Which decent casual SPD shoes? Dzr, Chrome, Quoc Pham, etc

to be fair, looking back I got mine back in april 2014, and have used them pretty much for every bit of casual cycling since then, so approx three years. And despite the sole snapping (it feels to me like I've got a stone stuck in the cleat area, which is annoying at times when starting off, but you get used after a while as you pedal), I'll continue to use them for the foreseeable..

Maybe ping quoc an email asking if this issue has been addressed in the latest incarnation of the shoe..

My other vote would be for the DZR H20's which I also loved, and are a similar price.. But many have been disappointed with the QC on DZR shoes, so swings and roundabouts...

I emailed the link to my gf and then found a single pair of dzr concubine in my size on clearance for £45 so now i'll be getting two pairs of new spd shoes by the looks of it. at least this way I can worry less about leaving a pair at work if my plans change at all.

Anything as cheap as Giro Rumble thats also as good?

I have used Shimano MT34 for past few years so will try out new MT54. Different style to Rumble, but MT34 super comfy and you would never think they are SPD shoes. I did replace shoe laces with similar type MT54 have so time ago and it's nice feature I would have to say. MT54 you can find around £65 delivered.

GB Cycles lost my DZR concubines in between getting ready to post them and posting them so should see a refund.

luckily the hardcourt lows I asked for from the missus for my birthday did arrive. very impressed. they feel a tad elongated at the toe (which seems to have the usual amount of toe gap) partly because the spd recess seems about 2cm too far back, wonder if that's to do with why they sometimes snap.

either way, managed one ride in them before being soaked to the bone on tuesday morning and now they're covered in road filth so their pristine condition didn't last very long but i can feel less precious about them already I suppose and just ride.

DZR concubines

what?! =D =D =D

Any recommendations for every day use SPD shoes, decent for a bit of walking and more than less waterproof? I'm joining forces of deliveroo Berlin so voice of bike messengers, filthy deliveroo riders would be best.

So, after both pairs of my Quoc Pham hardcourts snapped, I have a follow up to the brief 'unimpressed' reaction to the Chrome leather spd workboots I replaced them with.
In a word... SHIT!
As soon as I got them I hated that the cleat recess was really shallow... Not good for an atac user. I was basically getting through a set of cleats every 5-6 weeks from them grinding on the ground.
They also took a fair bit of breaking in, with a couple of places being really painful for a few weeks due to the meeting points of different bits of leather.
Talking about the leather... Not great quality at all in my opinion. At least not if you have to wear them in all weather's.
Next, after a few months, the rubber sole started to come away from the rigid plastic midsole... On all sides of the cleat recess...on both shoes.
Couple of months later the rubber outsole started coming away from the leather upper.
Now the whole toe area of the rubber outsole has come completely away from the leather upper so you can literally get your finger right inside the shoe both above and below the plastic midsole.
Finally, the left plastic midsole has snapped across the toe area. Diagonally, all the way across.
So basically after about ten months use, they're completely fucked... And were heading that way after only a few months use.

I'm not even bothering getting back to Chrome given that they took so long to get back to me when I tried to return the first pair which were too big that I had to sell them at a loss and buy a new pair because I couldn't wait any longer.
I've lost all faith in the company where their footwear is concerned.

I would actually go as far as to say that the workboots are the worst pair of shoes I have ever owned.
At least the quoc phams were really comfortable and the boots themselves were nicely made.

I'm now hoping that quoc Pham has finally updated and improved the Hardcourt boot so that I can go back to them again.

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Not exactly casual, but has anyone seen anywhere (online or in-store) that has the new Shimano RT4 in the 'Grey Melange' colour?

Did you send them back? I snapped two sets of chrome shoes in quick succession and chrome US gave me a buttload of vouchers (that I used for a bag). Was a few years ago mind...

I can't even be bothered to.
Next plan is to convert a pair of O.W.N FR-01's into spd. :)

y tho

Y what?

In my experience 50% of chrome shoes are like this. Since there is a one year warranty my purchasing pattern over the past four years has been this without fail: get a pair, they start to fall apart almost immediately, I wear them until they really come undone (usually three months), use warranty to get a brand new pair, these hold up for a year or longer in which case I buy another pair. If the initial pair are fine I still turn them in after 11 months to get another pair and then this pair inevitably goes to shit within three months. /csb They just have no quality control.

y would you drill holes in the most flat-pedal-specific, expensivest shoes going?

And as far as "casual shoes" go, I wouldn't want to be seen dead off the bike in them. Coming from someone who owns a pair...

They're only flat pedal specific because they don't have an spd cut-out. They have front and rear tread sections, so with an spd cut-out the sole is a perfect casual spd sole. The upper boot is great. And visually I really like the look of them... Especially the all black version. I'll be converting my black and white ones first though. :)

Also, price wise, even at full price, they're no more expensive than quoc pham Hardcourt or chrome pro work boots.
That said, they're no more expensive than the majority of top end cycling shoes full stop.

Also, given that most casual spd shoes have basically the same 'flat pedal specific' style sole as the FR-01's, why do you think they'd be such a bad choice?

Because, as this thread evidences, most of those casual spd shoes are a bit shit and break readily?

But that's the fault of those individual shoes....the quality of the shoe itself, strength of the cleat mounting section etc...they don't break and fall apart just because they have flat soles.

I'm not just going to screw a cleat directly to the bottom of the rubber sole on some FR-01's and go riding. :)
I'll be converting them properly. Maybe they'll be awesome...maybe they'll be shit, but there's only one way to find out!
But essentially they'll end up not dissimilar to a quoc pham hardcourt, but hopefully without the snapping. And as the cleat mount section will be replaceable, so long as the rubber sole itself doesn't snap, I can just replace the cleat mounting section.
All just theory of course...but we'll see how it goes. :)

Been tempted by these for a while as touring/casual shoes. The other colours looked more water resistant (seen the other grey ones in a shop before).

Yeah but grey faux leather is just wank. Much prefer the fabric-esque look.

I looked really closely at them and the Giro Republic when I wore out my last pair of RT82s. The RT4 has the same problem - you wear down the walking blocks and then you're walking on the cleat all the time. I went with the Giro in the end because of the replaceable walking blocks. Plus they fitted more nicely.

Not sure how "casual" people would class these but at £28 I've gone for it:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/dhb-dorica-mtb-shoe-2018/rp-prod164174

Bargain.

retrofitz

Not sure if these have been mentioned here before. Look reasonably nifty other than that there's no sole rigidity other that what the shoes provide but might be good for casuals.