“As long as it doesn’t fall off my feet or get caught in the pedals,” said Emilia Petrarca, a 21-year-old Vassar senior, cycling through Lower Manhattan to her internship at The Daily Beast, wearing black mesh sandals with ankle straps from Loeffler Randall. “Espadrilles are O.K., like wrapped around my ankle. Definitely it helps to have ankle straps.”

For men, meanwhile, it seems a good biking shoe is one that is also a good walking shoe.

Nicolas Cheung, 22, on his way from 47th Street to Fulton Street to visit a friend (“20 minutes,” he boasted), chose high-top sneakers bearing a Lacoste crocodile label. “This bicycle is really hard to ride,” he said, explaining his preference for athletic shoes while wrestling the blue bike. “It works your muscles. It’s really heavy.”

Cruising down Allen Street to his job at a nonprofit housing organization, white curls and beard blowing in the draft, Andrew Reicher, 62, was wearing Keen hiking boots, which adapted nicely, he said, from walking to biking.

Hadley Harris, 36, a venture capitalist for mobile technology start-ups, upgraded from sneakers to dress shoes after a few spins on the bike. Mr. Harris rides from his apartment near Cafe Gitane to his office in Union Square and back. On one day recently, he was wearing gray suede shoes from Camper, the Mallorcan shoe label, harmonized with a white linen shirt and jeans. “No problem,” Mr. Harris said. “I think sandals would be fine too, other than a Havaiana,” a popular flip-flop brand. “Like a Tom’s,” he added.

Through word of mouth, some cyclists have found their way to artisanal shoe shops, like Shoe, at 247 Mulberry Street, or No. 6, near the old police building at Centre Market Place. At Shoe, the proprietor, Leila Mae Makdissi, said the Cydwoq brand leather shoes, handmade in California, are designed for walking. But customers have discovered that the steel shank and rubber traction are good for bike riding, too. “Our customer is urban, urban, urban,” Ms. Makdissi said.