Shoes are one of those things that everyone says you don’t need to ride a bike, but once you’ve tried them you won’t want to ride without them. Cycling shoes are designed to work the high tech pedals that are found on modern bikes so you might not have the same success wearing cycling shoes on your old Schwinn as  you would wearing them on a state of the art titanium frame racing bike.  There are four main kinds of cycling shoes that are made specifically for different types of biking including racing, touring, off-road biking, and spinning.

Road cycling shoes are the most common and are easy to find.  If you are planning on training for competition or just riding a few miles on your bike each day on the road you might want to invest in road cycling shoes. Road cycling shoes have a rigid, smooth, and very inflexible sole that is bent at the ball of the foot.  These designs helps keep a rider’s food on the bike pedal and helps the energy of the rider’s foot go into the pedal more efficiently. Road cycling shoes have a protrusion at the toe that a rider can use to clip their foot onto a pedal if they use standard bike clips.  Not all riders use clips.

When looking at road biking shoes remember that the lighter the shoe and the more rigid it is the higher quality it is. You will not be able to walk in road cycling shoes so make sure that you have a pair of sneakers with you and take the biking shoes off as soon as you’re done.

Touring biking shoes are a good option for anyone who needs to be able to walk and bike in their cycling shoes.  Touring shoes are less rigid than road cycling shoes and have both cleats and a recessed toe so that a rider can walk and ride in them. When you’re just starting out biking or if you are a casual biker and not a competitive biker but you still want the benefits of cycling shoes then touring shoes would be a good choice for you.

Mountain biking shoes are small and light, but much sturdier than other types of shoes. Instead of having treads on the bottom sole mountain biking shoes have heavy studs that will riders negotiate all different types of terrain.  Mountain biking shoes should be waterproof and sturdy so when trying on mountain biking shoes make sure that you can stand and walk in them comfortably in case you ever need to walk your way out of the woods or another remote area if your bike breaks or is damaged when you’re out in the middle of nowhere.  Carrying a pair of hiking boots in a backpack with a first aid kit and water is a very good idea when you’re going out mountain biking.

Spinning shoes are relatively new in the world of cycling shoes and were developed to help serious spinning devotees do better in spinning classes. Many professional spinning instructors will wear spinning shoes when they are teaching. Spinning shoes are a combination of touring and road cycling shoes designed to be worn in an indoor spinning class. Spinning shoes are made from material that is much lighter than traditional road or touring shoes. When considering which spinning shoe to buy look for one that breathes well and will be comfortable and cool.