Van Rysel cycle shoes

You can "name names" - and given that Van Rysel are an in-house brand of Decathlon and not sold anywhere else, avoiding the "D" word doesn't make any difference 

I've never used Van Rysel shoes but I have friends who do and they look pretty good. These might not be the exact shoes you are looking at but presumably pretty similar and road.cc's reviewer liked them a lot: https://road.cc/content/review/264358-van-rysel-rr-900-carbon-road-cycli...

That said, fit is important and people have different feet. What is comfortable for one person might not fit someone else well. 

Regarding advice for the transition to clipless: set the release resistance on your pedals to the lowest setting to begin with. Practice in a safe, controlled environment before going out on a proper ride. Practice unclippling on both sides (most people naturally find one side easier than the other). 

Van Rysel gear is almost always good. If the ones I just looked at (£69.99 at Decathlon? Yes you can name names!) are the ones you're looking at, they are compatible with both SPD and SPD-SL cleats. I'd say (but it may be controversial!) go with SPD (mountain bike style) cleats and pedals, I used to have separate shoes and cleats for MTB, hybrid and road bike but I now have them all SPD as:

- Easier to walk in;

- Easier to swap shoes between bikes, e.g. in winter I often use my SIDI boots for both commuting and training;

- Much easier to clip into as they're double sided;

- Cleats last almost forever, I've yet to wear a pair out before the shoes wore out - that was the clincher for me, riding a lot in the stop-start of London traffic I found I was replacing SPD-SL cleats about once every six weeks, and at £15 a pair it seemed an unnecessary expense.

Against this you have to set the fact that SPD-SL cleats and pedals are slightly lighter and stiffer, I find I can live with a few extra grams and I don't really notice any difference in power transmission between the two types, probably would if I was  sprinting but I don't, much.

They are good shoes by all accounts!

As for tips.. mine would be to practise clipping in and out on grass before you get on the roads. 

.. and expect to fall over at a set of lights at some point.. we've all done it, it's the embarrasment factor which hurts the most.

The big thing is fit. All the rest is optional. Many cycling shoes are really narrow - I have some older BTwin shoes that were too narrow and have caused ongoing foot pain. In my view (and it could be just me) width is far more important than length - my comfiest shoes are a size too long and it makes zero difference on the bike.

If you like the Van Rysel shoes and can get to a Decathlon shop, you can try them on. Getting the right arch support is also important. Insoles can be added but after market insoles are a high proportion of the cost of normal shoes.

My route to happier feet was to research which showed would be about the right width and then buy on eBay, so I could afford to make some mistakes. I actually sold my mistakes on at a profit (amazing what a really good clean and some good photos can do).

Just my tuppence, but carbon soles are unnecessary as the nylon/grp ones are stiff enough. I know many people love dial closures but velcro is more convenient for me (I have experience of both). I don't care about vents in summer and tape over them for winter (and forget to remove the tape in spring).

Look or SPD SL road cleats look cool but 2 bolt SPD cleats are cheap, last for ages and you can get shoes that make walking a lot easier.

When you get the shoes and pedals, try to mount the cleats in a neutral position. The bolts need to be tight, or twisting to unclip will just move the cleat on the shoe. Some bolts are very soft. Worth greasing the threads before winter.

Practise unclipping in the kitchen (worktop height is great to stop you falling) or on a turbo trainer if you have one. When you do your first ride, take the tool you need for adjusting the cleats and tweak if you get any knee discomfort or it just feels unnatural.

When you're happy with the cleat position, it's worth marking it on the shoes so you can replace the cleats when they wear out.

Hope this is useful.

Have a read of this - https://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/spd-sl-v-spd-how-choose-best-cliple...

I use Shimano Click'r pedals, which are easy to clip in and out of. That would be a good place to start if you've never used clipless pedals.