Recommendations for street-normal/civilian lace-up shoe good for clips + straps + quill pedal

[Patrick Moore]

I’m very tempted to bypass my fave SPDs and try the wonderful XC Pros I have had stashed away for a couple of years. I’d use these pedals with clips and semi-tight (just loose enough to allow shoe entry without loosening the straps, and to allow panic pull-outs ditto, but tight enough to allow pulling up while pedaling; this worked well for me before with RX-1s).

But I need some good lace-up shoes. I’d like to get a pair of laceup shoes that look normal for civilian street wear, allow comfortable short-distance walking, and that will readily slip into semitight straps. Right now, I have my usuall boat shoe and loafer slip-ons for casual riding, and I’ve got a very nice pair of Duegis for full-on retro slotted cleat riding, but those aside, only hi-zoot Allen Edmonds and J&M dress shoes with leather soles, and penny loafers and boat shoes. The boat shoes are great for casual riding, but I’ve yanked my feet out of  boat shoes when torquing fixed gears up hills. I want sturdy but semi-dress lace-ups.

Can anyone recommend a laceup Friday-casual dress shoe with the following features:

LEATHER!

Leather lining or none; no cloth.

Replaceable sole and heel.

Smooth but durable rubber sole and heel —no lugs, which would interfere with entry and exit.

Comfortable for 2-3 mile walks on smoothish dirt or gravel.

Don’t look like hiking kit; look good with casual dress pressed khakis — ankle boot fine if meets other criteria.

Lacing that let you control fit with some precision.

Overall, I’m looking for a street shoe and not a hiking shoe, and one that is not molded and glued out of plastic. I have a pair of molded and glued plastic hiking shoes and they're very nice for walking in, but I want a street shoe good for walking and cycling.

Prefer brown; accept black.

In case relevant, I wear medium weight wool socks.

In case it matters, I wear sizes 10 to 11 depending on shoe.

Thanks.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

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[Mitch Harris]

My shoe for lots of riding in clips and straps (or flats) is an chukka boot sometimes called desert boot. You probably know them well from your youth, where I think Peter M. said he grew up wearing the made in Kenya Safari brand. Over a lot of years I've used various versions of the suede no-lining chukka boot: Dunhams, Clarks, Chippewa, Cole Han, Wolverine... Most recently Clarks but after Peter mentioned the Kenya made Safari boot, I found some in my size and they are the best. They have the best look I think, but the Clarks are a good copy, and more easily available. Current Clarks come with soles that work well for cycling and are replaceable. The more traditional crepe soles are replaceable by cobblers, but I usually replace with a low profile Vibram sole, and I have found these low profile lugs do not interfere at all with entry or exit from quill or track cages under toeclips and straps. Safari offered their chukkas in crepe but changed to a Vibram style sole--I have both versions of their sole and both work well for cycling in clip/strap pedals. I use them in the hot dry summer conditions where I am, and they stay cooler in the heat than say an Adidas Samba, but they work year around except where wet conditions would damage the suede. People vary on style, and I live in a notoriously casually dressed culture, but for me these dress up well with khakis or some dress trousers, but they also look right with shorts. I've found almost no other mens shoe that looks right with both dress trousers and shorts. Maybe Blundstones--they are ok with shorts but are less ok with dress trousers. Blundstones also work well for cycling but the sole is thicker than I prefer for cycling. The chukka are the most versatile shoe I've used that also work for cycling. 

I have found Chukkas stiff enough for quills/track cages, but that might be their weakness as a cycling shoe, perhaps especially for a masher riding big fixed gears up hills as you enjoy. When I've been dissatisfied with them for this reason, I've used the SVB leather cycling shoe with treaded sole, and they are stiffer on the cage edge, but less comfortable for walking, and less sartorially versatile. --Mitch Harris in the Utah Wasatch 

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[Lucia Matioli]

Hey folks. 

I think these are fairly dandy. 
I am still waiting for the leather issue of these-BUT they make an spd compatible, so you can walk as well as ride. 

https://stomplox.com/

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