79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 08/15/2022 10:02 PM |
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I'm close to pulling the trigger on pair of Lake CX238s. More than twice what I've ever spent on cycling shoes. To put the traditional Exustar slotted track cleats on with a 1/4" plate aluminum shim for my shorter right leg. To ride Cycle Oregon fix gear yet again. (The Lakes they will be replacing are $100 plastic soled jobs that did my first 5 fix gear weeks. Tired.)
So, double sided push/pull BOAs. (CK, I have no idea what I'm getting!) (If they don't work for my feet on steep fix gear climbs, I'll cut them out and run Tandy Leather grommets and shoelaces. ($10!) The sweet solution for the last three COs.) Leather uppers. Yeah! Don't offer black but burgundy will match my new Mooney paint and not look bad with Jessica II's bright red fork.
My feet love Lake lasts. Every pair I've had has lasted (pun not intended but it works) as well as anything I've ever had. Those old shoes have 20,000 miles, all fixed and under toestraps. There's one Barged leather repair on the mesh and velcro replacement once for the straps, then several pairs of shoelaces. A bunch of cleats. Bolt holes still in good shape. Many, many rides in the wet. Last Cycle Oregon we spent 3 1/2 days wet. (With no drying anywhere at night except in our sleeping bags.) And still, they disappear on the bike.
Lake has gone to a synthetic upper for most of its shoes and all the in-stock cheaper ones. A gamble with Cycle Oregon a month away. These too will be something of a gamble. (Can I actually walk the rest stops in them? Does BOA work with toestraps?)
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zootracer
Posts:833
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| 08/16/2022 10:02 AM |
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| My only experience with BOA shoes is with some low level Shimano RP4's. They have one BOA closure and two toe straps. I don't wear them that often. You can't cinch the BOA closure too tight, it has it's limits. I always have to stop somewhere on my ride and tighten the BOA and straighten the tongue. The problem I have with most of the newer road shoes is the wrap around tongue, which (for me) means it takes a little struggle to get my feet into my shoes. I think the Lakes are similar it fit to the Shimano shoes. My fav shoes are Shimano R171. I bought them on sale in 2017. Wow, I did not realize they were 5 years old. I stick with Shimano as I know how they fit. My LBS is a Sidi dealer, but they are out of my price range. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 08/16/2022 08:46 PM |
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| Lower level feedback here. I have Boas on my main cycling shoes (shimanos with 2 hole SPD) and some lightweight motorcycle boots. Other than the concern for what looks like monofilament failing (it's actually braided stainless steel with a softer coating), has been just fine. Learning that the cables are fairly tough, A+ for me, because it just works and is super easy to adjust on the fly. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 08/16/2022 10:26 PM |
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Posted By Frederick Jones on 08/16/2022 08:46 PM
Lower level feedback here. I have Boas on my main cycling shoes (shimanos with 2 hole SPD) and some lightweight motorcycle boots. Other than the concern for what looks like monofilament failing (it's actually braided stainless steel with a softer coating), has been just fine. Learning that the cables are fairly tough, A+ for me, because it just works and is super easy to adjust on the fly.
Well, I"m guessing not so easy to adjust on the fly here. Coasting isn't and option.
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mondonico
Posts:158
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| 08/17/2022 10:42 AM |
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| What happened to the old days of wearing bowling shoes with toe straps. Good old fashion leather uppers and lowers. And good old tie shoes. Some even used cleats. I did not. I always like my feet free, hence my love of frogs. Have never rode fixie but single speed a lot back then. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 08/17/2022 11:34 AM |
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That's exactly the plan except - my knees don't like float. In fact, I need to force my feet to more toe-in than they would take on their own. I've been doing that with slotted cleats since 1978. Now it is with the Exustar track cleats with their two bolts that use 2/3rds of the 3-bolt LOOK pattern so I have to buy modern shoes with plastic soles.
Pedals are Shimano 600/Dura Ace semi-platforms with their plastic toeclips. I make big Leotard platform style tabs for toeclip pickup and weights at the front to get the pedal to hang correctly for first or second try pickup. (Really important if I ever have to stop on a steep hill! That first try pick-up will offset the additional pedal weight I've been carrying all day many times over!)
These super high end shoes will have 1) the 3-bolt pattern for the current version of the most ancient pedal-foot interface out there, leather uppers as should be and (high-tech, light and snazzy) plastic soles like the Pumas I raced and loved in the '70s. BOAs yes, but if they don't play nice, they are coming off and brass grommets from Tandy Leather will get put on. Laces! (I've done three pairs already. So much better than straps, especially on bikes where you cannot adjust on the fly. Fix gears.)
BITD there were shoe/pedal/cleat combos that were as good as it gets for efficiency and performance (if you did not need float). I"m just trying to get that with what's out there today with the same toestraps because I will not do 45+ mph descents on anything but toestraps - the system that keeps your foot on that 200+ rpm pedal after you uncleat! |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/17/2022 01:50 PM |
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I'm a big fan of BOA's....when the system is designed properly. With Lake shoes, it is completely reasonable to assume they are well-designed.
Sure, occasionally you may need to tighten them during a ride....but I do that with almost any shoes I wear, be they velcro, or strap & buckle, etc. Even the pair of lace-ups I have need to be adjusted sometimes (but not as often). Obviously, that is a total pain on a ride....so I usually have to tie them very tight to start, which brings its own set of issues / discomfort. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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mondonico
Posts:158
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| 08/17/2022 08:30 PM |
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| I have duck feet. My track coach always said I need to run with my toes point straight or a little in or your losing ground just by the placement of your feet to start with. you have to run even faster to get that ground just by foot placement. I assume everyone who uses lace-up puts the laces under the shoe on both sides of the tongue. Always seemed to keep them tight for me. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/17/2022 09:17 PM |
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I have one pair of shoes with BOA. After many years of service (or my son using them I don’t know) the left side doesn’t loosen anymore. So hard to put shoe on. But it’s perfect otherwise so I refuse to replace it. I’m cheap that way. Getting out is no problem.
Curious about knees not liking float. My experience is the reverse. Knees are a bit troublesome, I could never run. But with float provided by SPDs cycling isn’t a problem. Everything in that area is relaxed. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 08/18/2022 11:50 AM |
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My knees are happiest if I am pigeon-toed and knock-kneed. But I cannot force that pigeon-toe with muscles or I am applying exactly the opposite force to my knees. Now, my last season of racing, after the TBI and my chondromalcia showing up, I made an effort to ride as knock-kneed as I could. Mantra - scrape that paint! I couldn't, but I brushed it many times. I still make an effort to ride knees in, both as good form and because my knees like it. (Right knee wanders out as I tire and form fades.)
So cleats that force the toe-in help everything for me. Right much more than the left. Some right cleats I have to file to get more rotation. Q-factor as small as possible helps a lot. My knees love the 135-145 bikes. The 155 Pro Miyata seems OK (but I wonder if this is just first love  Campy Chorus triple w/ Cyclone FDs, 7-speed Sachs 13-26. Not new but pretty darn nice! The black Forte/Wellgo LOOK compatible pedals and black cleat that have served me so well the past 20 years. Well, not "that" pair of pedals - I replace before failure but that model.) 165 Shimanos will never go on one of my bikes again.
The SPDs I use on my Raleigh Competition for city and some gravel I toe in a lot for the left and completely push to the max for the right. Set the release on hard for the right and quite hard for the left. Not as good as simply locked in but it works; at least for the limited use that bike gets. I wouldn't want to do multi-hundred mile weeks on that setup.
I find it fascinating how different we all are. Mondonico's duck feet, my pigeon toes. The Paul Curley's of my racing days; shot out of a cannon fast. Dave Voy who could ride a strong pace forever and finish many minutes ahead up us twenty-somethings at nearly twice our age if we gave him space with 30 miles to go. And me, this geeky, lanky guy that got the looks of "oh ****, he's here" at hilly races. (And is currently riding and tweaking his old Peter Mooney to ride the 30,000 feet of the Painted Hills fixed so guaranteed at least one climb on a ridiculously high gear as an almost 70 yo. The age old question - do I stop twice to flip the wheel of just muscle it up?) |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/18/2022 12:10 PM |
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| I am naturally knock-kneed if I understand that term correctly (i.e. with a neutral foot position on pedals). In fact one of the symptoms of fatigue is that the inside of my legs starts rubbing the top tube in knee area, leading to skin irritation or sometimes abrasion. Typically don't notice it until post-ride. |
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mondonico
Posts:158
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| 08/18/2022 03:37 PM |
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| I am always amazed how so many pros can keep their knees so close to the frame when pedaling. When you go out to a big century ride etc you see riders like me trying to do that. Oh well not so good. |
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zootracer
Posts:833
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| 08/18/2022 06:19 PM |
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| I'm not knocked -kneed, just knocked headed.... |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 08/18/2022 09:40 PM |
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| Ben, your only options are no fixation at all or an app on a device fixed to the handlebar of your fixie. OW, WTF? |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 08/18/2022 09:41 PM |
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| Not trying to poke, just trying to understand your POV. |
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