George I've used toe clips with slotted cleats for all of over 50 years of riding and was about to make the shift to clipless when an old injury and diagnosis of RA side lined me for over ten years. In 2010 I decided I'd had enough so I gradually eased back into riding by way of spinning. That was when I first noticed I could no longer spin a pedal up with my toe to slide my foot into he toe clip. I bought some SPD shoes and used them for a while having no problem unclipping, since I've always ridden with stiff shoes I bought a pair of Sidis with Look cleats along with Look pedals for my nearly 50 year old bike. The transition from spinning to city riding with clipless pedals was not a pretty sight, more crashes than in the entire time I've spent riding. So for now at least my Sidis and Pearl Izumi's are used for spinning.
As I mentioned in the review, my feet are very lacking in their ability to respond to small motor commands from my brain, I tried just about every variety of pedal until Jim Thill sold me some platforms with friction pins. They worked well with some shoes and barely with others, by the end of the summer it was apparent the shoes were the problem, soft rubber soled shoes worked well until the temperatures dropped and the traction pins could no longer hold the shoe. Additionally, the lack of stiffness in the soft soled shoes would fatigue my feet. When I discovered 5-10s, I was intrigued but held back from making the leap because of price and the shipping hassle. I even tried the MKS urban platforms with double gated toe clips but was unable to find shoes that fit right and despite the long tongue lever on the pedal I still had problems flipping them onto my feet. When I found out about Competitive cycle's "lifetime no questions asked" return policy and talked to them to verify that I could indeed return shoes I had ridden with I ordered the first two pair, the return process was painless. I know Zappos offers a return policy but if you read the fine print to product has to be in pristine condition for them to accept its' return. So I'd suggest going through them to find the right shoe. The shoes I got my hands on were very sturdy and the soles are thick enough that I don't feel pressure on my feet. As to stiffness, the Impact is the stiffest and feels closer to the stiffness you probably experienced with early (late '80s to early '90s)and current road shoes, they would be on par with Sidi Dragons but more walkable because of the rubber sole. I wear an orthotic as well, I always try shoes on with my orthotic because not every shoe will work with them. As I described in the review, the 5-10 Freeriders worked well in a half size larger than normal to add more width and volume ( I normally need an E or EE) the Impacts would definitely have worked in the larger size but they seemed to be over kill for what I needed. As to stiffness, I would say both the Hellcat and the Freerider VXi slightly stiffer than an old pair old Diettos, they do flex when walking but still maintain their stiffness on the pedal, whereas they other Freerider model is more flexible but not as much as a running shoe, at that is what the folks at Comp Cycles told me. I found that between the sturdiness of the the shoe's tongue and customizing my lacing that I can significantly reduce the numbness issue in my right foot...most of the time. The Freeriders I got feel so much like road shoes I find myself thinking I actually have my old Diettos on. Hope this answers your questions, feel free to contact me on or off list if I can help you more. On Tuesday, May 28, 2013 3:34:08 PM UTC-5, George Schick wrote: > > Thanks for posting this as well as the link to your detailed testing of > the shoes. I've been mulling the idea of 5-10's recently and have > eyeballed the various models on-line. But they seem to be primarily a > West/NW part of the country phenomenon because I don't see them offered > anyplace in the Midwest much. I'm always leery of buying shoes, in > particular, via mail order because sizes and fitting can be a very finicky > thing and I envision a flurry of back-and-forth shipping until everything > is right. So I like your description of how the toe and heel fit vs. your > size. > > Also, there's this: I've been doing serious cycling for about 40 years > now, beginning with the old toe clip & strap w/ cleated shoes, evolving to > Look style clipless in the early 90's, to SPD clipless in the last decade > and finally platform pedals and running shoes in the last 3-4 years. This > is because of three things: 1) gradually increasing discomfort with > retention-based shoes due to their thin, thin inserts (and their inability > to accommodate orthotics, which I wear), 2) the apparent inability of the > cycling industry to recognize that anyone in the world has anything but > narrow feet (my final go-around with Shimano's SPD "mountain" shoes were a > disaster in this regard - I usually wear size 9 or 9 1/2 in "D" width), and > 3) increasing problems with cramping and foot numbness with any type of > "cycling" shoe. > > However, even though the platform pedals took care of most of these > issues, the running shoes do not, necessarily. When I'm standing up on a > hill climb I feel like my foot is being wrapped around the pedal axle. I > need something with a stiffer sole, like the cycling shoes but without > their other drawbacks. So, my question is/was just how stiff some of these > 5-10's are in that regard. The Freerider was one that I was considering > the most. But they have two models; the standard Freerider and that VXi > you bought. The former is about $20 cheaper, but does not have the same > smooth contact area on the sole bottom as does the VXi. Would it still > work as well? Also, how stiff are these in relative terms? Are they > similar to a cycling shoe? I wouldn't want to go through the trouble to > get a pair and wind up back where I am now with the running shoes. > > Finally, where to buy? Since they'd have to mail ordered, Zappo's seems > to have the best selection and return policy of the on-line retailers. > Would you agree? Where did you buy yours? > > Again, thanks for posting and your attention to my questions. > > George > > > > On Tuesday, May 28, 2013 12:29:55 PM UTC-5, bwphoto wrote: >> >> I've been testing 5-10 shoes in the process of making a better connection >> between my feet and the pedals. After testing three I settled on the new >> Freerider VXi, I just posted a review of the shoes I tested and the >> performance of the Stealth soles., Here's the link: >> http://www.ridingsteel.com/getting-sticky-with-shoes/2013/05/ >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
