Clipless or All-Terrain? Choosing the Right Mountain Bike Shoe
There are two basic types of mountain bike shoes: clipless and all-terrain. How do you decide which is best for your riding style? Clipless mountain bike shoes have built-in clips that attach to clipless pedals on a mountain bike, while all-terrain shoes are normal shoes used with normal pedals (not with clipless pedals).
Clipless mountain bike shoes offer two strong advantages over all-terrain shoes. First, the rigid soles of clipless shoes spread the cycling pressure over your entire foot in contrast to the small pedal area of conventional all-terrain shoes. In essence, your entire foot becomes the pedal.
The second advantage of clipless mountain bike shoes is that once you are clipped in, you can pull upward as well as push downward during your pedaling cycle. With all-terrain mountain bike shoes, there is nothing that holds your foot to the pedal on the upstroke allowing you to pull the pedal up. This technique, called "spinning" is probably the single most effective way to enhance your riding skills.
However, there are disadvantages to clipless mountain bike shoes. To begin with, they are not very comfortable when walking. Because of the rigid soles, the shoes are stiff and hard, making it hard to flex your feet. The clipless system is also harder to release from when you want to get off your bike.
This leads to one of the primary advantages of all-terrain mountain bike shoes; they offer the rider the convenience of being able to just hop off of the bike while you have to "clip-out" of clipless shoes. They are also comfortable for walking if you are going to be combining walking with biking.
When you go out to purchase mountain bike shoes, assess your needs. Are you a recreational rider that doesn't need the performance enhancing features of clipless mountain bike shoes, or are you someone who's looking to be a serious rider and wants the maximum possible performance from your shoes?
Other considerations when selecting mountain bike shoes include the pedal you will be using, because clipless shoes need to match the bike's pedal to be effective. If you are using all-terrain mountain bike shoes with a strap system, make sure the shoe fits well with the strapping system. Finally, mountain bike shoes should fit a little snugger than regular shoes, but still be comfortable.
Depending on the type of rider you are, there are different mountain bike shoes that are right for you. You may want to consider a pair of each to meet your different needs, although you will also need change pedals depending on which shoes you'll be riding in.
