedal before it releases. This float is built into the shoes to help prevent knee injuries and can be adjusted from 0 to 6 degrees in most cycling shoes by changing the cleats. Some manufacturers like Crank Brothers make shoes that have a fixed float. As you wear the shoes the cleats will wear changing the amount of float, when it gets to be too much you can simply replace the worn cleats with a new set.

You should also be aware that not all cycling shoe soles are created equal and you will get what you pay for. The budget shoes tend to use injection molded plastic soles which while significantly cheaper to manufacture is also heavy and flexes too much for most cyclists. When you step up to the middle of the road shoes you will find several choices in soles. Some are made from a combination of plastic and carbon, some are plastic and fiber glass and then some are made completely out of carbon fiber. At the top all of competition level shoes have had solid carbon fiber soles for several years.

Choosing a pair of cycling shoes is no easy task and should be based on where you ride, how often you ride, how serious you are about riding and how much money you can afford to spend on a pair of shoes. Choose carefully and make sure you get a pair that fits you properly so that you can enjoy many miles of happy cycling.