My first love is riding fix gears on the road, including on hills. So my take on cycling shoes is what shoes both support my feet and don't cause injury or set my feet up for infections? Not an easy task to cycling shoes on a 7 day, 35,000' of climbing week where all climbing is done on gears like 42-24 or higher (often much higher because I chose not to stop and change gears manually for this short steep one.and have to stop again at the top or hammer my not so young crotch spinning 200 RPM on the way down).

In the old days, all shoes had laces. Now I not discovered Cycle Oregon with its week-long rides yet but I was taking my 42-17 fix gear 1000' up Juaquim Miller (sp) Road in Oakland, CA and bombing down in the same gear fast enough that I was never passed by a car. Hard, yes but I never thought about my feet, either during or after. Those shoes were just training level leather soled cycling shoes with nailed on Pavarin cleats.

Then shoes changed. Manufacturers worshiped this new Velcro stuff. Laces disappeared. I rode my second Cycle Oregon, 32,000'. To, up and around Crater Lake. (Took a wrong turn and added another 1000' feet that day.) Next 3 days were all above 5000'. My feet did OK - in that they made it, no medical issues - but they were not happy. Rest stops had me tweaking the velcro to alternate a too loose foot and the start of blisters and lost skin and tighter and the bones over the top of my foot feeling like they were close to being broken with the hard pulls up I was doing. (The last 5000' day had the famous 16 mile relentless climb out of Ashland, OR, Dead Indian Memorial Hwy.)

After one of those early fix gear COs I was at the doc and getting the 10-day anti-Bs for foot infection. Starting my second fixed CO. I carried Tevas under the DT, WB cage. (You can see that red bag in my avatar photo.) So I could take those ****** Velcro'd shoes off at rest stops! Huge improvement but the riding was the same old - same old juggling act of too tight, too loose balancing of injuries. The next year I rode my geared bike in part so I wouldn't have to abuse my feet some more. Then CO offered a ride in hills I simply could not resist doing fixed. But the shoes! And the lightbulb! This didn't used to happen. Not before Velcro. Lace those shoes! And I did. Went to Tandy Leather and bought brass grommets and the tool. Cut off the straps, drilled holes for laces, installed the grommets, laced 'em up. Went for a ride. Ahhh! Comfort! Real comfort. Those shoes did a couple more COs. When I no longer trusted them to get through the next (and last I did fixed) I went to Lake's website and scanned through their shoes looking for the cheapest that had the 3-bolt pattern I needed for the Exustar track cleats with their traditional slot and leather uppers. (It was less than a month before CO when I realized my favorite old Lakes, those hand laced ones, were on their last legs. Uppers better be leather because mid-week in rural Oregon with 18,000' more climbing was NOT where I wanted be with feet chafed by synthetic uppers that almost worked.

So, that search of Lake's website took me to their $300 shoes! CF soles. Dual high end BOAs drilled for 3-bolt cleats. And beautiful leather uppers that came in several colors including the burgundy I just had my '79 Peter Mooney, now fixed, painted! Not available in store in Portland. I had a local shop, Lake dealer, order a pair. Tried them on in the shop. Yeah! About two rides for dial in, then it was Cycle Oregon. It was a learning curve, but a learning curve with the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned (of any type, not just riding). One challenge is that I cannot fine turn them riding because trying to accurately turn that BOA dial pedaling 70 RPM is dangerous! An oops! half turn too tight! will be close to crushing the bones in your foot. So rational fix gear riders stop to adjust. Better/faster than laces but at each's best, the fit is wonderful, sublime.

The BOAs that are the best and equal to properly laced come on $300 shoes. Laces cost $10 plus a $10 tool for your first pair, leaving you with enough grommets to do a second pair. Done right, me feet cannot fell a difference between laces and the best BOAs. Both can be sublime. Velcro is fast and cheap. And for most riding it work well enough.

This post is for riders who pull up on the pedal stroke like some if us dinosaurs (and many fix gear riders) still do. And comfort pulling up against toestraps, not clipless pedals. (For serious hills, I will NEVER use clipless pedals on my fix gears. Going up sometimes gets so hard I have no idea if I am keeping my foot straight. If I pull out, my CP knees will not forgive me for that hard handlebar slam. And that 200 RPM descent on the other side in clipless? I have had nightmares of pulling one foot off doing that. Not going there. I want my feet locked on. Yes, I do occasionally pull out. But having a foot loose inside a strong leather strap just means my heart jumps into my mouth, I ease on the brakes, slide that foot back in and swallow that heart to get it back where it belongs.

I hit the "Laces" button on the poll. BOAs (at their best are just as good, a lot faster and easier to adjust; even while riding if you can coast. At a slightly higher price point. (And funny! Laces are offered on shoes more expensive than those with Velcro. Laces are cheap! Installing them is cheap and easy.)