While I'm not up there in the Bike Blog Celebrity Blogosphere with the really talented and hardworking folks like Fat Cyclist, Bike Snob NYC and Jill Homer, I am what is known as "a minor niche celebrity." I found this out when the Hershey folks used that term when they turned me down for sponsorship. I really thought Hersheys would be an ideal sponsor of my Tour Divide Race, but the Hershey people disagreed. Oh well, even though major chocolate company can't see the value in sending a fifty year old guy enough free chocolate to fuel him on a 2745 mile race, other folks do somehow manage to stumble their way to my blog and say "Hey, this guy is talking to the people we want to reach, we should send him stuff!" This is what happens when you are "a minor niche celebrity" and it's one of the cooler perks of having a semi-popular blog.So the folks at Chrome, who are mostly famous for making tough, cool messenger bags and packs, email me out of the blue and asked if I'd like to have a pair of their shoes to try out. I said sure, went to their website and picked out a pair Kursks.
Guess what? These are nice shoes. And I'm not just saying that 'cause I got 'em for free. The Kursk is a tough, well-made sneaker. I picked this shoe because it's Codura nylon instead of cotton, so it's better in the rain. The shoe has a couple of nice bikey touches like a little loop that keeps the laces out of your bike chain, a reflective patch on the heel, and a good grippy sole for folks like me that prefer flat pedals. Most importantly, the shoe has a good stiff sole. I work as a bike mechanic so I wind up test riding lots of bikes with all kinds of pedals including a lot of bikes with various clipless pedals. When you're riding a clipless pedal without a clipless shoe, you really appreciate a shoe with a stiff, grippy sole.
The only real problem I had with the Kursks is that they are a bit narrow and way too hip for me. I'm basically a cargo pants and Keens
guy but whenever I'd wear the Chrome Kursks I'd have this overwhelming desire to put on skinny jeans, grow a wispy goatee and move to Portland. My youngish friends, including the kids at Bike Works, all proclaimed the shoes to be "sweet." My wife, however, declared that the Kursks look like "bowling shoes gone bad." And I have to confess that the shoes just never felt right for me. So I passed them on to my cool colleague Muuqi and I'm back riding in Keens
.Keep 'em rolling,
Kent
looks like those shoes wood work good for toeclips and powergrips too kent
ReplyDeleteKent, which Keens do you find that work well?
ReplyDeleteI rode the GDMBR this summer and used a pair of smooth-soled 5.10s on flat pedals with PowerGrips. The smooth but sticky rubber made it easy to slip into the pedal, and easy to stick in place while rattling over washboarded roads. I wore the shoes out, but feel that 3k was a lot to ask of them.
The Keens that look the bike-iest, the Springwaters, have what appears to be a highly ribbed tread. This tread might make it difficult to slip in and out of the pedals. Again, I'd appreciate hearing what you find that works well for you. Thanks.
Those shoes are pretty "tight" (cool/awesome/bad-ass) as the kids these days like to say.
ReplyDeleteWith Chubby and Tubby long-gone, I find it hard to spend almost $40 for a pair of Chuck Taylor Converse, but I still dig the style.
BTW, the new 27-inch wheel I picked up from you last month at Bike Works is working great on my Shogun. Thanks again for finding something that fit.
The Chromes are really great for going into toeclips or PowerGrips because the sole isn't too grabby for the slide in and slide out but grabby enough to stay put. The Keens work great with flat, pinned BMX type pedals or a grippy old-style rat-trap pedal. I've been running Keens with flats for the past few years, Targhee II low hikers in the winter and Newport sandals the rest of the year. Keen does make an SPD shoe as well but I've heard that they are a bit narrower than the "normal" Keens.
ReplyDeleteYou should try the Mars people. Maybe you could get a GDMBR supply of peanut M&M's.
ReplyDeleteI run these w/Wellgo flats: http://www.sicklines.com/reviews/fiveten_impact2low/ They're grippier than Keens, have a largish toe box and a stiff sole. They work great if you like lots of grip, but don't last as long as Keens. Good for all-around walking/limited hiking.
ReplyDeletelooks like those shoes wood work good for toeclips and powergrips too kent
ReplyDeleteWell I like these chrome shoes, the name is different and the most I like in these shoe is the shoe has a couple of nice bikey touches like a little loop that keeps the laces out of your bike chain, a reflective patch on the heel, and a good grippy sole for folks like me that prefer flat pedals.
ReplyDelete