When I'm not out there on the mean streets of San Francisco getting hit by cars on my bike, I'm looking for the perfect shoe that can stand up to the daily abuse of riding my bike. I usually end up with a pair of Vans slip-ons, but they inevitably wear out at the the friction points on the toe clips and along the cranks. I think my last pair lasted about a year and half, two years, before giving out. Not bad, but you know I hate greasing the wheels of the capitalist machine. Anyway, I'm always a sucker for gimmicks, and street shoes made specifically for biking fit the bill perfectly. There are a few options out there, but not many. So I went down to the Chrome retail shop on 4th and picked myself up a pair of Kursks, full retail no pro-deal so I could write from the heart for you guys, straight from the new Chromes shoes lineup. And honestly, much as it pains me to write nice things, I'm digging them.
First though, the bad news. They're kind of narrow and because of the 1,000 denier Cordura used in the uppers, a bit hot. Definitely don't breath like canvas Chucks or vans. But I'll forgive them for that because I'm expecting the 1,000 denier Cordura is going to last me a decade, much like my low top Chucks used to when they were made of thicker canvas. But what do I really dig about the Chrome shoes line? The goddamn lace garage. So simple, but totally useful. Funny thing is I was joking with the guy working the floor at the Chrome store complaining that I have to use a rubberband to stop my laces from getting caught in the chain, a mere annoyance for me because I ride a regular road bike, but pretty dangerous if you ride a fixie. Anyway, even the guy in the shop didn't have a clue the shoes have a lace garage and I discovered it accidentally today. Other nice design feature laces with metal endings to stop fraying, another one of my pet peeves. These two features alone are good enough for me to give a thumbs up to the Chrome shoes lineup. Click through to see the full specs for the Chrome shoes after the jump, suffice it to say they reflect some good cycling design thinking and something you might expect coming out of a company now owned by super secretive (try Googling him) Bay Area entrepreneur, majority owner of Keen, and one of the backers of Timbuk2, Rory Fuerst. I think he was actually in the store during my visit. Which is kind of like seeing the Yeti, at least for me. You hear about it him a lot, but question whether he actually exists in real life. So now that I've said the nice things and gotten that out of the way, let me throw out two more things to Rory and the Chrome designers. Has nothing to do w/ the shoes, so you can skip it if you want to avoid my rant.
First, Chrome peeps stop whoring out the brand by slapping the Chrome griffin on everything. Nobody wants to be a walking billboard for a brand they like. If we did, we'd wear Nike track suits and sneakers. Seriously, you think any self respecting person is going to wear your pants, cap, shirt, and bag all emblazoned with the Griffin? It just looks dumb. People will be more inclined to wear more things if you're a bit more subtle in your design. We're not sheep, despte evidence to the contrary over the last few years. Put the Griffin on the sole of the Chome shoes if you must. Better yet, take a page out of the up and coming cycling gear brands like Outlier, and don't put your logo out there at all. My second point is, what's the deal with naming your shoes after WWII battles? Doesn't it seem a bit juvenile and bit war mongerish to name you shoes after battles where thousands of people died? You really want people to think about death and misery when they pick up your shoes? I get the whole Eastern European design chic ethos, but com'on, there are so many great things to celebrate about Eastern Europe, why chose Kursk where a couple of hundred thousands Germans and Russians died, or Midway where couple thousand American & Japanese died, or even Arnhem. Stick to Eastern European cities and stereotypes like Warsaw and Ivan, they're relatively harmless. Or better yet, how about celebrating some of the great things Eastern Europe has given the world. Chopin, for example? Maybe the Copernicus bag. Tolstoy shoes. Anyway, that ends my rant. I feel better now. Can you tell me wife is Eastern European? But I still love you guys like I loved the little kids I took care of in high school. The ones that rode the short bus to school. They were special to me, just like you. Don't ever change boys. Ever. Ever, ever, ever. Stay gold. Peace. Buy Chrome shoes starting at $70 direct from their website.
Wow, looks like I missed a good party over the weekend at the Symbiosis Gathering. Yosemite rangers didn't miss it though, they were out in full force taking names and dispensing justice to a bunch of burners and pot heads. I feel so much safer. At least it gave the law enforcement rangers something fun to do over
the weekend. Poor kids. Look like they were having fun, up until
they started getting tasered and busted. A list of some of the drugs found:
"Hallucinogenic mushrooms, amphetamines, LSD, cocaine, ecstasy,
opiates, hydrocodone, nitrous oxide and large amounts of marijuana"
Isn't hydrocodone cough syrup? Sweet, thank god they caught those guys. Nothing more annoying than those chronic coughers on the bus. And those crazy nitrous abusers, the laughing is just out of control. I remember sucking on whipping cream bottles to get at the nitrous in college. Good times. At least those guys were laughing when they got busted. Who else did they bust? Hmm, lets see the kids on E licking each other? Yeah, they're a menace. And the guys smoking weed? They probably weren't too hard too catch. All in all, seems like a fine weekend of policing Burning Man types. Could have used their time better chasing the drunks driving home from the Ahwanee...Just saying.
But remember kids, drugs make you dumb. This poor girl was so paranoid, she tried to outrun the coppers in a "slow-speed" chase because she didn't pay the fee, but turns out she did. Sheesh.
One incident in which a driver failed to pay for or show proof of entrance into the park led rangers on a slow speed pursuit through the park and down a rugged dirt road. When the driver finally stopped but refused to follow rangers' instructions, she was taken into custody after a taser deployment. A vehicle search revealed hallucinogenic mushrooms, marijuana and also, ironically, a valid entrance pass.
The law enforcement rangers must of been stoked to use their new toys on the kids. Tasers for everyone! Read a full report of the fun. Via Yosemite Blog.
Instead of bringing the shoes to the outdoors, why not bring the outdoors to your shoes? I personally think most Nike shoes suck aesthetically (but who buys them for looks really?), the major reason being they insist on using you to advertise their brand with their over saturated swoosh. That being said, there are rare occasions when I actually like something Nike does, mostly when they let other people design their shoes. Case in point these shoes designed by Michael Lau that look like they're made of wood. Barely see the swoosh. Good work. Available at Michael Lau - Gardener 10th Exhibition on October 3rd. Via Loud Dreams.
Seriously? You going to wear these on the slopes? How about you over there? Maybe you? Seriously? Like we said, coming soon to a Sporting Authority near you. Nike needs to ditch the "exclusive" store strategy and just whore them out at Sports Authority, where they belong. Need a pair of these Zoom Kaijus? Visit the Nike site to find a place to buy them.
Somebody either played a lot of BF1942 or is a WWII buff judging from the names in this line of Chromes shoes. All of them named after famous WWII battles. Kinda weird, but I like it. Anyway, my vans are wrecked, falling apart from riding daily, so I need a new pair of shoes. Could go with another pair of Vans. My current pair lasted pretty long, almost two years. Thought about the VANS 45 LX Fixed, but then remembered I'm not that much of a poser. Or am I? How about these Chrome shoes? They had a line of shoes a couple years ago that were discontinued. These must be the replacements. I kinda like them and so fare, I haven't seen them coming out of any Starbucks yet, so I better act quick.
Seems the suits have discovered Crumb this year and decided to package,
market, and sell the crap out of his iconic work. The irony of Vans and
Burton co-opting Crumb, of course, is that he used to be one of the
standard bearers of counter-culture, while Burton and Vans are as
mainstream as it gets nowadays. Though they to, used to stand for the
counter-culture, back when snowboards were called Snurfers and the
Z-boys were skating backyard pools. So what's the marketing lesson for
today? Today's counter culture is tomorrow's marketing strategy for the
mainstream. Hmm, need to figure out how to make some money off of
universal healthcare and gay marriage. How about shoes with a Maple Leaf on one side and a rainbow flag on the other?
Burton snowboard with two men kissing as a top sheet? Or is it bottom sheet? Naw, though Burton would totally be into two hot chicks kissing, so maybe.... Hmm. Need to ruminate on this one.
Anyhoot, enough marketing lessons. Joining Vans this year in the packaging of Crumb as a consumer product (upside hopefully is Crumb is making some good money on this), Burton is releasing some Crumb snowboards. Thanfully in limited editions. Available for $400 from a select group of retailers contact Burton Rider Service at +1 800 881 3138. Via Cool Hunting.
A week of irony, sad, sad irony.. Especially after watching all the Noe Valley mothers here in San Francisco drinking out of their SIGG bottles, then passing them on to their kids. If they only knew they were poisoning their kids one little sip at a time, negating all the thousands of dollars spent on Waldorf and Montessori educations. Despite effusive denials backed by "scientific" studies, their CEO now admits they knew that BPA could be harmful way back in 2006, and their bottles contained BPA up until August 2008. Some quotes from a statement by SIGG's CEO on the MySigg:
Despite the fact that these bottles were manufactured well within strict international regulations and posed no health risk, my team and I initiated a project in June 2006 to develop a new liner which would be both BPA free and produced in a more environmentally friendly manner. We recognized early that there were questions surrounding BPA and we wanted to be sure that we had a bottle liner that you, our customers, could have absolute confidence in.
After two years of comprehensive testing and development and a one million dollar investment in new equipment for our Swiss factory, SIGG began producing bottles with our new, next generation “EcoCare” liner in August 2008.
You know my opinion on free soloing. Dumb. Sponsoring it is even dumber, but it's the North Face we're talking about, so par for the course. The long term potential for the sponsor, just not there. Just a sad obit and the obligatory memorial fund. Anyway, my opinion. If you want to watch some video set to bright and cheery music of Alex free soloing (that's with no ropes or harness) enjoy. Via Yosemite Blog.
UPDATE: Hey, the video wasn't private last night. Ahh well.
Leave it to the guy that turned the 7 Summits into a faux event and
p.r. circus to try start strip mining in Alaska. The "Dick" in
question, Dick Bass, evidently applied for a permit to build the biggest strip
mine in Alaskan history, and 3rd largest in the country. Awesome legacy
there Dickey Boy. *Sigh. Seems to me the wrong millionaire got lost in the Nevada desert last year. Read more about Dick Bass' proposed Alaska strip mine. Via The Goat.
Wow, looks like I missed a good party over the weekend at the 
Seems the suits have discovered Crumb this year and decided to package,
market, and sell the crap out of his iconic work. The irony of Vans and
Burton co-opting Crumb, of course, is that he used to be one of the
standard bearers of counter-culture, while Burton and Vans are as
mainstream as it gets nowadays. Though they to, used to stand for the
counter-culture, back when snowboards were called Snurfers and the
Z-boys were skating backyard pools. So what's the marketing lesson for
today? Today's counter culture is tomorrow's marketing strategy for the
mainstream. Hmm, need to figure out how to make some money off of
universal healthcare and gay marriage. How about shoes with a Maple Leaf on one side and a rainbow flag on the other?
Burton snowboard with two men kissing as a top sheet? Or is it bottom sheet? Naw, though Burton would totally be into two hot chicks kissing, so maybe.... Hmm. Need to ruminate on this one. 
A week of irony, sad, sad irony.. Especially after watching all the Noe Valley mothers here in San Francisco drinking out of their SIGG bottles, then passing them on to their kids. If they only knew they were poisoning their kids one little sip at a time, negating all the thousands of dollars spent on Waldorf and Montessori educations. Despite effusive 
Leave it to the guy that turned the 7 Summits into a faux event and
p.r. circus to try start strip mining in Alaska. The "Dick" in
question, Dick Bass, evidently applied for a permit to build the biggest strip
mine in Alaskan history, and 3rd largest in the country. Awesome legacy
there Dickey Boy. *Sigh. Seems to me the wrong millionaire got lost in the Nevada desert last year. Read more about 
