New Kicks for Dick

I think it all started with this moment in time.

Grig hadn't spent much time behind me at the Trans Sylvania Epic, but at this point right at the finish of the final day, I guess Grig wanted a closer look.

Grig wasn't actually falling over in the photo. He was trying to get a look at my ultra awesome SIDI Dragon SRS2 shoes that I had won in a contest earlier that year. His old clapped out, black SIDI's just weren't impressing the ladies anymore, and he was looking for something a little more appropriate for a fellow 24 Hour Solo Single Speed World Champion.

Although Doug was wearing the same boring pair of black SIDI's apparently his mind was on something else.

I'm sure Grig dwelled on that moment all summer, and apparently he saved enough money from his paper route to pick up a pair of SIDI Dragon SRS2 shoes in the same Vernice blue and white colorway that I selected.

If you read that facethread closely you will see that upon learning of Grig's new acquisition I informed him that I would be selling my pair of SIDI Dragon SRS2 shoes in the same Vernice blue and white colorway. There is only enough room in these shoes for one 24 Hour Solo Single Speed World Champion, both literally and figuratively.

So they went on eBay and sold for 34% of their original retail value, enough for me to buy something a little more practically priced and less Griggy.

What did I buy?

I was able to pick up a new pair of 2011 Mavic Razor shoes and still keep enough money in my pocket to buy a 12 pack of decent beer (after paying eBay and Paypal fees). This should not be a big surprise since I expressed my pleasure after finding out that Mavic had improved the design and launched the better version of this shoe at 2010 Interbike.

I picked up my first pair of Razors back in March of 2009. I felt they were about as good as they could be, but the toes were a little weak for hike-a-bike. That said, as much damage as they suffered they never failed over the course of a very long season+ of abuse. I did try to make my own toe guard out of old inner tubes, Shoe Goo, and Tool Dip, but every solution I came up with failed out in the field.

No worries now.

Old damaged shoe on the right and the new improved (by Mavic, not me) shoe on the left. Huzzah!

Other things that they made better without me asking?

I used to have issues with the tongue slipping sideways, and I added a zip tie to the shoe to stop it from happening. Now Mavic has the new Tongue Anti-Rotational Device already installed.

My old shoes lost a lug off the supple rubber soles during some nasty hike-a-bike in Colorado. I ended up installing the very metal (not butt metal) toe spikes to combat any further damage.

The new Razors come with the similar metal lugs (as the old ones) and instead of screws that just keep dirt outta the threads when you're lugless, the shoes now come with a secondary bolt-on lug that should provide some beef down there without having slippery metal lugs attached to your feet. Also included are shims for you Crank Brother pedal users who are constantly sawing your way through the soles of your shoes.

The back...

and the sides...

have been reinforced to reduce damage points. The loss of whiteness has been duly noted, and will be held against the designers. If I wanted black shoes I would buy them.

Other points of interest?

Mavic included some small set screws to keep dirt out of the unused cleat holes. I had to decided whether to Lock Tite them in, thus making future removal impossible, or if I should grease them, guaranteeing that they will work themselves loose and fall out during their first dirt experience.

They also changed the tongue. I liked the old one. The new one is different. I do not like things that replace things I like.

Although they do look good with my pajamas, I still think they are going to get my...

Seal of Semi-Approval.

I'm sorry, but what is with all the red accents? They had a perfectly pro looking shoe, what with all the white in the original version.

The replacement of white with even more black was already a problematic move in my opinion, but the addition of red accents was almost a deal breaker. I would have bought some other, more whiter shoe if I coulda found one that had all the same features, but alas no other cobbler has made a shoe of equal quality at a comparable price.

Even though Doug is thinking about getting a pair I see no reason why we all don't get some for ourselves (except for the fact that you will have the same shoes as Doug which was another motivating factor for Grig to ditch the black SIDI's in the first place).