Shoes with laces, why not?

[Bledlow]

I rode with laced shoes, with no devices for keeping the laces tucked away,  for many years. IIRC I frayed one carelessly tied lace in a lace/chainwheel/chain interaction. Was a little less sloppy after that, & it was never a problem again. Shortened over-long laces, tucked 'em into shoes, tied them to one side, etc.

I now have three pairs of cycling shoes: two with laces & a velcro strap to hold 'em down, & one (the newest) with just velcro. I prefer the laces + velcro combination. Better adjustment of tightness.

I still wear normal non-cycling laced shoes (i.e. no restraining devices) on my Brompton. I have never had any problem with laces snagging.

[fuaran]

Anyone use Lock Laces or similar with cycling shoes?
Might be easier to adjust the tightness etc. Not sure if they would help with avoiding getting caught in the chain.

[Biggsy]

I'd love to see a video of someone re-tying shoe laces as they ride along. 

[hellymedic]

I'm not cycling but use Lock-Laces all the time, as does my partner, for both cycling and non-cycling. Wonderful things!

[Andrew]

I use elasticated laces with a kind of locking mechanism on my old Shimano touring shoes (the shoes don't tour on their own btw). I think I got the laces from LewisKit??? Whatever, they work okay. Nothing brilliant or earth shattering but a neat solution. As mentioned upstream, I tuck the ends of the laces back under the laces to avoid them catching.

[Clare]

I have emailed Corinne to ask about various parts of her e-mail, I'll report back when she replies. The no laces bit just intrigued me.

I might take my Shimano winter boots, they have a Velcro closure and if they aren't stiff enough I could just get my feet encased in Portland stone.

[fuzzy]

I have (pauses to count) 5 pairs of cycle specific footwear.

1) Shimano touring shoes (model N/K) which I wear for commuting. SPD fitted. Laced shoes with no restraining device. I shove the double tied lace ends between my foot and the shoe.

2) Shimano road shoes. Look Delta equipped. 3 velcro straps.

3) DMT road shoes. SPD SL equipped. 2 velcro and on ratchet strap.

4) Specialized Sawpit MTB boots (Sadly discontinued). SPD equipped. Used in the good 'ol days of bike patrol. 3 Velcro straps.

5) Patrol shoes (American made leather training shoe lookalike designed for bike patrol). SPD equipped. Also used in the good 'ol days of bike patrol. Lace ups with a very long tounge that folded forward over the laces and velcroed to them to keep the laces under control.

None of my shoes replicate each others fit as far as pedal interface goes....

[Julian]

I think Charlotte can explain why trailing shoelaces are a bad idea.  On a penny farthing, at least. 

[Andrew]

I didn't know penny farthings had shoelaces.

Is that my coat?

[Julian]

They don't usually, but Charlotte's penny farthing acquired a shoelace, deciding that the shoelace would look better wrapped round its crank than tied into her shoe.

[Zipperhead]

I have emailed Corinne to ask about various parts of her e-mail, I'll report back when she replies. The no laces bit just intrigued me.

What's the worst she can say?

Can you wear laced shoes? I'm a frayed knot.

IGMC

[hellymedic]

Lock-Laces cannot undo themselves and can be trimmed so they will not get entangled with any other kit. IMHO lacing shoes gives a much closer/better fit than Velcro straps. I don't know if Wiggle still sell Lock-Laces but Googling can find other sources.

[Charlotte]

Defo ask Corrine.  She knows whereof she speaks and usually speaks Much Sense.

They don't usually, but Charlotte's penny farthing acquired a shoelace, deciding that the shoelace would look better wrapped round its crank than tied into her shoe.

To my shame, it's true.  I distinctly remember noticing that the trailing lace had caught round the crank and saying, "oh BUGGER..."

Fortunately, such was the mahoosive torque involved at 10mph or so that the lace broke before the bike was jolted to a halt and I got to use my forehead as an expedient braking surface.

Which was nice 

[redshift]

ps.  I tried to make a new tag on the end of the lace with superglue.  This resulted in a lot of smoke!  What the frack?  Some wicked chemical reaction.

Cotton-based laces?  Not surprised it started smoking.

[Ningishzidda]

Wow, I remember laced shoes. I remember toe-clips and straps; and wrapping tape round my shoes to stop the laces going into the chainmesh on my track bike.

[L CC]

If anyone would like some Foc lock laces give me a PM. I have at last 3 sets doing nothing in a drawer.

And I prefer Velcro & ratchets.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Straying away from cycling shoes, kids' shoes rarely have laces these days. I'm not sure at what age they start making them with laces as a default, every pair my 8-year-old has had have had velcro fastening or buckles (on sandals). Actually that's not quite true, he has had a pair of winter boots with laces, but that was when he was still a toddler and it was us doing them up. So I'm wondering whether, between this and sports, laces might become a rarity on adults' shoes too, given another decade or so.

[Flynn]

I have Specialized Tahoe mtb shoes. Comfortable as trainers, but still plenty stiff enough. They have laces but they also have a small elasticated loop halfway down the top of the tongue to tuck the laces into once tied. The current version of this shoe has a velcro strap to cover the laces.

[Julian Smith]

I have the Exustar shoes with laces. The great thing is you can customise them simply by changing the laces! Currently on black and yellow stripes. Cheap and fun.
Don't forget to tuck the laces in before riding.

[drossall]

I too ride in Shimano MTB shoes with laces. Years ago I used leather cycling shoes, also with laces, like everyone else did. I've still got some of those shoes, although I no longer have toe-clips fitted to use them with.

I have got laces trapped with both kinds of shoe. The lace generally breaks. These days, I tie a triple bow if necessary, to shorten the ends. I've had no trouble for years - and I ride fixed, as above.

[Clare]

OK, it's not actually about the laces per se, shoes with laces tend to not be stiff enough torsionally.

Guess how many people from our two person household have been sat on the stairs trying to twist my cycling shoes since the explanation came through. Clue, the answer is less than three but greater than one.

[zigzag]

struggling to come up with the reason why torsional rigidity is important. the main power transfer goes via the ball of the foot, the rest of the shoe just hangs in the air.
personally, my comfiest (and heaviest..) shoes have laces and a velcro strap on the top. i don't undo the laces every time, just a strap - feet fit snugly and feel comfortable.
i also found that specialized "body geometry" is a gimmick, at least on my body.

[mike]

whereas I find my specialized [something] shoes with laces and velcro fine for an hour or so but nightmarishly sore after 2 because of the sole flex.  My stiff soled 'racing' mtb shoes are much nicer for long rides, but not as easy to walk in. 

I'm a big fan of the specialized body geometry shoes, them and 'lake' shoes are great, compared to Sidi which were just awful. 

Everyone's different.

[Clare]

It's to do with the foot's movement in the shoe, if you need wedges etc and the shoe is twisty enough the foot can move away from the wedge rather than be supported by it. Not sure if that will apply to me as I already have orthotics so probably don't need more stuff inside my shoes.

Personally I can't wear Specialized shoes, they are completely the wrong shape for my feet.

[MacB]

variety of footwear here none of which have cleats and all used with flat pinned pedals and laces, never had a laces issue and never suffered from foot problems. Though I accept that I'm not looking towards cutting edge performance I've never had any problems performance wise.