Anatomy of a Photo: Sock & Shoe Game

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• @Steve Trice

  @chuckp

  Wow, they cost! Never really get the heat moulding concept. I’ve had loads of off the peg cycling shoes, all have been comfortable but all have stretched and changed over time, which I take care of with the straps etc. Can you reheat and re-mould them after they have stretched?

  Lake tells me that they can be re-molded as many times as you want. FYI you're not heat molding the entire upper. The brown part in this pic is what you're heat molding. Basically, you're custom forming the cup/heel of the shoe.

  Lake also makes custom heat mold-able footbeds and I'm hoping to get a pair of those too. I have low arches/flat feet and the stock insole has just enough arch support that I can feel it. Not to the point where it hurts or a bother, but I can definitely feel it more so that the insoles in my other shoes.

  The other shoes currently in my stable are Pearl Izumi Pro Leader III and Fizik R3B. Both have very stiff carbon soles, but the Lake CX402 is stiffer. But way more comfortable to ride. It's hard to describe. Just wearing the Lake CX402, you can feel how "stiff" and "tight" they are. Yet, that all sort of "disappears" when you ride.

  Look for my review on PEZ!

   

   

• @chuckp

  I do have a pair of Lake shoes, cheaper ones, and they are as comfy as my Sidis tbh. The CX402 sound great, but fortunately I got a pair of Sidi Laser Vernice at about 70% off at the end of last year; I've only used them twice, so that prevents me feeling the need to reach for my credit card and buy more Lakes.

• @Steve Trice

  @chuckp

  I do have a pair of Lake shoes, cheaper ones, and they are as comfy as my Sidis tbh. The CX402 sound great, but fortunately I got a pair of Sidi Laser Vernice at about 70% off at the end of last year; I’ve only used them twice, so that prevents me feeling the need to reach for my credit card and buy more Lakes.

  When I think of Lake shoes, what comes to mind immediately is Andy Hampsten in the '88 Giro.

• @chuckp

  What a great photo that is. Isn't the harrowed face of Cioccioli a throw back? Remove the headband, make the pic black and white, and he could be in a race with Coppi.

• In Frank's bio: "his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking"  Not entirely true.  You're a guitarist as well!  I totally understand.  It complicates things a little when you struggle with the mind numbing choice of whether to spend part of your future retirement money on new wheels or that Mesa-Boogie combo that you've been lusting after.  Yes, this time I went with the Boogie and some pickups.

• Today’s shoe and sock combo

• This is a test

• Okay, now that we’ve addressed the bike and the rider, what about riding itself?
  COMMANDMENT NUMBER 3: TAKE IT EASY, YOU’RE NOT A PRO. All this talk about “hardmen” (by the way, the book was a trifle, barely worth the effort) is irrelevant to you. So are Greg LeMond (his correct name) sayings, “V,” and the other lures to try to make you feel guilty about not pedaling like a crazed madman every inch (sic, dammit) of every ride. You are not a professional bike rider and never will be one. (Ignore this commandment if you are a professional bike rider, which is unlikely if you are reading this). Take it easy on your rides, relax, enjoy the scenery, don’t emulate everything the pros do (except for the few, it’s not a lucrative career path anyway). If it helps you ride, you can even use a motor. And while you’re at it, stop referring to legs as “guns.” It’s confusing, and besides guns are used to scare off possums and kill people.

• Hi. As the erstwhile manager of this site is out to lunch and the kind persons who have been contributing to it this past year have decamped to a new site, I thought it would be fun to step in and continue the work of the site, but with a better slant. Thus, I present The Cycling Commandments: The New And Improved Testament. I use “commandments” to give these precepts greater moral authority, and also because, at least for now, I have ten of them.

  This sock love article is the perfect place to start because it illustrates COMMANDMENT NUMBER 1: GET A LIFE. Why obsess with sock length or even sock color? Why worry about practically any aesthetic of bikes, gear or clothing? Don’t you realize that it makes you appear to be a nerd? someone who has nothing better to do or concern oneself with? Also, why waste the energy and effort to be “compliant”? So the next time you sense yourself worrying about the proper length of bar tape, or whether your tire labels are lined up with your tire valves (you really couldn’t find the valves otherwise?), or whether the pedals are in the “proper” position when you take a photograph of your bike, or whether its proper to use common sense and carry what you need for a ride in a bag attached to the seat vs. a mythical rule against doing so, Get A Life and forget about it.

  Closely related is COMMANDMENT NUMBER 2: NOBODY GIVES A CRAP. What are you, a model? Do you think a potential boyfriend\girlfriend might be enticed by your appearance, when you’re sweaty and dirty from a ride? Are you afraid the Bike Police are going to give you a demerit on their Cool Riders list because you have a Shimano derailleur with a SRAM cassette? Wrong-o. No one is looking at your bike or clothing. Nobody Gives A Crap. Stop fretting.

  Okay, now that we’ve addressed the bike and the rider, what about riding itself?
  COMMANDMENT NUMBER 3: TAKE IT EASY, YOU’RE NOT A PRO. All this talk about “hardmen” (by the way, the book was a trifle, barely worth the effort) is irrelevant to you. So are Greg LeMond (his correct name) sayings, “V,” and the other lures to try to make you feel guilty about not pedaling like a crazed madman every inch (sic, dammit) of every ride. You are not a professional bike rider and never will be one. (Ignore this commandment if you are a professional bike rider, which is unlikely if you are reading this). Take it easy on your rides, relax, enjoy the scenery, don’t emulate everything the pros do (except for the few, it’s not a lucrative career path anyway). If it helps you ride, you can even use a motor. And while you’re at it, stop referring to legs as “guns.” It’s confusing, and besides guns are used to scare off possums and kill people.

• Closely related is COMMANDMENT NUMBER 5: DON’T RIDE ON ROCKS. Cobblestones are an anachronism. There are better ways to build roads now. With few exceptions, you are not in Belgium (and even Belgium has paved roads), and you certainly are not Eddy Merckx (see Commandment Number 3). And why bother to ride “off road” or to seek out gravel (i.e., small rocks)? What’s so bad about nice, smooth pavement? What are you if you try to avoid it—a masochist? Do you also drive your cars into potholes? Sheesh, use your noggin.