Protect your feet: Best road bike shoes for men

All road bike shoes are not created equal. Depending on what you're looking for, they can range from the fairly simple (and therefore less expensive) to the most technologically advanced, and it all depends on what you're willing to invest.

If you're a beginner or more casual cyclist, you don't really need to go high-end necessarily. If, however, you spend time on your bike pretty much every day, the shoe you buy ends up being incredibly important.

Like the shoes themselves, not all manufacturers are created equal.

Sidi
The best-selling and most popular bike shoe on the planet, the Sidi Genius 5 leads the pack. You should be able to get last year's model for under $150, especially if you shop online, but if you want the latest and greatest, expect to pay upwards of $250 for a pair. The Genius 5 features water-repellent Lorica, which also allows for a more breathable shoe.

The company also makes the high-end Ergo 2, which they claim is the most technologically-advanced shoe on the market. It retails for upwards of $450.

Shimano
One of the reviewers for the LiveStrong Foundation endorsed this year's Shimano SH-R132 road bike shoe, which retails online starting at around $120, although it's easy to find sites that charge upwards of $150 for the same model. The shoe apparently is a heavyweight, though, so only the hardcore cyclist will want to jump for this one.

Dromarti
The folks at Bicycling magazine are big fans of this company's Eroica Nero model, which is due to make its debut for 2011 this month. A simple aesthetic and adjustable fit are hallmarks of this shoe, which is made of old-fashioned leather to boot.

Dromarti set a starting price of $210 for this shoe, but you may be able to find them for less if you shop around.

Pearl iZumi
Customers at Best Bike Apparel are in love with this company's Men's Select Road Road Cycling Shoe, which retails starting at around $80 pretty reliably. People seem to enjoy the look of this shoe a great deal, with its white and silver motif, and many informal reviews mention the shoe's comfort right out of the box.

Good for the casual to moderate cyclist.

Specialized
The S-Works Road Shoe seems to have gotten high marks from just about everybody who has reviewed the 2011 redesign. Definitely a high-end shoe, these retail anywhere from $300 to $350 and sometimes more. The shoes feature two dials that allow you to adjust fit at both the arch and the ankle, and are made of Micromatrix on top and carbon fiber on the bottom.

Specialized claims that this is the lightest shoe on the market.