Guide to Cycling Shoes

Below is our Cycle Shoes quick guide explaining the differences between the main styles of cycling shoes.

It goes without saying that choosing your cycle shoes is hugely important.  Your feet and therefore the shoes that you choose, are a main point of contact with your bike.  Any cyclist knows that grip on the pedals is important for control and stability on the bike as well as efficient power transfer.  Furthermore, having comfortable shoes is essential for any sportsman.

Competition And Performance Shoes

On or off-road cycle shoes have one main thing in common, a rigid sole. A stiff sole will optimise the amount of power that makes it from your body into pushing the pedals. Competition shoes often have Velcro bindings or ski type bindings to give a tight even fit and prevent any loose laces catching in your chainset. Carbon is an increasingly popular sole material as it offers unrivalled stiffness and is also relatively weightless.

Road Shoes

Road shoes have no grip on their soles and are not designed for walking. They will keep your foot as close to the pedal axle as possible for maximum efficiency. Different manufacturers make the soles of their road shoes compatible with different clipless pedal systems, but most will take the leading formats from popular brands.

Mountain Bike Shoes

Mountain Bike shoes – even performance shoes – feature a recessed cleat and solid aggressive sole for the times when you may have to get off and run.

Leisure Shoes

Leisure shoes are much less stiff and are therefore more comfortable to walk in. Recessed cleats and normal soles make them ideal for commuting. With cleats and stiffer soles they are better than ordinary fashion shoes but without being exclusively for use on the bike. Most leisure shoes look like ordinary shoes or trainers and would be perfectly respectable down your local without screaming cyclist.  A budget option as the shoes are multi-purpose!

You should look out for shoes with Velcro or at the least straps to hold laces away from your chain. For those who favour flat pedals there is a wide range of stiff-soled chunky shoes specifically designed to stick to flats and give control without the clipless system.

As with clothing, women have a whole range of female specific shoes to choose from; these are generally built around a narrower last with tighter heel cup to fit women’s slimmer foot profile.  Women’s feet are different so try to resist the temptation to make do with a shoe borrowed from a friend or partner.

Triathlon Shoes

Shoes designed for triathlon purposes are based on a road racing shoe, offering a super stiff sole for ultimate power transfer, a comfortable secure fit, as well as a lightweight and well vented build. In addition to these features, for triathlon, shoes need to be quick and simple to remove during the transition. Shoes with Velcro bindings or quick release fittings will get you off your bike and hitting the ground running – naturally all leading Triathlon shoe brands build with this in mind.

We hope that this is helpful.  We do recommend that you use the reputable and trusted suppliers recommended throughout our website.