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IF BICYCLES WERE COIN OPERATED I'D BE BROKE.

Thoughtful Considerations for Nearly every facet of the bicycle

When this comes to press, we consider all products carefully, if it's lovely we'll say so, if has a flaw, we will find it.

Giro Empire Shoes Shall we?

In my Empire we have several high castles, which is good because they are tall and majestic, in none of which do I dwell. No sadly I prefer to live a bit closer to the earth, and in some ways, I believe these choices to not live in a sky-scraper, may have been influenced by bike access, or worse the "Bike Room". In Chicago, a head-wind is the best shot at a hill that you will see for 45 miles in any direction., and the tall castles and high-rises, help to build those gusts beside a vast air conditioner we call Lake Michigan. When shoes are noticeable whatsoever, it generally means that you are doing something with your feet, so let's not complain for the tiny displeasing reminders that we are alive. Bear in mind that the best compliment to any garment, or bit of technical wear would be to not know it's on you. If however, your feet throb within your soles, then you may need to reconsider your footwear. Recently I've realized that with age come surprises, some of which key you into physiology which you'd never considered before. Sometimes discoveries about your being bring you to the doctor to ask questions about things which you could not quite find in a web-search. So when your body tells you something and the cause seems very obvious, or at least self evident, then you may go shopping for a solution on your own. You may also seek another opinion. My choice has always been to search for a solution before consulting others. So it begins that when one aches in their arches, or finds throbbing in their plantar parts, then it has to be the shoes and not the soul, correct?

Giro Empire Shoes; Size 45 VR90 Limited Edition Orange Camo.
Shoes with laces always seems to me to make general sense, but I never thought that they scored highly in all thinks cyclical. I suppose that bicycling is now antithetically loaded against a nod backward, unless for the purpose of retro-gestalt. When someone re-introduces the Hand Polished Campagnolo Delta Brake, I will be on the waiting list, but this is purely a nod to the aesthetic gods in Italy, and not because I would hope them to stop well. Looking at cycling shoes with laces is now beset through the lens of all things techy. If a bike can shift without cables, then why bother to provide cable stops, or downtime routing?, and if a shoe can be lashed around your foot using a force-field, then why tie laces? So it begins that we consider Velcro, Boa Mechs, Ratchets and the Tech-lace, as the new normal. Shoe Laces, in the shadow of these evolutions, seem inferior even for the retro nod. What would be the sense of tying your shoes? Well (long pause) sort-of... there is none. It's not sensible to tie your shoes if the shoe has evolved beyond the usefulness of laces right? So I own a lot of shoes for an XX, with cycling shoes and Leather Chukka's in equal parts. I have loafers, and flip-flops, Vans and Hush Puppies, Fleuvogs, and Mezlans in equal occupancy with my Sidis, Bontragers, Bonts, and Giros, so it's no secret that one looks at the list and they feel excessive, spoiled, and ostentatious. I suppose the search is for a pair of shoes, which do everything, and the collection is the product of that endeavor.

When I look at the list, and the Lace to ratchet ratio, I think what is revealed is that most are in fact laces. Laces may be a nod to the past, but much like the zipper, and the button hole, there is no shame in deployment of methods which are time-tested, and reliable. I learned to tie my own shoes shortly before I learned to ride a real bike, and it took me until I was in my mid thirties to discover that I was tying my shoes wrong for three decades. If you think you may be one of those people, and your laces come un-done unless you double tie them, then I recommend looking-up "how to tie your shoes" on a running web-site. The process is the same but the resulting knot is far superior. I no longer double tie my shoes to prevent them from un-tying.

Now I have bike shoes which lace up, and they are new. They don't have removable spikes, plates, heel cups, and the like, but they are damn thin, rather stiff, and provide solid propulsion, when I wish to work. I like them, but they are not perfect, and although they have resolved much of my first cause to buy them, I'm not sure laces are "all that". Here is the impetus for purchase.
1. Chicago has a lot of careless drivers and traffic.
2. In the Autumn it gets dark out earlier, and remains darker later in the morning (especially with DST).
3. Anything bright and reflective is a good idea when cycling at dusk, dawn, or daylight.
4. My feet ached in the fore-foot after the first 35 miles, and sometimes felt quite debilitating.
5. New Footwear is nice.

In Giro's Empire, your feet are wrapped in a comfortable last, and lashed as tightly or as loosely as you choose. The issue with laces is that they pull relatively uniformly, regardless of how you wish to parse the pressure about your foot. As one pulls the laces tighter in spots, the pressure increases in those spots, but as one uses the foot within the shoe, the laces will tend to equalize the pressure along the closure. So as laces go, these are really nice lace-up shoes. They have a very low profile Easton carbon out-sole, and a reasonably well engineered in-sole to adjust for arch height. A user can insert one of three In-soles which feature an anti-microbial treatment to prevent funk. They have a perforated outer which breathes about as well as a synthetic vinyl compound can, and they cradle the foot with firm support. I think the shoe can be placed beside the best Sidi, Lake, or Bont, from a foot comfort perspective, they do not allow the foot to collapse down and outward to sprawl out the fore-foot, as I'd hoped. My self-diagnosed issue was that the shoe could hold my forefoot in a more contained manner, corseting the spread of the tarsals to prevent a repeated use injury caused by an old foot doing a lot of pushing into an unsupported space. For the purposes of providing more support than my Prior Bontrager shoe was, the Giro Empire did an admirable job. My arch is neither high nor low, and my fore-foot is average to wide while my heel is narrow.

So if the shoe fits, then how does it help or hinder? A shoe like this increased my mileage from 30 to right around 58 miles where the pain will still begin to plague my fore-foot. I enjoy the ride up until that point, and then grimace and struggle forward to complete most journeys trying to pedal up rather than down, (taking weighted pressure off the foot).

Fashion considerations are always a personal matter, and I think these shoes are beauties. People either remark that, "they wished that they bought those... But they were limited, and are out of stock now", or they keep their opinion to themselves about the flashy aesthetic. Personally I think they have propelled me well forward, with less notice of my shoes or foot pain, and they have provided injury protection in the form of exceptional visibility in the dusk or dawn ride windows. They clean-up well, and remain dry in light drizzle, but do drench from puddle spray.

A few thousand miles into these and they appear newish. They are comfortable, reasonably priced, and they may keep me from being struck by an uber driver gaping at his APP. Much as a flashing fishing lure works on a sunny day, I think the Giro Empires may deserve the attention they get.

Yes, I like them.

IF BICYCLES WERE COIN OPERATED I'D BE BROKE.

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Sojourn

Bike Culture

Thoughtful Considerations for Nearly every facet of the bicycle

Giro Empire Shoes Shall we?