# SPD shoes with flat pedals.



## Shinkers (Feb 5, 2014)

Hey,

So I ride flats religiously and have no plans to go back to clipless pedals in the foreseeable future. I have ridden 5.10 Impacts pretty much exclusively. 

That said, I'm looking to change it up a bit. One thing that I do like about clipless shoes is the stiffness of the sole. I'm a singlespeeder, and having a stiffer sole would be nice. Even stiffer than the impacts. 

So something I'm considering is using an SPD type shoe, and leaving the tread plug that they usually come with in. Something like the Pearl Izumi alp shoes actually have the plug bolted on. 

Another option would be to try a cheaper skate type shoe, and running a stiff insole to see what I think. 

Thoughts?

Thanks.


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## Lone Rager (Dec 13, 2013)

I noticed that a lot of those bolt in plugs are hard plastic, so I suspect the plug itself won't engage the pedal pins very well. IDK how that might affect your riding. 

That said, I rode 510 Kestrels for a while with cleats installed and they worked pretty well with flats as far as engagement goes, but the soles were so stiff I couldn't really feel the location of the pedal under my foot. Also, they didn't work well walking the bike as there was no toe flex and heel retention was poor. 

Personally, I prefer flat pedal shoes with enough flex under the ball of the foot that I can feel how my foot is situated on the pedal.


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## minimusprime (May 26, 2009)

Try the 510 free ride contacts. I ride spd’s mostly but use flats at bike parks. The 510 free ride contacts are just as stiff as my Shimano sh200s and my carbon sole XC racing shoes.


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