Over at Bike Portland today, there was a review of some new cycling shoes from a local brand, Keen, which are targeted at “the average commuter.”
What I don’t quite understand, is why the average commuter needs shoes that are specifically made for riding bicycles. Millions of people all over the world (including Portland) ride their bicycles with whatever shoes they happen to have on at the time. I often wear my black patent leather shoes from Aldo, because they are quite waterproof. Other than that, my brown wingtips are great, my Converse All-Stars do just fine. All of those shoes are great for walking as well.
I don’t mean to criticize Keen or Bike Portland, I know they have their own reasons for making the shoes and for advertising them, but I just don’t really understand why the average person riding 3-5 miles at a time would need to wear some special shoes to do so. It seems like it just makes it more complicated if you have to put on your “cycling” shoes before you head out to the store, or to work, or whatever – not to mention then you’re limited to just one pair of shoes you can use on your bike. It seems to me that for an average, everyday person who uses a bicycle as transportation, the biggest value would be the ability to just hop on and go in whatever you’re wearing, whenever you need to.
So, there’s not a lot of point to this post, except that I hope you all don’t feel compelled to go buy cycling shoes in order to ride your bike. If you want to, that’s great, you are free to do as you will :) As for me, I’ll stick to my own bike gear.
