Shimano SH-MT40 Mountain Bike Shoes

Today Danielle and I headed out to some bike shops attempting to find other places which would have the Electra Townie she wants. We didn’t have much luck, but did end up at REI, where a bunch of stuff was on clearance. I ended up getting that pair of bike shoes seen there for $54.93.

See, I normally wear boots. For the last 12 years or so, my standard shoes have been issue US military combat boots. They are comfortable, wear very well, and (now) are rather padded with cloth uppers and Gore-Tex lining. While I’ve been wearing them for biking, they really aren’t the best choice, so I had hoped to get some running or trail shoes. When at REI I decided to try on some bike shoes and ended up deciding to (eventually) purchase a pair of these Keen bike sandals. While wandering around and getting ready to leave I ended up coming across these Shimano SH-MT40 shoes in a size which fits me (12.5, of all things) at a rather nice discount.

It’s a bit odd to me to be wearing normal shoes, especially biking ones, but they seem pretty nice. They are snugly comfortable width-wise with the (expectedly) very solid sole, with mounting for cleats. I’m tempted to get some manner of pedal / cleat setup for it, but I’m not quite sure what I want yet. Shimano makes a nice looking platform / clip in combination pedal which I think would work well for my type of casual use. There’s also the reasonably priced Crank Bros. Eggbeaters at the other end of the spectrum, but I’m not sure about those either. If any of you have suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

I also ended up picking up a pair of Ergon GP1-L handgrips. After playing with these a few months back I’d been wanting them, and as expected they are really comfortable. I went for a short ride around the neighborhood after installing them and it’s just simply a lot more comfortable than using normal soft rubber grips. Here is a photo of those grips on my bike, without the endcaps fitted.